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GIP, really so sure he spoke French, a mask over the mouth would not give a clear voice least of all to a child in a state of shock !
Before I give up on the Vaulter Bandit:
He spoke English and French.
Small children often do not recognize their own language if it is spoken with a heavy accent, for example, a native English speaker with an accent from another English-speaking country.
He did surveillance before he struck. The construction worker disguise matched two crews in the area. For all we know, he may have taken items he found at these construction sites. Not all crews wear the same type of safety vest.
He used small getaway vehicles in common colors, like a silver VW Jetta. He was believed to have rented these vehicles. It was believed he spent time in the vicinity in advance of heists, likely staying in hotels nearby.
He knew how to fit in to the area of the banks he robbed, thus using a variety of disguises.
He was caught in Geneva. He lived in France. He may have had a gambling problem. Annemasse has a casino.
He failed to get away with any money in a couple of bungled heists, and had changed his MO to accosting staff as they entered banks in the morning. He dropped a police scanner at one such attempted robbery. He worked alone. He wore gloves sometimes. His face was partially obscured by a collar in one image. He always worked alone.
Facial recognition software proved useless in identifying him, maybe because he wore glasses. Police don’t know if these glasses were just a prop.
How exactly they were able to identify and arrest him in Geneva is unknown, but the $100,000 reward probably helped. Deduct 30% for $US value.
@ Good in Parts & M.
My initial reactions were (and are) spontaneous, off-the-cuff. However, particularly if the mask in question were a Guy Fawkes mask, I would assume the perpetrator to be a young person living out a global, mass-market fantasy originally conceived in Hollywood, rather than anything particularly french or highly individualistic. The lack of an individual touch would point to the youth and relative inexperience of the offender, who has not worked out any elaborate rituals of his own (as far as we know).
I would assume that person to be a young sociopath whose only previous experience of meting out violence may have been tormenting animals (remember those shot cows in the area?) and who graduated from this by investing himself with the myth and the invulnerability of some Hollywood psycho figure like Jason. (The V for Vendetta mask would not be such a good fit with that, because V was all about fighting for a just cause, righting wrongs, whereas this guy just wants to be all-powerful and baaaaaad.)
Here is a respirator madk of the type worn by construction workers.
http://m.uline.ca/h5/r/www.uline.ca/Product/Detail/S-10479/Dust-Masks-and-Respirators/Uline-N95-Standard-Industrial-Respirator-with-Valve?pricode=YA586&gadtype=pla&id=S-10479&gclid=CjwKEAiAmNW2BRDL4KqS3vmqgUESJABiiwDT8xGQvfji0g3M80DWy-zicLgpWm_wENJBOWE-q1SseBoCAlXw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Didn’t the ONF people speak WITH “THE MOTORCYCLIST”
presumably in FRENCH?
Q – yup that sort of thing.
M. – true, but EM arrests locals as potential shooters. ED did not strike me as the multicultural type.
Peter – Yes, tormenting animals may not be identified as a precursor in an area where adult family members are active chasseurs, carry hunting knives etc.
@ Q, 1 Mar, 2016 – 3:51 pm
Would a cotton respirator mask really be called a “masque synthétique blanc”? I doubt it. To my mind, that adjective “synthétique” signifies shiny plastic.
Anyway, before I go, I leave you with another type of white mask, equally popular with Paintballers and MX riders
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sad2l0OoPdE/T0yRyYbArTI/AAAAAAAAA1s/X07gCYxIm_Q/s1600/IMG_2541.JPG
@ M., 1 Mar, 2016 – 2:36 pm
Whatever type of mask it was, I would bet that it was full-face, because it not only served as a disguise, but also to prevent the killer from spraying saliva (and thus DNA trace evidence) all over the place. Given that he seems to have been determined to leave no survivors behind, this latter aspect must have been at least as important to him as disguising his appearance.
The ENGLISH would never be Europeans and “will not be told by foreigners what to do”.
http://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/648904/English-will-not-be-told-by-foreigners-what-to-do-Dr-Atenstaedt
Zaid refused to go to meet Eric Maillaud because he does not trust the FRENCH.
If a criminal case takes more than a year to come to court
and in that time the suspect is incaserated, if the suspect is found not guilty,
are they compensated?
If the suspects ( after long incaseration) are almost always found guilty,
who has already decided they are guilty.
Would that be the likes of Eric maillaud?
