British graduate killed with candlestick

A BRITISH graduate was beaten to death with a candlestick by a friend high on drugs in Switzerland after his hallucinating attacker thought he was “a green alien”, a court heard yesterday.

Alex Morgan, a 23-year-old former pupil of Gordonstoun, the Scottish boarding school the Prince of Wales attended, died in the early hours of Dec 30, 2014. His mutilated body was found at the home of Bennet von Vertes, a modern art dealer trading in works by Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol. Vertes, 31, who met Morgan when the two were students at London’s Regent Col- lege, called police to say that there was “a severely injured man” at his house. He has remained in custody ever since.

Yesterday, prosecutors said Vertes and Morgan partied alone while the rest of Vertes’ family were away skiing.

The court in Meilen heard Vertes “consumed alcohol, ketamine, cocaine and sleeping pills and went into a psychotic state with paranoid delusions.” He believed Morgan had turned into a green alien who was trying to kill him.

Vertes, who denies reckless homicide, is accused of stabbing Morgan with shards of glass and bludgeoning him with a metre-long candlestick and a golden sculpture. He allegedly choked him to death with the candlestick. In an unrelated case, Vertes is charged with raping a woman.

Alex Morgan, who died at the Swiss home of Bennet von Vertes, had met the modern art dealer at London’s Regent College

Bennet von Vertes has been in custody since the 2014 death of Morgan, who he is accused of killing while high on drugs