Ten on trial over mafia-style killing of Monaco heiress

AIX- EN- PROVENCE, France: The imprisoned son-in- law of a murdered Monaco billionaire goes on trial yesterday with nine other people suspected in the brazen daylight killing of the heiress, a case which prosecutors say bears all the hallmarks of a sordid crime thriller.

Helene Pastor was leaving a hospital in Nice on the French Riviera after visiting her son on May 6, 2014, when a gunman shot her and her driver in their car with a sawed- off shotgun.

The chauffeur died a few days later and Pastor fell into a coma, but she woke up and was able to tell investigators: “I’m afraid, I want to see you again because I have more to tell”.

Before she could, she died of her injuries on May 21.

Police quickly identified two men suspected of carrying out what they now believe was a contract killing orchestrated by Wojciech Janowski, Pastor’s Polish son-in-law.

After initially admitting to ordering the killing to get his hands on Pastor’s fortune, estimated at 12 billion euros ( US$ 14 billion), Janowski later retracted his confession, saying he had misunderstood investigators’ questioning.

The suspected killer, Samine Said Ahmed, 28, is also on trial and has denied the charges. Al Hair Hamadi, 35, is accused of acting as a lookout.

Prosecutors say the two men, originally from the Comoros islands and living in Marseille’s rough northern districts, left behind a multitude of clues.

Video surveillance cameras in Marseille caught them buying mobile phones and boarding a train for Nice, where their DNA traces were found on a bottle left in a hotel room.

They are also seen waiting for Pastor opposite the hospital, where they arrived by taxi after unsuccessfully trying to buy a scooter for their getaway.

“It’s the first time we’ve seen killers use a taxi to reach the scene of a crime — they did everything you’re not supposed to do,” a source close the inquiry said. — AFP