French wine merchant killed in Moscow apartment

"The family was killed as a result of a fire which started at 6 o' clock on Monday morning," Viktoria Tsyplenkova, a spokeswoman for the investigating Moscow public prosecutors, told the press. Russian news agencies reported that it was the family of the French businessman Thierry Spinelli, who worked in the international wine business, his wife Olga and his two-year-old daughter Lisa

"A murder inquiry has been opened because we believe the fire was the result of arson. The family died of suffocation and there were no signs of panic or escape," said Tsyplenkova and added: "Experts are now investigating the facts and they are trying to sort out the cause of the fire and the circumstances as quickly as possible."

Anatoly Bagmet, an official of the investigating authority, who is involved in the investigation on the ground, supports the murder theory and told the press: "The apartment door was open when the fire started. If the persons had caused the fire themselves, they could have escaped. Furthermore, the family's off-road vehicle, which was parked in front of the house, disappeared."

Thierry Spinelli had worked as an representative of a French wine trading company in Moscow to push the business with Bordeaux wines and to strengthen existing business contacts and to make new contacts. He had also been director of a company which has been establishing the "Chateau le Grand Vorstock" wine estate in the south of Russia from 2003 to 2006. The vineyard was the first to be built and organized after the French model in Russia. (aw.yoopress)