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Murders & Mysteries
A look into the world of murder and unsolved mysteries.
April 6, 2005
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This case boils down to one question: Did he do it or
didn't he? The jury thinks he didn't, but Swiss officials think he did. Would
someone as high-profile as Cyril Belshaw, editor-in-chief of Current Ethological
Sciences and adviser to the U.N. Bureau of Social Affairs, among other
notable achievements, would he murder his wife over his affair?
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In 1978, Professor Cyril Belshaw, head of the anthropology
department at the University of British Columbia, and wife Betty Belshaw
decided to take a year off from work. For the second half of "the
vacation," they decided to go to Montana-Vermala, Switzerland. While
there, they decided to go to Paris. On January 14, 1979, they arrived at the
Novotel Bagnolet hotel in Paris. No one saw hide nor hair of them until they
ordered breakfast the next morning. Betty wanted to research at the
Bibliotheque Nationale and Cyril wanted to look around Paris. They left the
hotel, separating at Bourse Station. That was the last time Cyril saw his
wife.
At 1 p.m., they were supposed to meet up at Galleries
Lafayette but Betty never appeared. The following day he reported her as
missing to Paris police. He also notified the Canadian Embassy and called
their two adult children. On January 18, he returned to Montana-Vermala,
Switzerland.
Later that year, on March 28, workers were repairing a road
near Le Sepey, Switzerland and found the nude body of a middle-aged woman,
wrapped in garbage bags and bound up with twine. The body lay in a ravine used
as a garbage-disposal site. Animals had mauled it and identification would not
be easy. When no one was able to claim the body, Interpol asked if it could be
Betty Belshaw, even though she had disappeared in Paris and this body was
found in Switzerland. Professor Belshaw was asked and complied with a request
for Betty's dental records. The records indicated the body was not that of
Betty Belshaw. Cyril returned home to British Columbia.
Did He -- Or Didn't He? continued below...
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| Did He -- Or Didn't
He? continued... |
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He wrote a letter to the Vancouver RCMP (Royal Canadian
Mounted Police) stating he had doctored the dental records he gave to Swiss
police because he was unable "to face the psychological trauma of
possibly identifying my wife without the presence of family and friends, or
the delays in returning to my home and family after many months of hope that
my wife might be found alive." A second set of dental records confirmed
that the Le Sepey body was Betty Belshaw. Swiss detectives trekked to
Vancouver to ask him some questions. Point blank, he refused to return to
Switzerland. All Swiss authorities could do was wait. On November 1, 1979,
Cyril was arrested in Paris as he was attending a U.N. conference. Swiss
officials immediately began extradition proceedings. And on December 3, 1980,
he stood trial for murder.
The prosecution brought to light that Cyril was having a prolonged affair
with an Elida Harris of Vancouver. Elida had spent time in his Montana-Vermala
chalet just one week before the Belshaws "vacation." While there
with Elida, who was also married, Betty was still at home. After he returned
to Canada, he made sure to see Elida at least once a month. Cyril had killed
Betty because she had found out about the affair. But not only that, Betty had
never made it to Paris, she had been killed en route. Hotel employees in Paris
couldn't recall seeing Betty.
Cyril admitted to falsifying the first set of dental records and to his
affair with Elida, but denied killing Betty. Betty wouldn't have broken up the
marriage had she learned of the affair. It was up to three judges and a
6-member jury who decided he was not guilty. The case remains officially
unsolved.
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Copyright? ?©? 2005? Murders & Mysteries. All Rights Reserved
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