Would it be the same sort of person who decided that “The Motorcyclist” was not guilty?
Peter
I like that picture, not only because of my advocacy of a motorycycle based solution but because I owned a pair (sic) of Scott goggles of pretty much that exact same type. No face mask attachments though. Very comfortable, and fitted nicely over my glasses.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2549291/police-to-update-charges-against-alleged-vaulter-bandit/
The Vaulter Bandit may have thought his flight would be diverted to France, where he could not be extradited. Clever, but the plane was diverted to Heathrow.
@Peter: Safety respirator masks are made of synthetic materials.
Masks with hoodies and motorcycle helmets with a facepiece? I don’t know. I do know that I get the feeling of “don’t go there” whenever the possibility of youth involvement is mentioned. I don’t know why, except that there are youths connected with people at the heart of this story.
Finally, an image of the VB doing the perp walk:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/the-vaulter-1.3470554
Compare to:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article3913070.ece
I do hope that justice in FRANCE is not arbitrary,
it would be a crying shame if the guilty are allowed to go unknown, while others are hounded to their deaths.
@shadwell_say
“If @AmRochaix is correct, 3 men in black were seen near #Chevaline around the time of TCK: 1 biker, 1 killer & 1 in a Peugeot 206. 3 or 2?”
Q
“don’t go there”
Yeah, even said it myself. For the record I do not believe, nor am I suggesting in any way, shape or form that “youths connected with people at the heart of this story” committed these terrible murders.
I do think that a motorcycle was involved.
On my theory “like a film”
The killer use an anonymous mask because Chelsea-on-tigris was a hacker. (Good !)
Now, the tags to find the film are the follows :
anonymous, mask, murder, familly, forest, daughter, motorbike, muslim …
V FOR VENDETTA film is perhaps a part of the storyline.
https://twitter.com/shadwell_NTT/status/704791024158244865
(…)
He added then, that the gloves were also white. A bit peculiar, hein?
(…)
As I understood it, it [the mask] was pretty full face, just holes for the eyes.
Hmmm. If indeed true, this would lead me to question Eric Clouseau’s sanity (How the heck could he ever have imagined that a paid international hitman would dress up like that?) and suffice to terminate my personal interest in the matter. There is nothing fresh, original or newsworthy about a local nutter with a live squirrel up his jacksie, who will, much to everyone’s surprise, only be found out once he starts parading his stepmother’s severed head up and down the village’s main street, proclaiming God’s greatness. Boring, boring, boring 🙁
Plastic ‘Masque de Venise’ – Cost 2 Euros.
White latex gloves, purchased in any supermarket, used in medical profession, hairdressing, decorating, photo developing of the professional kind, hobbycrafting, cleaning, the list is endless.
Still, there was a great deal of planning to arrive in a place and have such a jolly lot of people turn up for a massacre.
What if they hadn’t? He knew one, some or all would be there. Unless it was rollplay, like
a kid playing Cowboys and Indians aiming at the passing vehicles from his hidey hole.
EU On Brink Of Refugee ‘Humanitarian Crisis’
http://news.sky.com/story/1651705/eu-on-brink-of-refugee-humanitarian-crisis
we want to leave so much.
I’#ve just been told by Waterstones that my copy of “The Perfect Crime” is in.
yippeeee, I’ll now be able to find out what it’s all about.
Ségolène Royal has drawn the ire of environmentalists in agreeing to extend the life of FRENCH nuclear reactors. All will not be, if France wants to meet its target of reducing the share of nuclear to 50% in 2025.
Prolonging power plants up to 50 years?
Ségolène Royal has put her foot in Sunday saying “ready to give the green light” to the extension of the life of plants that would be raised from 40 to 50 years. But the Minister of Environment and Energy maintains the blur on the number of reactors that would be affected. “It is not a question of extending all plants,” said she said last night on iTV. For its part, EDF has already officially recorded the extension of its reactor fleet 900 megawatts (MW) by launching the “refit”, a vast project to run its power plants beyond 40 years. Amortization over 50 years would bring a breath of fresh air to the electrician, which crosses financial difficulties.
Who has the power to decide their lifetime?
Only the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) may authorize the extension of the life of reactors.
Its president, Pierre-Franck Chevet, warns that “the continued operation of nuclear power plants beyond 40 years is not acquired.” ASN will in 2018 its generic position on the entire nuclear fleet and will position the reactor by reactor from 2020.
How much would this extension?
