WYRSCH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-09-14 published
Love triangle suspected in double-slaying, suicide
Police theorize Swiss man may have found his girlfriend with
German
By Timothy
APPLEBY with reports from Omar EL
AKKAD and Naomi
BUCK,
Page
A13
Three European tourists found stabbed to death early Monday at
an expensive downtown Toronto hotel were slain in a double murder-suicide,
police confirmed yesterday, and likely perished in a deadly love
triangle.
Killed were Swiss nationals Nadja
WYRSCH, 24, and Andre
ASCHWANDEN,
35, along with German-born Thomas
KAUFMANN, 35, who also lived
in Switzerland.
Police believe Mr.
ASCHWANDEN killed Ms.
WYRSCH, his girlfriend,
and Mr. KAUFMANN and then turned his knife on himself.
Ms. WYRSCH was a biologist specializing in cytology, the study
of cells, while Mr.
ASCHWANDEN is believed to have been a salesman
for a fuel-injection company. Both were residents of Lucerne,
in central Switzerland, where German is the predominant language.
Ms. WYRSCH would have turned 25 yesterday.
Their friend, Mr.
KAUFMANN, lived near Bern, the Swiss capital,
where he worked at the University of Bern's veterinary clinic.
Together, the three flew to Toronto from Zurich on Sunday afternoon
and were part of a tour group of about 24 people -- mostly Germans
but also including some Swiss and French -- that was to tour
Canada for three weeks, visiting several large cities.
Ms. WYRSCH and Mr.
ASCHWANDEN knew Mr.
KAUFMANN, police believe,
which would explain why they agreed to share a room on the 19th floor
of the Delta Chelsea on downtown Gerrard Street, Canada's largest
hotel.
"We believe they all knew each other reasonably well," said Detective
Dan NIELSEN of the Toronto homicide squad.
As well, each of them appeared to have a hearing disability.
"The information we have is that at least two of them were hearing
impaired, and possibly all three," Det.
NIELSEN said. "We're
trying to verify that."
Ms. WYRSCH, who was on the board of LKH Switzerland, an association
for the deaf, was killed by stab wounds to the chest and a slash
to the neck, inflicted by a multibladed, Swiss army-type knife
that was found in the blood-soaked hotel room.
The same weapon was used to kill Mr.
KAUFMANN and Mr.
ASCHWANDEN,
both of whom died from stab wounds to the chest.
With no signs of forced entry to the room and no evidence of
robbery, the working theory of investigators is that the violence
stemmed from anger or jealousy.
Police believe Mr.
ASCHWANDEN may have unexpectedly discovered
his girlfriend and Mr.
KAUFMANN in the room together and that
he flew into a murderous rage.
Other guests on the 19th floor reported hearing loud arguing
and the sound of running.
A hotel security guard making his rounds shortly before 4: 30 a.m.
discovered Mr.
KAUFMANN on the floor of the corridor near one
of the elevators, reportedly clad only in a pair of boxer shorts,
after apparently fleeing the murder scene. He was taken to nearby
Saint Michael's Hospital, where he died shortly afterward.
A trail of blood led down the hallway to room 1908, where Ms.
WYRSCH's
body was found on the floor. That of Mr.
ASCHWANDEN was lying
on one of the beds. Police described the scene as horrific.
No other suspects are being sought and Det.
NIELSEN said he expects
the investigation to wrap up soon.
"We're still processing the [crime] scene and a few more witnesses,
but we're getting pretty close."
The three visitors were on a tour organized through the company
Jonview Canada, owned and operated by Transat A.T. Inc. of Montreal.
The double murder pushed Toronto's homicide total so far this
year to 46.
A Swiss relative of Ms.
WYRSCH, a farmer who said he had known
her since childhood and described her as "a good person," said
she knew several members of the tour group.
"She worked hard, she deserved the holiday. She didn't go on
holiday often…. It was a normal group tour."
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WYRSCH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-09-14 published
Tourist deaths a double murder-suicide
Woman, friend stabbed by boyfriend, who then took own life: Autopsies
'It is my opinion they were all stabbed in the room and the one
man fled'
By Tracy HUFFMAN,
Crime▼
Reporter▼ with files from John
DUNCANSON
Nadja WYRSCH had planned to celebrate her 25th birthday in Canada,
travelling from Toronto to the West Coast with her boyfriend
and a male friend.
But within hours of arriving Sunday on an Air Canada flight from
Zurich, Switzerland,
WYRSCH was bleeding to death on the floor
of her downtown hotel room with stab wounds to her chest and
neck.
