The only survivor of the Montreux tragedy, which ended in the death of a family two months ago, spoke to investigators. The thesis of collective suicide remains privileged.
The hypothesis of the collective suicide of a French family in Montreux, Switzerland two months ago remains privileged, after the only survivor was able to speak to investigators, police said on Wednesday. The survivor, the family’s 15-year-old son, remains in hospital and is being treated for multiple broken bones after he jumped seven stories high. But he has “currently no memory of the day of the tragedy”, indicates a press release from the police of the canton of Vaud (west).
The five members of the French family, including the two children, had climbed over the balcony of their apartment using a small stepladder before rushing into the void, one by one. “Based on the investigations carried out following the tragedy that occurred in Montreux on Thursday March 24, the thesis of suicide remains privileged, any intervention by a third party being ruled out,” he underlines.
“No harbinger of such a move to action”
Police investigations are now complete, and technical investigations, including analysis of phone calls and internet searches, have shown “no early signs of such an act, which has also been confirmed by the son”. The examinations carried out by the forensic doctors did not reveal any other traces of violence than those following the fall from a height of more than 20 meters. Forensic analyzes including DNA analyzes do not call into question the thesis of suicide either.
The tragedy occurred in a district of Montreux close to the casino of this chic city on the shores of Lake Geneva, even as the gendarmes went precisely to the apartment of this French family. The 40-year-old father, his 41-year-old wife, his twin sister and the couple’s 8-year-old daughter have died.
The family had “constituted an impressive stock of food of all kinds”
The investigators had found a stepladder on the balcony from which the members of this family jumped, and could not detect any trace of a struggle. According to the police, “the family lived in virtual self-sufficiency, withdrawn from society, and only the mother’s twin sister worked outside the home”. Neither the mother nor the little girl were registered with the authorities and the latter did not attend school. His big brother was supposed to be home schooled and it was a home verification procedure by two police officers, shortly before the tragedy, which seems to have led to the act.
The investigation showed that “since the start of the pandemic, the family was very interested in conspiracy and survival theses”, and had “constituted an impressive stock of food of all kinds” According to the police, “all of these elements suggests, in the members of this family, the fear of an interference of the authority in their life”.