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French banker's lover to be tried Banker's sex game killer on trial
(about 15 hours later)
The trial of a woman accused of killing Edouard Stern, one of Europe's most influential bankers, is due to open in the Swiss city of Geneva. The lover of one of the most influential bankers in Europe has broken down in court and admitted killing him after kinky sex.
Mr Stern, an investment banker and the 38th richest man in France, was found dead in his luxury apartment in Geneva four years ago. Cecile Brossard, 40, shot French investment banker Edouard Stern, 50, in his luxury apartment in Geneva in 2005.
He had four bullet wounds, and was dressed head to foot in a latex suit. Mr Stern, a friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was found in a latex body suit with four bullet wounds.
His death was at first rumoured to be linked to the Russian mafia, before his lover, Cecile Brossard, confessed. Ms Brossard told the Swiss court at the start of her trial that she would "try to explain the truth".
The killing shook Geneva's genteel and discreet banking circles. Mr Stern was an investment banker and the 38th richest man in France.
Not just his death, but the manner of it: Mr Stern, a friend of, among others, the now-President of France Nicolas Sarkozy, is said to have been shot during a sado-masochistic sex game. His death was at first rumoured to be linked to the Russian mafia, before his lover confessed.
'Crime of passion' Lawyers for the Stern family claim she wanted money and planned to kill Stern when she realised she would not get it - a premeditated killing which would carry a sentence of up to 20 years.
Rumours connected the killing at first to the Russian mafia - Mr Stern had been doing business with a number of Russian companies - until Ms Brossard confessed. Ms Brossard's lawyers, however, say Mr Stern had humiliated and abused her, and that the shooting was an unpremeditated crime of passion - which has a maximum sentence of only 10 years.
The trial will determine why she did it. Sex game
Lawyers for the Stern family claim she wanted money and planned to kill Mr Stern when she realised she would not get it - a premeditated killing which would carry a sentence of up to 20 years. After the court heard testimony from Mr Stern's former wife Beatrice, and their two adult children, Ms Brossard said: "I would like to ask for forgiveness, but we cannot seek forgiveness for something so abominable. The only thing that I can do is to try to explain the truth."
Ms Brossard's lawyers, however, say Edouard Stern humiliated and abused her, and that the shooting was an unpremeditated crime of passion, which has a maximum sentence of only 10 years. Ms Brossard described Mr Stern as "an intelligent man, refined, extraordinary in every way".
But if found guilty of the lesser crime Ms Brossard, whose lawyers say is seriously depressed and has attempted suicide, could be released much sooner. Mr Stern's lawyers say he was killed in a row over $1m, which he had transferred to his lover's account but then blocked.
The trial is expected to last 10 days. Her lawyers say that during the course of a sado-masochistic sex game he provoked her by saying: "A million dollars is a lot of money to pay for a whore."
According to them, his words led Ms Brossard to seize his gun, that was in the bedroom, and to shoot him - twice in the body and twice in the head.
The trial in Geneva is expected to last 10 days.