Ted Maher now says "It was an accident"

court tv online ^

[Jalapeno]

New Yorker pleads with Monaco court not to prosecute him in arson deaths

Ted Maher, left, could spend the rest of his life in a Monaco prison if convicted of killing billionaire Edmond Safra and a nurse in a fire he set in 1999.

By John Springer Court TV The 1999 deaths of billionaire banker Edmond Safra and a private-duty nurse in a Monaco were a "terrible accident" and should not be prosecuted as intentional homicides, a New York man charged with setting the fire that killed them told an appeals court early this month.   Ted Maher, a 43-year-old nurse who had been on Safra's personal staff, made the claim that the deaths were accidental in prepared remarks he read in a hearing May 3 before three judges. The court is expected to issue a key ruling within weeks which could determine whether Maher goes home to upstate New York soon or if he will spend much of the rest of his life imprisoned in the tiny French principality on the Mediterranean. Edmond Safra A Monaco prosecutor asked the court at that closed-door hearing to uphold his decision to try Maher on charges of arson causing death. Maher's lawyers insist that although the defendant set a fire Dec. 3, 1999, in a wastepaper basket, he had no intention of harming anyone. Prosecutors say Maher changed his story quickly and confessed that he merely wanted to look like a hero in his wealthy employer's eyes when he set the fire, stabbed himself and cooked up a story about confronting two hooded intruders.   Maher's statement before the appeals court, which was obtained this week by Courttv.com, shows his frustration with a criminal justice system that his family claims is making Maher a scapegoat for the failure of police and firefighters to rescue Safra and nurse Vivian Torrente. Both died from toxic fumes spread by a fire inside Safra's fortified penthouse in Monaco.   Before the fire gutted the penthouse, Maher stumbled bleeding from knife wounds into the lobby of Safra's bank building to report the fire. Firefighters, however, were kept from launching a rescue mission for more than an hour after Maher was taken to a hospital because police believed the intruders were still inside.   "Today, I exercise my right to protest ...," Maher, with the support of his lawyers, began his remarks. "I fully realize how politically charged and biased this case has been.  Does this justify a wrongful outcome of justice or to pass it along to others?  Does this allow a blindness to the laws of the country?"   Maher than hit on a point that some of the lawyers on his five-member legal team stressed in arguments to the judges. "Without the intent can there be a crime?  I was involved in a terrible accident, in which I hold myself responsible for, to a point," Maher said. "So much time passed without intervention.  I am no more an arsonist than anyone here. Is an accident a crime?  No, it's not!  And that is my main point. This is and always will be a terrible accident for numerous parties concerned — nothing more or less."   Prosecutor Daniel Serdet could not be reached. Maher's lawyer in Monte Carlo, Donald Manasse, told Courttv.com after the hearing that the defendant was forceful and sincere while delivering his remarks to the court.   "When he speaks for himself he comes off very sincere," Manasse said. "He basically says, 'I'm only a nurse and a father. This is all much great than me and I am very much concerned that this is a political thing.' "   The death of Safra, one of the richest men in the world, touched of a legal battle between his widow, Lily Safra, and surviving brothers. The "brothers Safra," as they have become to be known in the European press, have been trying to get the pre-trial investigation to remain open out of a belief that perhaps Maher not act alone. Lily Safra's high-powered lawyer argued that there is no evidence that anyone other than Maher was responsible for the deaths.   According to Manasse, the prosecutor's argument was that although he believes Maher did not intend to cause the death, he is nonetheless responsible for the consequences of his actions for setting the fire. Serdet argued that Maher should be forced to answer the more serious arson causing deaths charge in criminal court and not the French equivalent of involuntary manslaughter.   If the judges rule that Maher can be prosecuted in criminal court, he could face life in prison if convicted. If the case is tried as a lesser crime in a correctional court, Maher would face only six years in prison. He has already been incarcerated for 30 months.   At the hearing, Maher's lawyers argued that the investigation and statements Maher made to police in 1999 about being attacked by intruders should be nullified on numerous procedural grounds. Manasse said that he argued that the first examining magistrate, Patricia Richet, failed to properly advise Maher of his right to counsel before she interrogated him on the record. The appeals court recently held that suspects should even be interrogated at their initial appearances, only asked if they want to make a statement, Manasse said.   Maher's lawyers also argued that a search of Maher's hotel room was illegal because he was not present and did not appoint a designee to be there. Although Maher's wife, Heidi Maher, was present for the search, Maher did not know that she was in Monaco. Heidi Maher claims that she was kidnapped by agents of Lily Safra and taken to a police station against her will so that her passport could be confiscated and shown to her husband to get him to confess.   Maher has dropped his claim that he was attacked by intruders but his lawyers and wife say that without evidence he intended to harm Safra or Torrente, the more serious charge is neither appropriate nor legal.   "Should the courts keep the arson charges against Ted, I will look forward to having Monaco, not Ted, on trial," Heidi Maher told Courttv.com. "[The defense] has prepared many worldwide experts to come into the trial to prove it was Monaco's police and firemen, not my husband, that killed Mr. Safra and Vivian Torrente. The same policemen that kidnapped both me and my brother to force Ted to confess. My husband was trying to save Mr. Safra and Vivian that night. The evidence clearly shows this. Monaco picked the wrong scapegoat. I will not give up my fight for showing the truth."   The court did not indicate how soon it will rule. A correctional trial — held for the lesser charges — could he conducted as early as July, if the court rules that way. A criminal trial most likely could not begin until September at the earliest.   Michael Griffith, a New York lawyer advising the defense, attended the hearing but was not permitted to address the court. We wanted them to know that if they do hold Ted to the higher charge, it's going to be a longer trial than they expected and we're going to put Monaco on trial," Griffith said. "If that happens people are going to find out that in Monaco it takes three years for an American to go to trial and when the wife goes over she gets kidnapped on the street."   Griffith said he expects a ruling by late May or the first week of June.

