Huge twist after German backpacker Jennifer Kohl was crushed by a mower after having sex with her boyfriend Paul Tunik on a Tamborine Mountain farm

The boyfriend of a German backpacker who was crushed by a riding mower may have been committing a crime at the time of her death, a coroner has found.

Jennifer Kohl, 27, arrived in Australia in February 2017 for a working holiday with her 27-year-old partner Paul Tunik. They had started working on an avocado farm in Tamborine Mountain, about 20 kilometers northwest of the Gold Coast, when she died in a freak accident.

An investigation last month found that Ms. Kohl had sex with Mr. Tunik that day in a remote woodland on the farm. She then jumped onto a riding mower with her partner when the vehicle overturned on a slope, causing her death.

Coroner Carol Lee found she had a “reasonable suspicion that Mr Tunik had committed a criminal offence” when Ms Kohl died.

Mrs Kohl’s mother Cornelia flew from Europe to attend the inquest and delivered a blistering message to her daughter’s boyfriend as the findings were announced.

In her findings, the coroner ruled that Ms Kohl and Mr Tunik had completed their work for the day when they went to an unused and out of sight part of the property to have sex.

Mr. Tunik then persuaded Ms. Kohl to ride back with him on the four-by-four riding mower with a trailer attached as part of a “romantic gesture.”

Mr. Tunik was driving the mower with Ms. Kohl on the wheel well when they went down a steep slope and rolled.

Ms Kohl was trapped under the mower and despite Mr Tunik’s attempts to remove the heavy piece of industrial equipment and call for help, she could not be rescued.

A two-day inquest into Ms Kohl’s death was held in May last year, with Coroner Lee announcing her findings in December.

“I have formed reasonable suspicion that Mr Tunik has committed a criminal offence,” she said.

‘As I have not received any views from Mr Tunik after giving him the opportunity to submit a view, I refer to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.’

Mr Tunik provided no evidence at the inquest.

‘I therefore conclude that Mr Tunik and Ms Kohl had completed the work assigned to them on the day of the accident and had had sexual intercourse in a disused and out of sight part of the property, during a joyride as if they were the property belonged to them,” said Coroner Lee.

“Such activities with the mower were unauthorized and contrary to the instructions given to them.”

At the time of the incident there was a delay in the arrival of emergency services, partly due to Mr Tunik’s limited English when he called Triple Zero.

Mr. Tunik flagged down passing cars, but even with the help of three bystanders, Ms. Kohl could not be freed.

Ms Kohl’s mother Cornelia arrived for the inquest into her daughter’s death in Queensland in May last year

An investigation last month found that Ms. Kohl had sex with Mr. Tunik that day in a remote woodland on the farm. She then jumped onto a riding mower with her partner when the vehicle overturned on a slope, killing her (stock photo of the mower)

Paramedics arrived and pulled Ms. Kohl out, but she could not be revived. An autopsy later revealed that Ms. Kohl died of traumatic asphyxiation.

Coroner Lee found that the farm’s co-owners, Kathryn Singleton and Kenneth Jacobi, had provided the two adults with adequate instruction and supervision on how to use the mower and trailer in the designated areas.

The farm’s owners had said Mr Tunik told them he had ‘persuaded’ his girlfriend to sit on the mower with him, despite her telling him she did not want to.

Ms Kohl’s mother Cornelia traveled from Germany to Queensland for the inquest.

When the findings were presented to her daughter’s friend, she shared a stern message, which previously went unreported.

‘If YOU (Paul Tunik) ever travel to Australia again, dress warmly!!! The police are waiting and happy to receive you!’ she wrote on Facebook on December 1.

In her findings, Ms Lee recommends the Department of Home Affairs set up a ‘one-stop-shop’ website for holiday workers to advise them on workplace health and safety and their legal rights in Australia.

The coroner expressed her sincere condolences to Mrs Kohl’s family over the tragic accident.

“Her death has had an impact on many people, in particular her mother who had traveled from Germany for the inquest,” she said.