Bolivian rancher convicted in killing of French tourists
Bolivian rancher convicted in killing of French tourists
By The Associated Press February 28, 2014
LA PAZ, Bolivia - A Bolivian jury has convicted a rancher of killing a pair of young French tourists in 2010 and sentenced him to the maximum of 30 years in prison without parole.
Prosecutors said Jaime Martinez first killed 23-year-old Fannie Blancho after inviting her to see his ranch in the small Amazon city of Guayaramerin and raping her. They say he killed her companion, 25-year-old Jeremie Bellanger, when he went looking for her and found out.
The tourists' bodies were never found. Defence attorney Audalia Zurita said the four-person jury declared Martinez's three alleged accomplices innocent and found him innocent of rape.
Bellanger's mother, Cecile Blanloeil, called the verdict a small victory. The young man's father, Patrick Bellanger, said he would seek retrials for the three men who were cleared.
http://www.canada.com/news/Bolivian+rancher+convicted+killing+French+tourists/9561244/story.html
(Short article, no more at link.)
[center]~ ~ ~
The murdered couple, Jeremie Bellanger and Fannie Blancho
Jaime Martinez[/center]
Agence France-Presse February 27, 2014 2:16pm
Bolivia seeks 30 years for French couple's murder
Court deliberations were underway Thursday at the trial of a Bolivian man accused in the 2010 murders of a young French couple.
Prosecutors asked the court to convict the defendant, Jaime Martinez, 31, and sentence him to 30 years in prison with no possibility for parole.
French tourists Jeremie Bellanger, 25, and Fannie Blancho, 23, went missing while traveling in the village of Guayaramerin in northeastern Bolivia.
Authorities said they believe that Martinez, son of a wealthy dairy farmer, was the ringleader of a group of four men who killed the couple after sexually assaulting Blancho.
More:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140227/bolivia-seeks-30-years-french-couples-murder
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