EDF advance a maintenance cost of its nuclear power plants about 55 billion euros over the period 2014-2025. The Court of Auditors the figure to 100 billion euros between 2014 and 2030 but believes that the impact on production costs and therefore electricity bills will be limited. But believes that the closure of the plants would cost much more to EDF, because of the loss of production.
What does the energy transition law?
The law enacted in August 2015 does not specify the number of reactors to close.
It tops out nuclear production at its current level (63.2 gigawatts). This will therefore require EDF to stop one or more, likely two reactors for setting the EPR service Flamanville (Manche) between 2018 and 2020. EDF has promised to consider the closure of the two reactors at Fessenheim (Haut -Rhine). Another major objective of the legislation: reducing from 77% to 50% the share of nuclear in electricity production in 2025, to promote renewable energy. “The share of nuclear power plants will decrease because some will not be extended,” said Segolene Royal.
50% nuclear: how?
For the Court of Auditors, the target set by the law mean reducing a third nuclear generation and thus to close 17 to 20 reactors. “Only a very significant increase in power consumption or exports would be likely to limit the number of closures,” said the Court of Auditors. A scenario dismissed by experts.
Jean-Bernard Lévy, CEO of EDF, refutes this calculation. “There is no other reactor closures planned in the next ten years,” he says.
When will we see more clearly?
After angering environmentalists, Ségolène Royal may “clarify her thinking” on Monday.
The Minister will present that day the multiannual programming of Energy (PEP) for eight years. This multi-year plan should detail the nuclear generation and thus the necessary number of reactors by 2023. “This document will plan our investments,” admits the CEO of EDF, which it expects PPE forward.
What a tangled web we weave.
The main reason “they” don’t want to shutter any plants, is they have NO IDEA what to do with the nuclear waste,
nor do they have a clue how FRANCE can pay for any decommissioning.
Certainly enough enough reasons to have people bumped off.
http://www.ledauphine.com/environnement/2016/03/01/l-energie-nucleaire-resiste
I doubt anyone will respond but I’d like to ask a question:
in the recent legal shenanigans between
Maitre Caroline Blanvillain /prosecutor Eric Maillaud / CEZUS /AREVA/EDF
and the media
have the media now been completely exonerated?
M.
You say ‘planning’, AM says ‘described* and rehearsed’.
The local piste must be pulling you back. You have breathed the air, you are one of us now…
(*) My guess is that when AM uses the word ‘described’ he means something like ‘laid out’ or even ‘scripted’. Do you think that would be a reasonable reading?
@ M., 2 Mar, 2016 – 9:49 am
The question is: how much of that get-up served role-playing purposes, and how much of it was due to forensic awareness? Latex gloves, for example, would be fairly utilitarian and a good choice for a shooter who needs manual dexterity for reloading. A “Masque de Venise” covering the eyes and nose only (at least that is how I understand the term) would be a less practical choice than a full-face mask, which would also serve to prevent saliva traces. Even the black clothing could be argued to have served utilitarian purposes: blood stains won’t show on black fabric, and black is a reasonably good camouflage colour for somebody hiding out in the woods.
Whatever the (mix of) motives behind the costume, it is clear that this was a premeditated mass slaying, not a spur-of-the-moment impulse. (Do try it: it is surprisingly difficult to put on tight latex gloves without getting your other hand’s dabs on the outside, which of course would defeat the whole purpose.) I am not sure, however, that the killer was waiting for these particular victims to show up. He could just as well have lain in wait for the first group of tourists, regardless of who they were.
https://www.masquesdevenise.fr/contents/fr/d3_MASQUES_DE_VENISE_BLANCS_A_PEINDRE.html
@ Good In Parts, 2 Mar, 2016 – 11:01 am
There is “rehearsed” (in the sense of mentally visualised a zillion times, plus plenty of actual shooting / Paintball practice) and “properly rehearsed”, in the sense of spending days or even weeks near the Martinet, logging the times at which the ONF guys come and go, firing a few practice shots to see how far the sound will carry, preparing a bug-out route, preparing caches for your weapon and costume, stashing a change of clothes nearby … If it was the latter, the chances are that the gendarmerie will have found traces of these preparations.
There are aspects to it that may be coincidental or may be the result of actual, physical rehearsals. For example, the fact that the killer wore his hood down. A hood can dislodge a face mask if one rapidly turns one’s head, thus, I would also do this with the hood down. Did he get that detail right by chance or through practice?