A coroner has found that a gay man who probably murdered his millionaire lover to inherit his estate was himself killed for the same money. Ludwig Gertsch's body was found in the Blue Mountains six months after his boyfriend, Roger Teyssedre, died in mysterious circumstances. Gertsch, 43, a Sydney hairdresser and former go-go dancer, inherited millions of dollars, a Paddington mansion and its luxury contents when Teyssedre, 60, died in April 1990. Shortly after Gertsch had begun seeing Vince Esposito, he went missing and was later found strangled in the Blue Mountains. A will forged by solicitor Brian Roberts - who oversaw the changes to Teyssedre's will - left Gertsch's inherited millions to Esposito, who passed on control to the solicitor. Almost all of the money has since disappeared. New South Wales' Deputy Coroner Dorelle Pinch conducted concurrent inquests into the deaths of Gertsch and Teyssedre, suggesting they were linked and that money was the motive. Yesterday, announcing her findings on Gertsch, Ms Pinch ruled that "evidence before me is capable of satisfying a jury beyond reasonable doubt that a known person has committed an indictable offence and there is a reasonable prospect that a jury would convict the known person". An open finding was delivered in Teyssedre's case. Ref: The Australian (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 11th February 2007 - 12:00pm