An American chocolate businessman has been arrested for the brutal murder of a 3D movie pioneer on a beautiful Caribbean island.
Jonathan Lehrer, the operator of chocolate maker Bois Collette Inc., is expected to appear in the Roseau Magistrate’s Court on the island of Dominica Wednesday to be charged with the murders of Daniel Langlois and his partner, Dominique Marchand, Dominica News Online reported.
The bodies of Langlois, 66, and Marchand were found around 7 a.m. local time Friday in the burning wreckage of a car that appeared to have plunged into a ravine from a nearby road, the outlet explained.
The pair – who were reported missing before the bodies were found – are believed to have been shot before the car plunged off the road and burst into flames, the Telegraph reported, citing police sources.
Langlois founded animation firm Softimage – which pioneered CGI for the likes of “Jurassic Park” and other popular franchises – in the 1980s and sold the company to Microsoft for $200 million in 1994, the outlet said.
Daniel Langlois (left) and Dominique Marchand were found dead on Friday. Daniel Langlois Foundation Daniel Langlois is a heralded pioneer of 3D animation. Daniel Langlois Foundation
He moved to Dominica in 1997, where he and Marchand spent 20 years building Coulibri Ridge, a 285-acre off-the-grid luxury resort that opened just last year.
Coulibri Ridge neighbors Lehrer’s chocolate business, and Langlois and the American businessman were previously embroiled in a years-long dispute over the use of a public road that cuts through the chocolatier’s property, Dominica News Online said.
At one point, Lehrer allegedly blocked part of the road with rocks and other debris, prompting Langlois to take him to court, citing damage and interference in his economic interests, the outlet said.
The couple’s bodies were found in a burning car. CTV News
The back-and-forth dragged on for four or five years until, in 2019, a high court judge upheld the road’s public designation, and granted Langlois employees and guests unrestricted access, according to Dominica News Online.
In the days after Langlois and Marchand’s bodies were found, police took four people – Lehrer, his wife, Victoria, a man named Robert Snider, and an unnamed local man – into custody, the outlet said.
Only Lehrer and Snider, however, are expected to face charges this week.
Langlois worked on 3D animation in the 1980s and eventually founded Softimage. Daniel Langlois Foundation
It’s unclear how Snider is connected to Lehrer or the victim. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Dominica did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
“Jonathan was a successful businessman, not a murderer,” Lehrer’s father, Robert Lehrer, told the Journal de Montréal about the charges against his son on Tuesday.
“We are very close and he is not violent at all. I can hardly believe it…“He is fed up with illegal crossings on his route and it bothers him a lot, but I haven’t heard any news for a long time,” he added.
A month before he was killed, Daniel Langlois was honored by the local government for his contribution to sustainable development. Facebook / Sustainable Earth Dominica
Just a month before his death, the local government presented Langlois with an Outstanding Service Award for his contribution to sustainable development on the island, Radio Canada reported.
Those close to the couple – Langlois and Marchand, both from their native Quebec and their adopted home of Dominica – were devastated by the murder.
“They are an inspiration to all of us. We want justice to bring Jonathan to us so we can take care of him. The community is in crisis, we want to take care of it ourselves,” an anonymous woman who works at Coulibri Ridge told the Journal de Montréal.
Langlois and Marchand recently opened their off-grid resort, Coulibri Ridge. Coulibri Ridge
“We don’t want him to go to jail and be fed with our taxes and Daniel and Dominique’s taxes,” the woman insisted.
In addition to their resort, Langlois and Marchand founded two charities – The Humane Society of Dominica and REZDM – after Hurricane Maria in 2017, the Telegraph said.
“He was really instrumental in the recovery of Soufrière elementary school with more than $1 million invested,” school director Ericson Degallaire told the Journal de Montréal about Langlois’ involvement in rebuilding the school after the storm.
“He did a lot of good for the school. Unfortunately he and his partner ended up like that,” lamented Degallaire.
The Coulibri Ridge resort did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the incident.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
