GENEVA, (Reuters) – A French woman goes on trial this week for the murder of her French financier lover in a crime combining sex, power and wealth that rocked Geneva’s discreet banking circles.
Edouard Stern, 50, the 38th richest man in France, whose friends included President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist politician Laurent Fabius, was shot dead in his penthouse apartment in the Swiss city on Feb. 28, 2005.
His body, with four bullet holes, was found clad from head-to-toe in a flesh-coloured latex suit, which police say was linked to sado-masochistic sex.
Cecile Brossard, his long-time lover and an artist who is now 40, confessed to killing Stern with his own pistol after an argument over $1 million.
Stern put the money into her Swiss account after she demanded it saying it would be “proof of his love for her” and then blocked it after she refused to return it, court documents obtained by Reuters show.
“One million dollars is a lot of money to pay for a whore,” Brossard quoted Stern as saying just before she shot him, according to defence lawyer Alec Reymond.
“That was extremely humiliating, it marked the end of all the hopes she had placed in their relationship.” Reymond told Reuters. “She is very eager to explain herself.”
Brossard told investigators the couple had a history of sado-masochistic sex since meeting in 2001.
A jury will hear at the trial starting on Wednesday whether she should be convicted of murder, which carries a maximum 20-year prison term, or a crime of passion, a 10-year maximum. A verdict is expected on June 19.
Marc Bonnant, who is representing Stern’s three adult children with his former wife, is seeking a murder conviction.
“This was murder and I contest the idea of a crime of passion, which implies the victim played some sort of role in his own death,” Bonnant told Reuters.
Stern was once heir apparent to Michel David-Weill, his father-in-law, at the investment bank Lazard Freres. He was divorced from Beatrice David-Weill of New York.
Stern, from a prominent French banking family and known for his abrasive style, ran an investment fund out of Geneva and lent advice on some of Europe’s largest mergers.
At the time of his death he was in litigation with Rhodia, a French chemical company in which he had invested, and had several deals involving Russia. He had permits to have a concealed gun in both France and Switzerland.
Reymond said Brossard suffered years of verbal abuse from Stern. She attempted suicide a year ago in prison, has been in and out of a psychiatric clinic and is convinced Stern still talks to her, he said.
