A mother who believed in conspiracy theories convinced her husband, sister and children to jump to their deaths from their seventh-floor apartment, after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine convinced them life was not worth living. in the world.
Nasrine Feraoun, 41, her twin sister Narjisse, her husband Eric David, 40, and their eight-year-old daughter died after falling from the balcony of their apartment in Montreux, Switzerland. Only her 15-year-old son survived.
He was in a coma but has since recovered from his severe injuries, with no recollection of the events of March 24, 2022, according to investigators.
Forensic evidence revealed no signs of a struggle prior to the deaths, and autopsies showed no traces of drugs. Witnesses revealed that none of the family members screamed after falling off the balcony, which the police put down to their theory of mass suicide.
Swiss authorities said the mother of the family and her sister were deeply involved in survival and conspiracy theories.
Mother Nasrine Feraoun, 41, her twin sister Narjisse, her husband Eric David, 40, and their daughter, 8, died after falling from the balcony of their apartment in Montreux, Switzerland.
Only the then 15-year-old son survived. He was in a coma but has since recovered.
The case of the family of five will now be closed, Montreux police announced a year after the mass suicide attempt claimed the lives of four of the family members.
There was no outside intervention and the adults, who had moved to Switzerland from France just two years earlier, had given no indication that they were considering suicide, local police said.
The coroner’s report, as well as nearby security footage, supports the detectives’ suicide theory. In addition, there was a stepladder on the balcony helping the family climb over the railing, but there was no sign of a struggle, according to the Swiss broadcaster. SRF.
His apartment was full of food, medicine, hygiene materials, all stocked and organized, according to the police who entered the apartment.
The family was isolated, rarely going out and homeschooling the two children. Her mother and twin were suspicious of the government and local authorities.
They were convinced that the world was a hostile place and they led their children to believe the same. The covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine only supported this belief, the researchers said.
Their collective suicide was carefully planned, even rehearsed, and the family waited for the right moment to “move into a better world,” police revealed after searching the family’s apartment and electronic devices.
The timing reportedly came after a wellness visit by Montreux police, after the father failed to respond to several letters about homeschooling one of his children.
On March 24, two officers arrived at the apartment at 6:15 a.m. to execute a warrant for the father’s arrest in connection to the child’s home education, now 16, for whom police appealed for privacy as the only surviving family member.
The agents knocked on the door and heard a voice asking who they were. But when they answered, the apartment fell silent. After failing to make contact, the officers left.
The four victims were found at the foot of a seven-story building in Montreux, Switzerland.
Flowers and candles next to the building from which the five members of a French family jumped
Forensic officers at the location where the five family members were found after they jumped
Shortly before 7 am, all five family members jumped off the balcony in the space of five minutes.
“Before or during the events, no witness, including the two police officers present at the scene since 6:15 am and passers-by at the foot of the building, heard the slightest noise or shout coming from the apartment or from the balcony, the police said.
“Technical investigations show no warning signs of such an act,” they added, noting however that “since the beginning of the pandemic, the family was very interested in conspiracy and survival theories.”
Only the mother’s twin sister worked outside the home, while neither the mother nor the eight-year-old girl, who did not attend school, were registered with the local authorities.
“All of these elements suggest… fear of authorities interfering in their lives,” the police statement said.
Neighbors said the family was quiet and reserved.
French newspaper Journal du Dimanche said the father, Eric David, grew up in a wealthy area of Marseille and attended the Ecole Polytechnique, one of the most prestigious schools in the country.
Twin sisters, Nasrine and Narjisse Feraoun, grew up in a family of five children who were educated at the elite Lycee Henri-IV in Paris, the weekly said. Her mother was a dentist and her sister her ophthalmologist.
Montreux, a bucolic lakeside town in Switzerland where the shocking mass suicide took place, is best known as a tourist hotspot and in particular for its annual jazz festival.
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