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This is the first image of the ten-year-old girl whose murder in a children’s home, allegedly at the hands of another resident child, has shocked Germany.
The image emerged when little Lena’s father spoke for the first time about his loss.
Lena was found strangled in the child’s bedroom by center staff 12 hours after her death and shockingly after being raped by an opportunistic thief who broke in through an open bathroom window.
Speaking to MailOnline, Lena’s father, who asked to be identified only as Werner, expressed his outrage at how 25-year-old father-of-two Daniel Troger had been able to enter with apparent ease.
And he lashed out at authorities for allowing the boy, who had a history of violence and had attacked other residents with a baseball bat, to remain in the facility.
The image of Lena emerged when little Lena’s father spoke for the first time about his loss.
Lena’s father expressed outrage at how 25-year-old Daniel Troger (pictured), father of two, had been able to enter with apparent ease.
Germany was stunned by the atrocity that occurred in April at the St Josef children’s home in the picturesque Bavarian town of Wunsiedel, 90 minutes north of Nuremberg.
Speaking to MailOnline at his home in the village of Mantel, civil servant Werner, who has been on sick leave since his daughter’s death, said: “I just don’t understand how this can happen. How could this man get into the house and attack my daughter?
‘The place must be safe. What were the staff doing that night? Why was the window left open? The kids were supposed to be safe there, but they clearly weren’t.
‘But the other big question is why was this guy there? I read that he had a history of violence and attacked other children there, so why was he there and not in a proper institution with trained staff?
‘There are many more things that the police and authorities should tell me, but they don’t. I feel like I’m being kept in the dark here and my daughter is the victim.’
Lena, who was a talented musician, swimmer and gymnast, had been in the house since November following a custody battle between Werner and his ex-wife of twelve years, Regina.
His daughter had been temporarily placed in the house, but Werner told MailOnline she had successfully applied to be allowed to go on holiday with him to the Canary Islands during this year’s Easter holidays.
Werner said: “The day before she left, they said I couldn’t take her with me and that’s why she had to stay there.
“I still don’t know why they said that, but if they had allowed him to come with me like they initially said, he would still be here.” That’s why I’m so angry.’
Germany was shocked by the atrocity that occurred in April at the St Josef children’s home in the picturesque Bavarian town of Wunsiedel, 90 minutes north of Nuremberg.
Lena’s father’s house in Mantel, Germany
Werner added: “I have spoken to the police numerous times and have seen that this man has been accused of sexually assaulting my daughter and the boy killed her, but he is too young to face justice.”
‘Lena hated being in that house. She always cried about it every time she saw her and she said that she wanted to be with me or my ex-wife, but they wouldn’t allow it.
‘The best solution would have been for her to stay with one of us, if that had happened she would still be alive, that’s why I’m so angry.
“They allowed me to see her once a month for two hours and so did my wife, and every time I saw Lena she always cried because she had no intention of being there.
‘She said one of the other boys was troublesome and picked on her, I can only assume it was this 11-year-old boy. We wanted joint custody but the court wouldn’t grant it to us. I still don’t know why.’
Asked to describe Lena, Werner blinked back tears and said, “How can I have a single memory of her?” I have many memories of her, all wonderful, all good. She was my first and only daughter, she loved her very much.
‘She was a good girl. She didn’t deserve this and she had dreams for when she grew up like any other girl. She was good at swimming; She was a musician and she played the piano and she loved playing the piano and the drums.
“She liked to go riding and we had many happy times together and now that’s all I have memories of.”
Werner added: “The police say the case is now closed because the boy cannot face justice because he is under 14 and this other man is going to trial, but for me it is not closed.” Here too the authorities are guilty.
In the photo: thief Daniel Troger. Kader Catal, who went to school with Troger, said that “he was a loner when I met him at school and also quite strange.”
‘If Lena had been admitted into the house she would still be here, she should have been allowed to stay with me or my wife.
‘But I would also like to know why the window was left open to allow this man in and why he was there. What did he expect to steal from a children’s home? Is there information they are not telling me?
“I have not yet taken any action against the center or the authorities that manage it, but I am thinking about it.”
In another shocking revelation, it emerged that Troger and the boy drank beer and watched pornography together at the house hours before Lena was attacked and then murdered.
But since he is below the age of criminal responsibility in Germany, which is 14, he will not be punished and has since been transferred to another facility in another part of the country.
Bin Man Troger was arrested by police three weeks after the murder when he showed up for his shift at the local warehouse where he works in Wunsiedel.
The police linked him to the crime through DNA found at the scene and also through his mobile phone that was collected in the building.
Since then, Troger, married with two young children and married to his wife Cassandra, has been charged with rape, robbery and arson.
Last year he is suspected of breaking into five construction containers and stealing construction machinery worth more than £12,000.
On his now-deleted Facebook page, he describes himself as a “proud father” and that “family is the most important thing in the world,” along with photographs of himself, his wife and their children.
He worked as a garbage collector in Wunsiedel and lived in nearby Thiersheim, where locals remember him as a “loner.”
Germany was shocked by the atrocity that occurred in April at the St Josef children’s home in the picturesque Bavarian town of Wunsiedel, 90 minutes north of Nuremberg.
A neighbor said: ‘He didn’t really socialize much with anyone. They moved here a few years ago from another part of Germany.
‘I know they have a daughter who is about 18 months old and another older one, seven years old, who is in the same year of school as my daughter.
“The wife and he must have had very young children, since she can’t be more than 25 years old.”
When MailOnline called the pastel blue house near the village football pitch, there was no answer, but there was a trampoline and swings in the garden.
On her TikTok page, Cassandra has posted videos of the children playing in the garden, but there are no images of her husband.
Kader Catal, who went to school with Troger, told MailOnline: “I was shocked when I saw the news and got goosebumps as I had known him when I was younger.”
‘It left a deep impression on me because of what happened to the girl and because I know that he has his own children.
“To be honest, he was a lonely man when I met him at school and also quite strange. I can’t believe that someone I knew who has children would do something like this.”
A spokesman for the local prosecutor said: “An eleven-year-old boy is suspected of murder and a 25-year-old man has been charged with rape, robbery and arson.
‘There is no evidence that the man was involved in the murder of the ten-year-old girl, but rather that the 11-year-old boy killed the girl after the man left the premises, after a dispute arose between the two.
‘Due to the child’s criminal immaturity, no criminal proceedings can be initiated against him and he has been taken into the custody of the responsible authorities.
“The older man is still in custody and confessed during initial interrogation.
“Investigations into possible breaches of duty by the authorities responsible for the children’s defiance are still ongoing.”