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Murder of Lucie Trezzini: trial next week

A 28-year-old man, known only as Daniel H, goes on trial next week for the murder in 2009 of the 16-year-old au-pair, Lucie Trezzini.

Published: 20 February 2012 11:45 CET
Murder of Lucie Trezzini: trial next week

On the day in question, Daniel H lured Lucie to his apartment in Baden with promises of modelling jobs.

Prosecutors say he had approached approximately 110 girls and young women with similar offers until Lucie finally agreed to accompany him.

Having bought an estimated four grams of cocaine from Langstrasse, and having consumed half, Daniel H came across Lucie on his way to the station, online news website Blick reported.

He promised that she could easily make 500 francs ($546) with just a couple of hours of work that afternoon at a jewellery show in Baden.

Taking her back to his apartment, he drank beer and continued to take cocaine. There he pretended to prepare for a photo-shoot, fixing a black bed-sheet to the bed, and setting up a floor lamp.

According to the indictment, Daniel H spent a long time deliberating whether or not to commit the crime. Having decided to go ahead with it, he fetched part of a dumbbell from his office.

Rejoining Lucie in the bedroom, he proceeded to beat her repeatedly with the metal bar until she lay motionless on the floor. In order to be sure he had killed her, he then took a carving knife from the kitchen and slit her throat.

He used the pillows and sheets from the bed to try to mop up the blood, Blick reported.

Following the murder, Daniel H visited his parents, who claim they saw nothing unusual in his behaviour. He then called his girlfriend, before lying down to sleep next to Lucie’s body.

He later told police that he saw no sense in his life anymore, having lost his job as a chef and having had problems with his girlfriend. He said he had committed the crime in order to be locked away forever.

In the following days, he carried on drinking and tried to clean away the bloodstains.

After Lucie had been missing for four days, police finally located her body at the apartment. Daniel H had fled the scene but he was found in Zurich a few days later.

At the time of the murder, Daniel H was on parole for having nearly beaten another woman to death following a cocaine binge in 2003. The prosecutor is hoping for life imprisonment.

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CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.

Published: 26 April 2024 11:17 CEST
Updated: 2 May 2024 15:04 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

A number of foreign nationals, especially in the German-speaking part of the country, have received an official-looking letter, purportedly from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) informing them that the Free Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”

Faced with enquiries from concerned recipients, SEM responded that the letter is fake, advising recipients to ignore it and, above all, not to click on the QR code on the top.

“Fake letters from the SEM have been circulating since the beginning of this week,” the immigration authority said on its website as well as on X (formerly Twitter).  

“The letter has no impact on the recipient’s  residence status,” SEM added.

Fake jobs, real threats

However, this is only the latest scam perpetrated in the name of SEM.

There have been others in the past.

For instance, many foreigners have also received emails from addresses swissimmigration@consultant or eu_immigration@consultant, that pretend to be the Swiss immigration authority.

“In most cases, a fictitious job in the hotel industry is offered, with the senders demanding payment of 300 to 1,000 euros for a permit in Switzerland and for health and accident insurance,” SEM reported.

The first clue that this email doesn’t come from  SEM, which is part of Switzerland’s government, is that it is asking for payment in euros. If the scammers were smarter, they’d demand Swiss francs.

“These e-mails do not come from the SEM and should be considered as an attempt at fraud,” the agency said. 

Extortion attempt

And a few years ago, a number of foreigners received emails coming allegedly from SEM, Swiss border control authorities, or even the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).

They threatened to revoke the victim’s residence permit or even expel them from the country altogether if they didn’t pay a certain sum of money into an anonymous account.

Needless to say, no government authority would ever resort to blackmail or demand payment for such ‘services’.

So a good rule to remember (for foreigners and Swiss alike) is that if threats and pressure are involved, letters / emails / phone calls ( WhatsUp messages are more than likely scams.
 
READ ALSO: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of 

Don’t respond

SEM as well as police urge everyone contacted by scammers, by whatever means to:

  • Ignore these messages by hanging up the phone and / or deleting emails, moving them to the Spam folder
  • Never give out your credit card number or bank account information to people you don’t know
  • If you did give your card number, contact your credit card company immediately to have the card blocked. Likewise, if you gave out your banking details, get in touch with your bank.
  • In the event of threats of extortion attempts, consider filing a criminal complaint. You can search for police stations in your area on the Police website. 
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