Down the hall on the 19th floor of the Delta Chelsea Hotel, her
friend, Thomas
KAUFMANN, 35, had collapsed outside the elevator,
also suffering stab wounds to the chest.
And not far from
WYRSCH was her boyfriend, 35-year-old Andre
ASCHWANDEN, on the bed with self-inflicted stab wounds to the
chest.
After autopsies,
WYRSCH and
KAUFMANN's deaths were declared homicides
and ASCHWANDEN's death a suicide.
A hotel security worker found
KAUFMANN, a mechanical engineer,
at about 4: 30 a.m. Monday. The walls and carpet of the hallway
were soaked with blood -- a trail leading to Room 1908, where
police discovered the other two bodies.
"It is my opinion they were all stabbed in the room and the one
man fled. We are still continuing with the crime scene," said
Det.
Sgt.
Steve
RYAN, the lead homicide investigator on the case.
"We want to be sure there's no other weapon in the room."
Investigators are not looking for suspects. Police believe a
knife found in the hotel room was used in all three slayings.
A police source said the murder weapon was a Swiss Army multi-tool
with a 13-cm blade.
"This is a true tragedy. It is a bizarre case,"
RYAN said, adding
that without an eyewitness, he had relied on several experts
and language interpreters to draw conclusions about what happened.
RYAN said he now knows that
WYRSCH and
KAUFMANN knew each other
and had some kind of a relationship. The officer said he is expecting
to get more information about their relationship.
The evidence suggests the slayings were related to a love triangle.
WYRSCH and
ASCHWANDEN had booked the three-week cross-Canada
adventure with Jonview Canada, a tour company. At about $6,500 per
person, the couple planned to take in such sites as Niagara Falls
and the Rockies.
KAUFMANN -- who carried a German passport but lived near Bern,
Switzerland -- was on the same flight from Zurich. He shared
a room with the couple that first night and had planned to join
the tour group.
All three had hearing impairments but none was deaf or used sign
language.
In her native Switzerland,
WYRSCH worked in a cytology lab, specializing
in the study of cancer cells, and was on the executive committee
of LKH Switzerland, which provides support to people with
hearing impairments.
Little is known about
WYRSCH's boyfriend, who, like her, lived
near Lucerne; the couple did not live together.
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WYRSCH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-09-15 published
Tourist's father also committed suicide
Man killed 2 people, himself in hotel
Police say he was enraged about affair
By Tracy HUFFMAN,
Crime▲
Reporter▲
The father of a Swiss resident who killed his girlfriend and
a male friend before taking his own life in a downtown Toronto
hotel this week also died of an apparent suicide.
A reporter with Radio 24 in Switzerland said he spoke with the
man's neighbour last night, and the neighbour said the father
died a few months ago.
Andre ASCHWANDEN, 35, came to Canada Sunday night with his girlfriend,
Nadja WYRSCH, and Thomas
KAUFMANN to travel across the country
on a three-week vacation.
But according to police sources,
ASCHWANDEN learned of an affair
between his 24-year-old girlfriend and
KAUFMANN, 35, and went
into a rage.
KAUFMANN, a mechanical engineer, was stabbed in Room 1908 at
the Delta Chelsea on Gerrard St. W., then stumbled down the hall,
bleeding and bumping into the walls before collapsing outside
the elevator.
WYRSCH, a scientist who studied diseases in cells, was found
dead with stab wounds to her neck and chest on the floor inside
the room that the trio was sharing. Her boyfriend died of self-inflicted
stab wounds to the chest.
Police have seized the murder weapon, a Swiss Army multi-tool
with a 13-centimetre blade.
According to his boss of 10 years,
ASCHWANDEN was a "peace-loving"
man.
ASCHWANDEN worked as a carpenter in Schattdorf, Switzerland,
for Bissig, a kitchen and bath company, the Swiss media reported.
"This is unbelievable," his boss, Stefan Bissig, told Radio 24
in Zurich. "He was a good worker."
A hotel security worker found
KAUFMANN bleeding to death outside
the elevator at about 4: 30 a.m., just hours after the threesome
had arrived from Zurich.
WYRSCH and
ASCHWANDEN had booked the
trip through a tour company and
KAUFMANN had planned to join
in the adventure.
All three lived in Switzerland; the extent of their relationship
with one another is not known.
Although Toronto police continue to examine forensic evidence
in the case, Det. Sgt. Steve
RYAN of the homicide squad said
he is not looking for any suspects.
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