Comprehensive case coverage

[sinkspur]

He won't respond. In fact he does not even believe you are a FReeper. He's just a known disruptor on this and numerous other threads on Free Republic.

I honor, especially on this Memorial Day weekend, the service you have given in protecting me and my family.

That said, I've been on this forum three years longer than you. I'm not a "disruptor"; I just don't swallow every lame story that comes down the pike. Free Republic breeds hysteria and conspiracy. Surely you've noticed.

I'll be the first to kiss Ted's hand and beg forgiveness if he is declared innocent in Monaco.

Let's just wait and see what happens.

[agrandis]

Nita, give me a shortcut to understanding this matter. What is the motivation for Monaco to have gotten this recent confession out of Maher, through drugs or torture, as some here are claiming. I am not one of those people that demands a motive before I will see a crime, but it would help here if there was some motives made clear. Maybe I'll understand better if I can find some stuff to read.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

New Yorker pleads with Monaco court not to prosecute him in arson deaths
This is the actual headline.
Jim Robinson has asked over and over again for people not to make up misleading headlines.

[American Preservative]

Tonkin, you told me something one time, and, (if I haven't said it before,) I want to say it to you now -
"G*d bless you Tonkin." : )

You are tremendous! : )

[agrandis]

No matter what the truth is here, if you are really the man's wife, I apolgize to you for some of my flip comments about all this. Please understand, I don't know you and your husband from Adam and Eve, and have never been to Monaco, so I was able to see humor in some of the facts, being so personally disconnected.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Where is your apology to Mrs Maher for calling her a fool?
Or are you still afraid to find out the truth?
Or maybe you think Time Magazine and the NY Post are reliable sources like Hillary's Lovely Legs does.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Here is some more info

YOUR help needed in freeing a FReeper's husband and a FReeper's Brother PING
VETS: Ted Maher is OUR Brother also
TWO DIFFERENT administrations have ignored this injustice.
It's up to FReepers to again handle what the government will not.
Please Help Green Beret Veteran, Ted Maher,
In prison in Monaco since December of 1999.
Click here for Ted Maher Defense & Support site

***Listen to the Radio FR AnnaZ and Mercuria
Interview with FReeper MRS MAHER (Ted's wife)***
The interview is the Jan 3, 2002 one in the Radio FR Archives
RadioFR Archives, Hear the shows you missed
Ted Maher is also the brother of FReeper Michael Maher
Michael Maher is the webmaster of the Ted Maher Defense & Support site

[sinkspur]

Where is your apology to Mrs Maher for calling her a fool?

