If you are going to post get the facts correct.
Nurse Faces 12 Years for Monaco Death
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021202/ap_on_re_eu/monaco_banker_death_2
By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer
MONTE CARLO, Monaco (AP) - Monaco's chief prosecutor demanded a 12-year prison sentence Monday for American male nurse Ted Maher for the 1999 arson death of his billionaire employer, Edmond Safra.
The prosecutor, Daniel Serdet, said Maher had set the fire in Safra's luxurious Monaco apartment that led to the asphyxiation deaths of the banker and another of his nurses, Vivian Torrente.
"He directly caused the deaths of Mrs. Torrente and Mr. Safra," Serdet said. "He trapped the victims."
Maher's high-profile trial on charges of arson leading to death ended after closing arguments Monday, with a verdict expected in the evening. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
The defense said Maher — who acknowledges setting the fire — did not intend for Safra and the nurse to die. His intention was merely to trigger the fire alarm in order to pose as Safra's savior in a rescue.
"Stupidity is reprehensible, but it is not a crime," said Sandrine Setton, one of his defense lawyers, who argued that the charge against Maher should be reduced to involuntary manslaughter, a charge that carries a maximum six years in prison.
"Condemn Theodore Maher for his lies, condemn Theodore Maher for his moral betrayal, condemn Theodore Maher for his faults," Setton said. "Do not condemn him for a crime he did not commit."
Maher has been held in Monaco's prison for the last three years.
The fire and trial have been a sensation in Monaco, which prides itself with providing a safe, security and luxurious environment for the rich and famous in this Mediterranean enclave.
For most of Monday's session, Maher sat still in the dock, looking gaunt and tired as he listened to a translation of the proceedings from French into English. Toward the end of the day, he gave a tearful final word in his own defense.
He called Safra "the best employer I ever had," and said he did not mean to cause his death or the death of the nurse.
"What's happened is and always will be a terrible accident," said the former Green Beret, reiterating earlier testimony.
Maher's wife was in court, as was Safra's widow.
Safra, the 67-year-old founder and principal stock owner of the Republic National Bank of New York, had Parkinson's disease (news - web sites) and required constant care.
He paid Maher $600 a day. Maher, originally from Auburn, Maine, told prosecutors it was "the most beautiful job" he had ever had.
But Maher also felt that Safra's chief nurse belittled him and he feared that he might lose his job. Just six weeks after arriving in Monaco, he hatched the idea of setting the fire to ingratiate himself with his boss and earn a promotion.
In testimony, Maher called the Dec. 3, 1999 blaze a "terrible accident" and said he never meant to harm his employer.
Lawyers for Safra's widow, Lily, however, say Maher should be judged for his actions, not his intentions.
On Monday, the prosecutor described how Maher cut himself with a knife and then set a fire in a wastepaper basket. He called for rescue and told authorities that two masked intruders were in the apartment.
But rather than extinguish the fire, Maher let it spread, the prosecution charged, leading to the two deaths. Prosecutors also said that his tale about intruders delayed the work of firefighters to control the blaze.
Maher's defense team is worried that Monaco, which only has a small, seaside jail, will send him to neighboring France to serve out his sentence if he is convicted. French prisons are extremely overcrowded.
10 years is a fact. The prosecution asked for 12.
"Safra, the 67-year-old founder and principal stock owner of the Republic National Bank of New York"
Crooked bank.