Murder of Édouard Stern

Édouard Stern (18 October 1954 – 28 February 2005) was a French banker born into the family behind the private investment house Banque Stern. He graduated from ESSEC Business School in Paris and joined the family bank in 1977, later selling it and a successor institution for substantial sums, which pushed him into the ranks of France's wealthiest citizens. He subsequently worked as a managing partner at Lazard Frères before founding his own investment fund, Investment Real Returns, and later took a significant stake in the London-based Delta PLC, becoming its non-executive chairman in December 2003. Over his career he amassed a fortune reported at more than $1 billion.

On 28 February 2005, Stern was found dead in his apartment in Geneva. His body had been struck by four bullets, and he was found in the bedroom wearing a flesh-coloured, head-to-toe latex bodysuit with a sex toy inserted in him. Society columnist Taki Theodoracopulos wrote in The Spectator that Stern was bisexual and had a boyfriend in addition to his girlfriends, describing him as a connoisseur of "rough trade" sex.

Swiss authorities arrested Cécile Brossard, described as Stern's long-time lover of a four-year relationship, and charged her with his murder, which was alleged to have occurred during a sado-masochistic bondage session. Brossard, then 40, was convicted and, on 18 June 2009, sentenced to eight years and six months in prison. The Swiss court additionally ordered her to pay Stern's children one Swiss franc in "moral damage." The Wall Street Journal reported that Stern's family hoped people would stop discussing the case.

Brossard was freed on parole in November 2010 after five years in detention, including four years spent awaiting trial. In 2013, she spoke publicly about the killing for the first time since her trial, saying she "eternally regrets" her actions, that she missed Stern, and that he had "a lovely and luminous personality."

Stern's personal life included a 1983 marriage to Béatrice David-Weill, daughter of Lazard Frères president Michel David-Weill; the couple divorced in 1998 and had three children together, Mathilde, Louis, and Henri. He was later romantically linked to Julia Lemigova, former Miss USSR 1990, before becoming involved with Cécile Brossard in 2001. He was reported to have been close to former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The case attracted significant cultural attention, inspiring the French film "Une Histoire d'Amour" (released in English as "Tied") and reportedly influencing Olivier Assayas' 2008 film "Boarding Gate." Stern's death was also parodied in a 2012 episode of the FX animated series Archer.