No apologies until the verdict is in.

Or maybe you think Time Magazine and the NY Post are reliable sources like Hillary's Lovely Legs does.

At this point, they're as reliable as the statements from the wife of a man in the dock for the death of another man.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Or maybe you think Time Magazine and the NY Post are reliable sources like Hillary's Lovely Legs does.
"At this point, they're as reliable as the statements from the wife of a man in the dock for the death of another man."

The same sources that said klintoon was innocent and the Gore won the election.
Enough said, you just proved what PT Barnum said
"There's a sucker born every minute."

[Nita Nupress]

Save your energy, Tonkin. Everyone here knows this is typical sinkspur. He's just that way.

He's like me: He cain't hep' it!

[Nita Nupress]

Check your mail. And read #118 and #161.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"He's like me: He cain't hep' it!"

Neither can I. LOL
All he needs to do is apologize to Mrs Maher for the insult.
After all she is a FReeper and the dims love to see one FReeper insult another.

[agrandis]

Interesting stuff! I take back my initial, knee-jerk reaction. Something ain't right, here. More study needed. Sinkspur and Illbay are useful. If you find yourself agreeing with them, it usually means you need to dig deeper.

[TLBSHOW]

WE CAN QUESTION THE MOTIVE YOU HAD. WHICH SEEMS TAINTED.

[Nita Nupress]

Sinkspur and Illbay are useful. If you find yourself agreeing with them, it usually means you need to dig deeper.

LOL! I thought I was the only one who liked to have them around for that reason.

sinkspur is lovable, but whenever I find myself agreeing with him, I start breaking out in hives and hyperventilating.

[American Preservative]

Found some interesting "facts" when rereading Thread 1.
According to which Media one reads, you, get source (Dec. 3, 1999)
From Post #12 - "The family bodyguard was seriously wounded in the attack and is in a critical condition in Princess Grace Hospital."

And, in Post #43 (Thread 1) - Link - Source - Guardian.co.uk - Sat. Dec. 4, 1999
"The family bodyguard suffered a minor knife wound to the stomach during a struggle."

Monte Carlo banker killed by intruders on eve of $10bn deal

Jon Henley in Paris
Saturday December 4, 1999
The Guardian

An investigation has been launched into the death of a leading international banker who was killed yesterday just weeks after agreeing a multibillion dollar deal to sell his empire.
Edmond Safra, 68, one of the world's wealthiest men, died in a fire apparently lit by two knife-wielding, masked men who broke into his Monte Carlo penthouse before dawn yesterday. He was the founder and a major shareholder of Republic New York Corporation, the third largest bank in the New York area. He was in the final stages of selling his stake in the bank and the Luxembourg-based Safra Republic bank to the London-based financial services group HSBC, in a deal worth nearly $10bn (£6.26bn).

Police in the Mediterranean principality said he died from suffocation after barricading himself into his bathroom to escape the attackers.

Monaco's government-run press service said the two masked intruders broke into the six-storey belle epoque building near the town's casino, shortly after 5.30 a.m.

They made their way unchallenged to Lebanese-born Safra's apartment on the fifth and sixth floors and forced the main door. This set off alarms in the building, which also houses the Monaco branch of Republic New York Corporation, the French bank Paribas and other international financial institutions, giving Safra time to hide.

"It seems the killers were unable, or didn't have time, to reach their victims," a police spokesman said. "It's possible, though we don't yet know for sure, that they started the fire just outside the apartment door on the sixth floor. It spread to the roof very quickly. I don't think the occupants had much of a chance to escape."

It took firefighters three hours to extinguish the blaze, which gutted the top two floors of the building.

