Swiss Murder Mysteries

At five o’clock on the afternoon of 8 December 1980, the moment of truth had finally arrived. After days of intense courtroom drama, the jury was about to deliver its verdict. When it was finally delivered, there was a moment of stunned silence. For several seconds, those present seemed unable to fully comprehend what they had just heard. Cyril Belshaw himself sat motionless, his face betraying little emotion. Just a seemingly passive figure as the enormity of the jury’s decision began to sink in. Outside the courtroom, a mass of international reporters waited for a statement from the man at the centre of one of Switzerland’s most controversial murder trials. But Belshaw had nothing to say. RATING & REVIEW (highly appreciated) FOLLOWING (to be informed about future episodes) FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.Interview Cyril Belshaw ©2013 RTS

On the final day of the trial, the prosecution and defence present their final pleas. By then, the prosecution had woven together what seemed an almost inescapable account of Betty's fate. Yet one crucial element remained missing: Definitive proof. Every link in the chain was circumstantial, and the defence had spent the entire trial exploiting that single weakness, determined to plant the seed of reasonable doubt. Whether they succeeded would remain unknown until the following Monday, when the judges revealed their verdict.RATING & REVIEW FOLLOWING (be informed about future episodes)FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.Interview Cyril Belshaw©RTS

Extradited to Switzerland, Belshaw was taken to Bois-Mermet Prison in Lausanne, where he remained in custody awaiting trial. His defence was entrusted to two of Switzerland's leading criminal lawyers, Paschoud and Stoudmann, while Swiss investigators assembled the case they believed would finally reveal the truth about Betty's disappearance. On December 3, 1980, Cyril Belshaw stood trial for murder in Aigle. Awaiting him was not only the weight of the prosecution's evidence, but a judicial system unlike anything he would have had encountered in the Anglo-American world - one that would shape the course of the trial its outcome.RATING & REVIEW (highly appreciated)FOLLOWING (to be informed about future episodes)FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.Interview Cyril Belshaw©RTS

Confronted with the Swiss investigators' discovery, Belshaw admitted to forging his wife's dental records. His explanation, however, raised more questions than it answered. Convinced they had uncovered only a fraction of the truth, the Swiss investigators closed in, determined to stay on the suspects’ heels. Belshaw was arrested after making what would prove to be a fatal miscalculation: Traveling to Paris for a conference, where French police were waiting. Backed by some of France's most formidable defence lawyers, he fought a determined legal battle to avoid being sent to Switzerland. The outcome hung in the balance. In the end, however, the courts ruled against him.RATING & REVIEW (highly appreciated)FOLLOWING (to be informed about future episodes)FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.Interview Cyril Belshaw©RTS

Three months after Betty vanished in Paris, road workers made a grim discovery: the decomposed body of a woman near a lay-by on a remote alpine pass in Switzerland, barely 100 kilometres from Crans-Montana. Aware of the French missing-person investigation, Swiss detectives asked Cyril to provide Betty's dental records. He complied—but only after secretly altering the charts. Soon afterwards, he returned to Canada, seemingly unaware that Swiss investigators would eventually uncover not only his forgery, but an even more damaging secret. During his time in Crans-Montana, Cyril had been carrying on a clandestine love affair.RATING & REVIEW (highly appreciated)FOLLOWING (to be informed about future episodes)FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.Interview Cyril Belshaw©RTS

While on sabbatical in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, renowned Canadian anthropology professor Cyril Belshaw and his wife Betty embarked on an impromptu trip to Paris. Two day later, Cyril reported his wife missing. Despite exhaustive efforts, she was nowhere to be found. With no leads and nothing more to be done, he returned alone to their holiday retreat in Switzerland. Months passed in desperate silence - until one day, Swiss police investigators arrived at his door with news that would shatter the tranquillity of his solitude. News that was as disturbing as it was unexpected.RATING & REVIEW (highly appreciated)FOLLOWING (to be informed about future episodes)FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.Interview Cyril Belshaw©RTS

On December 3, 1980, Canadian professor Cyril Belshaw, a world-renowned anthropologist from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, stood trial in the city of Aigle, Switzerland charged with the murder of his wife, Betty. Her body had been discovered 21 months earlier, along a remote Swiss mountain pass not far from where the couple spent a sabbatical. Odd: Just two months before her remains were found, Belshaw had reported her missing, claiming they had been visiting Paris at the time of her disappearance. Some things just did not add up.RATING & REVIEW (highly appreciated)FOLLOWING (to be informed about future episodes)FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.

A new theory suggests that an unknown individual may have been involved in the murders, proposing that they were carried out not by one person, but possibly two or even three. This theory is supported by testimony from two witnesses, whose statements were made public by the police only years later. Moreover, a recent discovery on the internet could potentially be a groundbreaking revelation.RATING & REVIEW (highly appreciated)FOLLOWING (to be informed about future episodes)FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.

In episode five we take a close look at Carl Doser, the man that officially owned the murder weapon but fooled the police when questioned about his Winchester 20 years ago. How and where he grew up as well as his social and family background. And we’ll focus on a private investigator that wrote a book about the murder and for the first time ever came up with a motive and theory.RATING & REVIEW (highly appreciated)FOLLOWING (to be informed about future episodes)FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.

The sensational discovery of the murder weapon, found hidden behind a kitchen unit in an apartment in the town of Olten almost 30 years after the crime, not only renewed the investigators' hope but also raised a multitude of new questions. Once the registered owner was identified, the police initiated an international manhunt, but the results were less than promising.RATING & REVIEW (highly appreciated)FOLLOWING (to be informed about future episodes)FEEDBACK & COMMENT (written or audio recording)SWISS MURDRER MYSTERIES WEBSITEAuthor & HostRudolph IslerGet in touchFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMLINKEDIN DonationsPayPalREVOLUTCopyrightPlayground Media Productions Ltd.