She murdered her billionaire lover then said he abused her the jury agreed in halves

Cecile Brossard shot ultra rich banker Edouard Stern during rough sex

A year ago, the jury accepted Cecile’s story that she had been abused and humiliated her. While convicted, she was given a lesser sentence of 8 years, and could be out of jail in 18 months.  See Lover admits to kinky sex killing.

Edouard Stern was one of the richest bankers in Europe, a billionaire friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He hobnobbed around the rich and powerful until his lover shot him in a Swiss hotel room. Bound and wearing a latex suit, she sat at the trial he had humiliated her by calling her a “whore” and paying $1 million for her love.

On June 18th, 2010, Brossard’s lawyers were back in court arguing her health was suffering in jail and she should be released.

“The jury convicted Brossard of unpremeditated murder yesterday, rejecting her argument that her act qualified as the lesser offence of a crime of passion. “Her cynical, deliberate and manipulative behaviour was not the one of a reasonable woman who commits a crime under an excusable emotion or despair,” the jury said. She faced a maximum 20 years in prison.

The jury, which included the presiding judge, softened its line yesterday and responded to an appeal from Brossard’s lawyer for a compassionate sentence. It called her crime particularly cowardly because Mr Stern, who was 50, had been tied up and unable to defend himself when she aimed his pistol at his head. But it acknowledged the “tumultuous” nature of the relationship and noted Mr Stern’s “humiliating, harassing and occasionally cruel” behaviour toward her.

Brossard and her lawyers had depicted Mr Stern, whose friends included President Sarkozy and other powerful politicians, as playing a vicious game with his mentally fragile and emotionally dependent mistress. She claimed to have lost her mind when, during a sadomasochistic sex session, he taunted her over a big loan he had given her, saying: “One million dollars is a lot of money to pay for a whore.”

The jury said that it had taken account of the “profound regret” that Brossard expressed during the trial and it also recognised her “slightly reduced responsibility”. A psychiatrist had testified that Brossard had a borderline personality and suffered sexual abuse as a child. The Times

Le Matin reports on L’Affair Stern, “Cécile Brossard doit être libérée pour se soigner, plaident ses avocats. La détention de Cécile Brossart, qui dure depuis quatre ans, ne sert plus à rien, a déclaré jeudi devant la Cour d’assises de Genève Me Pascal Maurer. Selon l’avocat de la défense, elle doit sortir de prison pour se soigner.”

Roughly translated “Cecile Brossard must be released for her healthcare, his lawyers argue. The detention of Cecile Brossart, which lasts for four-year, no point anymore, said Thursday before the Court of Assizes of Geneva Mr. Pascal Maurer.”

The outcome of her plea is not known.