French agents held in hypno murder plot
PARIS • Three French intelligence agents have been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy for allegedly plotting to kill a female hypnotherapist who worked as a corporate coach.
The suspects are soldiers from the Action Division, an elite military unit specializing in covert missions outside France, controlled by the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), the French equivalent of CIA.
Two of them, named as Pierre B. and Karl E., aged 28 and 25, were arrested carrying guns in a stolen car in Paris last month, and the third, aged 26, was arrested a few days later.
The first two told police they were on an official mission, having allegedly been ordered to eliminate a 54-year-old hypnotherapist specializing in corporate coaching. She has not been named.
The pair were arrested near the presumed target’s home in Creteil, southeast Paris, at 8.20 a.m. on July 24 after a neighbour telephoned police and reported that they had driven round the block repeatedly during the night. The agents said the killing was to have taken place that morning.
Investigators have found no link between the agents and the hypnotherapist, according to Le Parisien. They are exploring a theory that they were paid to murder her by someone who had a dispute with her.
The hypnotherapist told detectives that she was extremely shocked that someone had wanted to kill her. She suggested that the plot could have been motivated by professional rivalry among coaches and psychotherapists. But sources close to the investigation said it appeared disproportionate to recruit intelligence agents to murder her over a professional disagreement.
The agents’ claim to have been on a DGSE mission is striking, as the external service is barred from carrying out such operations on French soil, according to security sources.
Sources close to the investigation say the men insist that they were not the “brains behind the operation” and their agency would get them cleared. However, their superiors did not intervene on their behalf.
“This case is as murky as it gets,” said one source close to the investigation. “It’s like being lost in the Bermuda Triangle.”
Two men suspected of masterminding the plot have also been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy, along with the three intelligence agents.
One of the pair runs a security firm that guards VIPs and “sweeps” offices and homes for bugging devices, follows people and transports sensitive goods, documents and funds.
An associate told Le Parisien: “He thought he was James Bond.”
The other suspected planner is a former domestic intelligence agent who is now an “e-detective” tracking online fraud and illicit trading.