The problem lies with your XML-File. There is some (invisible) content before the <?xml...
which causes the parser to fail.
See this question for a possible solution: Content is not allowed in Prolog SAXParserException
To answer your edit: It is possible that you won't see this as a visible character in Notepad++ - check the following url for a possible solution: http://www.rgagnon.com/javadetails/java-handle-utf8-file-with-bom.html