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Monaco heiress relative admits role in her murder

The son-in-law of a murdered heiress, one of the richest in Monaco, has admitted to being involved in the brazen daytime attack in which she was killed. Suspicious bank transactions allegedly drew investigations' attention to the suspect.

Published: 27 June 2014 10:35 CEST
Monaco heiress relative admits role in her murder
A wealthy Monaco heiress's son-in-law has admitted a role in her murder. Photo: AFP

The son-in-law of the 77-year-old heiress of one of Monaco's richest families has admitted to involvement in her murder last month, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin told AFP on Friday.

Wojciech Janowski, a 64-year-old who is also Poland's honorary consul in Monaco, "recognised his involvement" in the killing of Helene Pastor while in detention this week, Robin said.

He said more details would be revealed at a press conference in Marseille at 5pm.

Janowski has been in custody since Monday, when he was arrested along with 22 others by police investigating the shooting of Pastor multiple times as she was leaving a hospital in the French Riviera city of Nice on May 6.

Her driver, Mohammed Darwich, 64, also died from injuries sustained in the attack.

Janowski's 53-year-old partner Sylvia, Pastor's eldest daughter, was also detained for questioning but released on Thursday without charge.

Prosecutors had until the end of the day Friday to charge those detained or release them.

Robin said earlier that police had identified two suspects alleged to have been hitmen hired to kill Pastor.

The two men — a 31-year-old and a 24-year-old from Marseille's rough northern districts — had been identified as being "present at the location of the killing".

They were identified thanks to surveillance cameras, mobile telephone records and traces of DNA found in a Nice hotel where they stayed on the day of the killing.

Police are also said to be investigating "suspicious financial flows" in Janowski's accounts.

Pastor had inherited a huge real estate and construction business set up by her Italian grandfather Jean-Baptiste Pastor, a stone mason who moved to Monaco in 1880.

As the sleepy principality in the French Riviera slowly grew into a playground for the world's rich and famous, the family's fortune skyrocketed.

The real jackpot came in 1966 when Prince Rainier, whose fairytale wedding to Hollywood actress Grace Kelly helped catapult Monaco to international fame, gave permission to Helene Pastor's father Gildo to build high-rise buildings along the seafront.

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CRIME

French parliament to investigate sexual abuse in cinema

The French parliament on Thursday agreed to create a commission of inquiry to investigate sexual and gender-based violence in cinema and other cultural sectors after several recent allegations.

Published: 2 May 2024 12:25 CEST
French parliament to investigate sexual abuse in cinema

The Assemblée nationale unanimously agreed to set up the commission demanded by actor Judith Godreche in a speech to the upper house, the Senate, in February.

The 52-year-old actor and director has become a key figure in France’s MeToo movement since accusing directors Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. Both have denied the allegations.

All 52 lawmakers present for the vote on Thursday approved the creation of the commission, watched by Godreche, who was present in the public gallery in the chamber.

“It’s time to stop laying out the red carpet for abusers,” said Greens lawmaker Francesca Pasquini.

The new commission is to look into “the condition of minors in the various sectors of cinema, television, theatre, fashion and advertising”, as well as that of adults working in them, it said.

On the basis of Godreche’s proposal, a parliamentary commission on culture decided to extend the scope of the inquiry to also include other cultural sectors.

It is to “identify the mechanisms and failings that allow these potential abuses and violences”, “establish responsibilities” and make recommendations.

The parliament vote comes a day after actor Isild Le Besco, 41, said in an autobiography she was also raped by Jacquot during a relationship that started when she was 16, but was not ready to press charges.

Godreche, by contrast, has filed a legal complaint against the prominent arthouse director, over alleged abuse that occurred during a relationship that began when she was 14 and he was 25 years her senior.

She has also formally accused Doillon of abusing her as a 15-year-old actress in a film he directed.

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