– Billionaire French hotelier shot dead ‘in professional hit’ (Telegraph, Oct. 26, 2011):
The lifeless body of Claude Dray, 76, was found with three bullet holes in the neck in Neuilly-sur-Seine, the Paris suburb where President Nicolas Sarkozy built his career and still owns property.
A butler found Dray’s corpse at 9am on Tuesday following a death that had all the hallmarks of a professional hit.
Dray, one of the most prominent Jews in France, had been the subject of threats in the past. His palatial villa – which was called Madrid – was considered one of the most secure in the French capital.
It was regularly surrounded by police and private security guards, and is equipped with anti-intruder measures including cameras and infra-red alarms.
“Somebody got in and fired three bullets into the victim’s neck,” said one detective at the scene who asked not to be named, adding that a silencer had likely been used as domestic staff heard nothing.
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