A soldier who idolised Christian Bale’s American Psycho serial killer character butchered his girlfriend and then took her body for a drive, a court has heard.

The 32-year-old accused – identified as Marvin K. in court in Koblenz, Germany – had lured his girlfriend to a remote car park believing she planned to leave him.

But instead of a talk about their future, he stabbed victim Meryam K., 21, to death in a frenzied knife attack on 9th December last year, say prosecutors.

An autopsy revealed she had been stabbed 23 times before her killer took her body for a macabre high-speed drive beside him on the A3 Autobahn.

Koblenz State Prosecutor Julia Mittler told the court: “In our indictment, we emphasise the cruelty of his actions.

“The crime scene is a very remote place. The suspect deliberately opted for this place. His victim barely had any chance to defend herself.

“He stabbed her 23 times, especially into her head, neck, shoulders, breast and back. She had to endure indescribable pain.”

Marvin K. – who has not said a word in court – apparently had tears in his eyes as the list of injuries was read out.

Prosecutors are calling for life in behind bars because of the extreme cruelty of the attack.

He was arrested after two motorway crashes and found to be more than three times over the German drink drive limit with an alcohol level of 1.74 per mille.

Meryam’s mother Sandra K. told the court that her daughter’s partner had physically abused her by choking her several times.

She said: “She informed him about her intention to split many times. However, they continued to share a flat.

She added: “He wanted my daughter to clean up and do the laundry.”

Sandra K. also showed the court pictures of broken furniture allegedly demolished by the suspect during his numerous violent outbursts.

Local media reports that just before the killing, Marvin K. posted a photo of actor Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, the shockingly violent serial killer from the American Psycho movie.

In the image, Bale’s character is lighting a cigar while his face is smeared with blood.

Another posted snap shows the killer and his victim riding a motorcycle chillingly captioned ‘Menento mori’, or remember you must die.

It went on: “Back then, I wanted to stop the clocks.”

A third image showed him in his army uniform, showing off a vicious assault knife.

The trial continues. A verdict is expected in early July.