By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA (Reuters) - A Swiss man who stood to inherit realestate worth 80 million Swiss francs ($78 million) wasconvicted on Friday of killing three women, including hisadoptive mother and sister, and sentenced to life in prison.
The sordid family drama in the posh lakeside town of Vevey,which reads like an Agatha Christie mystery, has gripped sedatewestern Switzerland.
After a week-long trial, the jury of a Vevey criminal courtfound the 44-year-old man guilty of triple murder, the Swissnews agency ATS said. He was identified only as Francois L.under a Swiss convention whereby the last names of defendantsand victims are not published.
His adoptive mother Ruth L., an 81-year-old Swiss widowwhose architect husband amassed prime property along the shoreof Lake Geneva, is thought to have been killed on Christmas Eve2005 along with her elderly Peruvian friend, Marina S.
Their battered bodies were found at the bottom of steepcellar stairs in the family home on January 4, 2006. Ruth L.was clutching a tuft of hair from her daughter Marie-Jose, a60-year-old doctor missing ever since and presumed dead.
Prosecutor Eric Cottier told the court that the accused hada "frenzied taste for money". The Indian-born defendant alwaysdenied his guilt.
"In a system where the accused should have the benefit ofdoubt, this verdict is unacceptable," defence lawyer AlainDubuis said, announcing his client would appeal.
Francois L., a nurse with heavy mortgage debts, first toldpolice he had not been at the huge family home on ChristmasEve.
After his DNA was detected on his mother's torn nightgown,he said he had found the two bodies and his hysterical sisterMarie-Jose that night but had left. In court he changed hisstory once again, saying that he had been under policepressure.
"I didn't kill either my mother or her friend. I amincapable of doing such a thing," he told the court, addingthat he thought that Marie-Jose was alive.
Friends testified that Francois had arrived late at theirhome for Christmas Eve dinner, saying he had lost his way. Hehad scratches on his face which he said were from his dog.
The family was riven by fights over money and arrangementsfor inheritance of Ruth's fortune, according to the prosecutor.
Shortly before the crime, Ruth and Marie-Jose had consulteda lawyer about "shutting off the tap" to Francois, to whom themother paid a monthly stipend of 6,000 Swiss francs ($5,900).
(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
