Suspected killer will be sent back to Switzerland

The suspect said he would not oppose his extradition Keystone

A Polish regional court in Szczecin has responded favourably to a request from the Swiss authorities to extradite a Swiss-French rapist who is suspected of killing his female therapist before fleeing abroad.

A court spokesman said that the suspect had stated that he would not appeal the extradition ruling and that he hoped to return to Switzerland as soon as possible.

“The Swiss authorities want him to complete his previous sentence and be judged for the crimes he committed,” the spokesman added.

The suspect can still appeal the decision within seven days, but if waived, the extradition will only require the justice ministry’s signature to be put into action.

The Federal Justice Office will be informed when the extradition can go ahead, but it will be up to canton Geneva to organise his return to a prison in Switzerland.

Therapy outing

The 39-year-old was arrested in the Polish-German border area on September 15 on an international warrant four days after he and his therapist went missing in Switzerland during a prison-approved outing.

A dual Swiss and French national with a criminal record in both countries, he is the prime suspect in the murder of the 34-year-old prison therapist.

Her body was found near Geneva on September 13, a day after the pair left the prison for a trip to a horse-riding centre that was part of the suspect’s weekly equestrian therapy.

The victim, the mother of an eight-month-old child, had accompanied the suspect on what was only his second day-release from a specialised Geneva detention facility. She had been allowed to drive the prisoner alone to his therapy session.

On the way, they stopped at a knife store to buy a tool to clean horse hooves – a purchase the prison had authorised. Instead, the prisoner supposedly purchased a different knife and used it to slay his social worker.

He was serving 15 years for a rape committed in France while he was on parole in Switzerland, where he had already been sentenced to five years in another rape case. French justice officials had allowed him to be transferred to a Swiss jail to serve his sentence.

Inquiry

A cantonal investigation into the decisions made at La Pâquerette social therapy centre, part of the Champ Dollon prison, where the convicted sex offender was doing time, found that he should never have been allowed to leave the prison and that his detention plan was carried out improperly.

According to the investigation, the department of corrections failed to recognise the results of two previous psychiatric assessments that would have shown the prisoner’s instability and risk of re-offending.

Procedurally, prison officials should have taken those assessments into account and sought permission from an outside commission for the prisoner to leave the facility, the report found.

The Geneva cantonal government has apologised to the family of the victim for the shortcomings.