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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Lover admits to kinky sex killing | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The lover of one of the most influential bankers in Europe has broken down in court and admitted killing him after kinky sex. | The lover of one of the most influential bankers in Europe has broken down in court and admitted killing him after kinky sex. |
| Cecile Brossard, 40, shot French investment banker Edouard Stern, 50, in his luxury apartment in Geneva in 2005. | Cecile Brossard, 40, shot French investment banker Edouard Stern, 50, in his luxury apartment in Geneva in 2005. |
| Mr Stern, a friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was found in a latex body suit with four bullet wounds. | Mr Stern, a friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was found in a latex body suit with four bullet wounds. |
| Defence lawyers say during a sex game he told her: "A million dollars is a lot of money to pay for a whore." | |
| Ms Brossard told the court in Geneva at the start of her trial she would "try to explain the truth". | |
| I would like to ask for forgiveness, but we cannot seek forgiveness for something so abominable Cecile Brossard | |
| Mr Stern was an investment banker and the 38th richest man in France. | Mr Stern was an investment banker and the 38th richest man in France. |
| His death was at first rumoured to be linked to the Russian mafia, before his lover confessed. | His death was at first rumoured to be linked to the Russian mafia, before his lover confessed. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Sex game | Sex game |
| 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." | 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 described Mr Stern as "an intelligent man, refined, extraordinary in every way". | Ms Brossard described Mr Stern as "an intelligent man, refined, extraordinary in every way". |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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." | 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. | 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 is expected to last 10 days. |