The Imlil Hiker Murders

Two hikers in the High Atlas

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen of Denmark and Maren Ueland of Norway were traveling in Morocco and hiking in the High Atlas. Their bodies were found on December 17, 2018, near Imlil, a well-known base for routes around Mount Toubkal. Reuters reported that the women were 24 and 28 respectively.

Because graphic material connected with the killings circulated online, this archive deliberately omits those details. The evidentiary and legal record can be understood without reproducing violence against the victims.

Arrests and the terrorism investigation

Moroccan authorities arrested a group of suspects after the killings. Reuters reported that four of the principal accused had recorded a pledge of allegiance to Islamic State shortly before the murders, while Moroccan authorities described the attackers as "lone wolves" rather than operatives who had coordinated the attack directly with the organization.

By the opening of the trial in May 2019, 24 defendants were before the anti-terrorism court in Salé. Charges across the group included premeditated murder and offenses connected with forming or supporting a terrorist group. The prosecution separated the conduct of those directly involved in the killings from other defendants accused of related terrorism offenses.

Admissions in court

During the trial, Reuters reported that Abdessamad Ejjoud and Youness Ouziyad admitted killing the two hikers, while Rachid Afatti said he had filmed the murders. Their statements formed part of a broader prosecution record considered by the court alongside the investigation.

The fact that defendants made admissions does not by itself define the archive's status classification. Crime by Region classifies the case as solved because the prosecution proceeded to convictions and appellate judgments, not simply because suspects confessed.

July 2019 verdicts

On July 18, 2019, the anti-terrorism court sentenced Ejjoud, Ouziyad and Afatti to death for the murders. A fourth principal defendant, Abderrahmane Khayali, received life imprisonment at the first judgment. Twenty other defendants received prison terms for terrorism-related offenses and related criminal conduct, according to Reuters and Moroccan reporting.

The court also ordered compensation in favor of Maren Ueland's family. The defense announced that it would appeal, so the July ruling was not the final appellate step.

Appeal judgment

On October 30, 2019, the appeals court upheld the three existing death sentences and increased Khayali's sentence from life imprisonment to death. Reuters reported the appellate result the following day. The other defendants' sentences were also addressed in the appeal proceedings.

Morocco retained capital punishment in law, but Reuters noted that the country had not carried out an execution since 1993. The existence of a death sentence therefore should not be described as an execution unless later verified.

Later custody developments

In February 2023, Morocco's prison administration announced that Abderrahmane Khayali had died by suicide in Oujda prison. Moroccan outlets Le Desk and TelQuel reported the statement through the official MAP news agency. This later custody event does not alter the criminal classification of the 2018 murders: responsibility had already been adjudicated through trial and appeal.

Why this case is classified as solved

The core question of legal responsibility for the murders was resolved through convictions in 2019 and an appeal judgment confirming the principal sentences. For that reason, Crime by Region places the case under Solved / Adjudicated. The label does not imply that every person accused in the broader terrorism investigation had the same role, nor that every later prison event forms part of the murder adjudication.

Timeline

Current status

The murders remain legally adjudicated. The 2019 appeal judgment confirmed the principal convictions and sentences. Later custody developments involving individual defendants should be treated separately from the final legal finding of responsibility for the 2018 killings.