French Jewish politician died of asphyxiation
Investigators don’t rule out foul play in death of city councilor Alain Ghozland, 73; body had signs of beatings
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French investigators aren’t ruling out foul play in the death of a Jewish politician who was found dead at his Paris home on Tuesday, after an autopsy found he died of asphyxiation and had several contusions on his body.
A judicial source who spoke to the French MetroNews website Wednesday wouldn’t detail whether Alain Ghozland, 73, was strangled to death or not, referring to the cause as “traumatic asphyxiation.” Other reports indicated that the city councilor and politician had knife wounds on his body as well.
Police investigators were said to believe his death may have have been a robbery gone wrong, but were keeping all avenues of investigation open.
Ghozland, originally from Algeria, was found by his brother, who came looking for him after he didn’t show up to synagogue a day earlier. He represented the heavily Jewish Parisian suburb of Créteil.
Reports said his apartment appeared to have been rummaged through, and that his car was missing. Nevertheless, French Radio Station Europe 1 reported that the front door of his house did not show signs of having been broken into.
Ghozland’s family also raised the possibility of the death being of a potentially anti-Semitic nature.
Créteil, about seven miles from the heart of Paris, was the site of a rape and robbery committed in December 2014 against a Jewish couple by robbers who said they were targeted because they were Jews.
The Times of Israel Community.