Safra, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, died in the bathroom with his stepdaughter's nanny, who was not identified. His Brazilian wife, Lily Monteverdi, and her granddaughter barricaded themselves in another room and survived unscathed.

The family bodyguard suffered a minor knife wound to the stomach during a struggle.

The attack rocked the small principality, whose 30,000 inhabitants are rarely troubled by crime. Monaco, which has a 450-strong police force and where some 70 video surveillance cameras are installed around the town, averages one murder a decade.

HSBC said it was "appalled" at Safra's death, but that it would not halt the deal. Rumours swept financial markets yesterday suggesting Arab or Jewish extremists were behind the attack or even the Russian mafia.

Police are now investigating whether the attack was linked with Mr Safra's business activities. He incurred heavy losses in Russia last year, and had also received death threats in recent years, according to some banking sources. The simplest theory was that it was a bungled burglary attempt.

Safra, the son of a wealthy Jewish family from Beirut, was a noted philanthropist who helped build synagogues and schools across the world.

__________________________________

And, in another article (but, can't find it now) it said Ted was "drenched in blood."

________________________________

So....that's for all those who think THIS incorrectly-titled thread is the one and only "correct" article.

_________________________________

(Shhh...just between you and me Nita ; )), I think what you said in post #118, may be correct. Ted may be doing this so Monaco can "save face." 'Cause they sure aren't allowing all those "innocent-proving" items into trial, are they? Maybe they'll expel Ted, since they have that as a Monaco right. Hint, hint to Monaco. And, then the golden sun will once again shine on that fairy-tale land of Monaco. Hmm...wonder how tourism's doin' over there these days?)

Monaco: FREE TED NOW!

_______________________

Thank you for explaining the photo, Mrs. Maher. Stay strong.

[Jalapeno]

AP, what does this prove?

These articles all fall within the first 24-48 hrs after the incident. (Dec 3 & 4). It was announced that Ted 'confessed' on or before Dec 6th. This falls in line with the fact that his first comments were reported in the press before he 'recanted'.

(All flamers and spamers need not reply).

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Now actually read the real data, where Ted does not read or speak French.
Yet the original "confession" was in French.
Get educated or go away.
You started with a phony headline and keep "quoting" BS.

[Jalapeno]

But has he ever denied the confession since that time?

Not that I am aware of.

Instead, he's trying to prove he did not intend to kill those two people. The Arson Charge is what appears to be at stake here, which could get him a life sentence.

Why is there such a disconnect here? Why isn't Ted claiming his innocence?
Nita's explaination is plausible, and if that's the argument we can leave it at that. I would only add that its just as plausible is that it might be true.

It is apparent to me that he did not intend to kill those people, nor burn the place down. But I do not see him fighting the confession that he wanted to look good to his client, and therefore made up the invasion.

And please try to be civil, if you can possibly be at all . I explained how the title came to be, and even apologize for it if you were offended. I have not attacked anyone in this forum in anyway. You spout off how you want people to be educated, yet you appear deeply afraid of questions and counter-information in regards to this topic.

[Nita Nupress]

Why is there such a disconnect here? Why isn't Ted claiming his innocence? Nita's explaination is plausible, and if that's the argument we can leave it at that. I would only add that its just as plausible is that it might be true.

I've been trying to picture myself in that Monaco hell-hole, wondering just what I would do if I were in that situation. Even if I were completely innocent of doing anything wrong, would I continue to loudly & defiantly proclaim my innocence after being locked in a jail cell with no trial for over two and a half years? What kind of shape would I be in if I could only talk to my kids once a week on a stupid telephone? And if the judge ripped up my kids' mail in front of me? If my spouse had to work back-to-back doubles and sell the house just to keep groceries on the table for the kids? I can't even imagine it.

Monaco, it's time to cut bait. Every time someone comes to FR and sees Ted Maher's name, they associate it with you. They associate the word "Monaco" with an American who's been locked up for two and a half years with no trial. If you think this will just go away and Americans will forget about it, you're dead wrong.