The Stern S&M murder: Relic of a bygone era

On Wednesday, a Swiss jury concluded the case of Cecile Brossard, who was accused of the 2005 murder of her boyfriend, French financier Edouard Stern. Stern, the 38th richest man in France, was nicknamed "the Little Prince of Finance."

Stern's death was deceptively simple: in the middle of an argument, the financier was shot by his girlfriend and potential fiancee. Given that their relationship appeared to be souring and that Brossard apparently delayed responding to a marriage proposal, the story seems to be made of the kind of sad, human stuff that underlies most crimes of passion.