This is the first image of the ten-year-old girl whose murder in a children’s home allegedly by a fellow child resident has shocked Germany.
The picture emerged as the father of little Lena spoke about his loss for the first time.
Lena was found strangled in the boy’s room by staff at the facility 12 hours after she died and astonishingly after she had been raped by an opportunistic burglar who broke in through an opened bathroom window.
Speaking to MailOnline, Lena‘s father, who asked to be named only as Werner, expressed his outrage at how father-of-two Daniel Troger, 25, had been able to break in with apparent ease.
And he lashed out at authorities for letting the boy, who had a history of violence and had attacked other residents with a baseball bat, stay in the facility.
The picture of Lena emerged as the father of little Lena spoke about his loss for the first time
Lena’s father expressed outrage at how father-of-two Daniel Troger, 25, (pictured) had been able to break in with apparent ease
Germany has been left reeling by the atrocity which happened in April at the St Josef children’s home in the picturesque Bavarian town of Wunsiedel, 90 minutes north of Nuremburg.
Speaking to MailOnline at his home in the village of Mantel, civil servant Werner, who has been on sick leave since the death of his daughter, said: ‘I just don’t understand how this can happen. How was this man able to get into the home and attack my daughter?
‘The place should be secure. What were the staff doing that night? Why was the window left open? The children are supposed to be safe there but clearly they weren’t.
‘But the other big question is why was this boy even in there? I’ve read 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 is so much more the police and the authorities should be telling me but they are not. I feel as if I am being kept in the dark here and it is my daughter who is the victim.’
Lena, who was a gifted musician, swimmer and gymnast, had been at the home since November following a custody battle between Werner and his former wife of twelve years Regina.
Their daughter had been temporarily placed in the home but Werner told MailOnline he had successfully applied for her to be allowed to go on holiday with him to the Canary Islands during this year’s Easter break.
Werner said: ‘The day before she was supposed to come out, they said I couldn’t take her with me and so she had to stay there.
‘I still don’t know why they said that but if she had been allowed to come with me as they initially said she would still be here. That’s why I am so angry.’
Germany has been left reeling by the atrocity which happened in April at the St Josef children’s home in the picturesque Bavarian town of Wunsiedel, 90 minutes north of Nuremburg
The home of Lena’s father in Mantel, Germany
Werner added: ‘I’ve spoken with the police numerous times and I have seen that this man has been charged with sexually attacking my daughter and the boy killed her but he is too young to face justice.
‘Lena hated it at that home. She was always crying about it whenever I saw her and she said she wanted to be with either 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 have still been alive. That’s why I am so angry.
‘I was allowed to see her once a month for two hours and so was my wife, and every time I saw Lena she was always crying that she didn’t meant to be there.
‘She said one of the other children was trouble and picking on her. I can only assume it was this 11-year-old boy. We wanted joint custody but the court didn’t give it to us – I still don’t know why.’
When asked to describe Lena, Werner blinked back tears and said: ‘How can I have only one memory of her? I have many memories of her, all wonderful, all good. She was my first and only child. I loved her dearly.
‘She was a good girl. She didn’t deserve this and had dreams for when she grew up like any other girl. She was good at swimming; she was a musician and she loved playing the piano and the drums.
‘She liked going out riding and we spent many happy times together and now that is all I have memories.’
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 will go on trial but for me it’s not closed. It’s the authorities who are also the culprits here.
Pictured: Burglar Daniel Troger. Kader Catal, who went to school with Troger, said ‘he was a loner when I knew him at school and also quite weird’
‘If Lena had been admitted to the home she would still be here. She should have been allowed to stay with either me or my wife.
‘But I would also like to know why the window was left open to allow this man to get in and why was he even there? What did he expect to steal from a children’s home? Is there is information I am not being told?
‘I haven’t taken any action yet against the home and the authorities who run it but I am thinking about it.’
In a further shocking revelation, it has emerged Troger and the boy drank beer and watched pornography together at the home in the hours before Lena was attacked and then killed.
But because he is below the age of criminal responsibility in Germany, which is 14, he will not be punished and he has since been moved to another facility elsewhere in the country.
Bin man Troger was arrested by police three weeks after the murder when he turned up for his shift at the local depot where he works in Wunsiedel.
Police linked him to the crime through DNA found at the scene and also through his mobile phone which was picked up in the building.
Troger – who is married with two young children and married to wife Cassandra – has since been charged with rape, burglary and arson.
He is suspected of having broken into five construction containers in the last year and stolen building machinery with 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’, alongside pictures of him his wife and children.
He worked as a rubbish collector in Wunsiedel and lived in nearby Thiersheim where locals remember him as a ‘loner’.
Speaking to MailOnline at his home in the village of Mantel, civil servant Werner said: ‘How was this man able to get into the home and attack my daughter? The place should be secure. What were the staff doing that night?’
One neighbour said: ‘He didn’t really mix much with anyone. They moved here a few years ago from another part of Germany.
‘I know they have a child of around 18 months old and an older one, who is seven, as she is in the same year at school as my daughter.
‘The wife and he must have had the children very young as she can’t be more than 25 years old.’
When MailOnline knocked on the pastel blue painted house close to the village football pitch, there was no answer, but a trampoline and swings were 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 it gave me goosebumps as I had known him when he was younger.
‘It left a deep impression on me because of what happened to the girl and because I know he has children of his own.
‘To be honest he was a loner when I knew him at school and also quite weird – I can’t believe that someone I knew and who has children himself did something like this.’
A spokesperson 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, burglary and arson.
‘There is no evidence that the man participated in the murder of the ten-year-old girl but rather, the 11-year-old boy killed the girl after the man had left the facility, after a dispute arose between the two.
‘Due to the boy’s criminal immaturity, no criminal proceedings can be carried out against him and he has been taken into the custody of responsible authorities.
‘The older man is still in custody and he has confessed during initial questioning.
‘Investigations into possible breaches of duty by the authorities responsible for the dare of the children are still ongoing.’
