CA CA - Hugues de la Plaza, 36, San Francisco, 2 June 2007

How did Hugues die?

  • He killed himself

    Votes: 5 5.7%
  • He was murdered.

    Votes: 83 94.3%

  • Total voters
    88
  • Poll closed .

luthersmama

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2003
Messages
2,887
Reaction score
74
Website
Visit site
A young French/American man living in SF turned up stabbed to death in his own locked apartment in June, 2007. The SFPD seems to think it was suicide, although no weapon was found and his family and friends say it is not likely. Stabbing oneself repeatedly with a steak knife is not a common means of suicide, particularly followed by walking around and washing up the knife and putting it away as the SFPD theorize he must have done.

Police initially believed he was drunk and/or drugged, but drug tests were negative and he had a bit of booze in his system but not an outrageous amount.

The family has been critical of SFPD for not interviewing witnesses, not checking out his cell phone or laptop etc.

Very mysterious case:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080426/ap_on_re_us/international_whodunit

http://www.sfweekly.com/2007-07-18/news/who-killed-hugues-de-la-plaza

http://huguesdelaplaza.blogspot.com/
 
A young French/American man living in SF turned up stabbed to death in his own locked apartment in June, 2007. The SFPD seems to think it was suicide, although no weapon was found and his family and friends say it is not likely. Stabbing oneself repeatedly with a steak knife is not a common means of suicide, particularly followed by walking around and washing up the knife and putting it away as the SFPD theorize he must have done.

Police initially believed he was drunk and/or drugged, but drug tests were negative and he had a bit of booze in his system but not an outrageous amount.

The family has been critical of SFPD for not interviewing witnesses, not checking out his cell phone or laptop etc.

Very mysterious case:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080426/ap_on_re_us/international_whodunit

http://www.sfweekly.com/2007-07-18/news/who-killed-hugues-de-la-plaza

http://huguesdelaplaza.blogspot.com/

Sad that it took his family this long, and so much time and expense, to get this troubling case in the public eye.

This is the kind of haphazardly investigated case followed by absurd findings that I use to counter the accusation that online sleuthing only intereferes with LE. WS (and other sites) pushing with the parents for publicity may be the only reason this crime gets a second look, and perhaps a more satisfactory investigation.

C6
 
A young French/American man living in SF turned up stabbed to death in his own locked apartment in June, 2007. The SFPD seems to think it was suicide, although no weapon was found and his family and friends say it is not likely. Stabbing oneself repeatedly with a steak knife is not a common means of suicide, particularly followed by walking around and washing up the knife and putting it away as the SFPD theorize he must have done.

Police initially believed he was drunk and/or drugged, but drug tests were negative and he had a bit of booze in his system but not an outrageous amount.

The family has been critical of SFPD for not interviewing witnesses, not checking out his cell phone or laptop etc.

Very mysterious case:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080426/ap_on_re_us/international_whodunit

http://www.sfweekly.com/2007-07-18/news/who-killed-hugues-de-la-plaza

http://huguesdelaplaza.blogspot.com/

This reminds me of Dennis Gerwig, the "person of interest" in the disappearance of John and Liz Calvert from Hilton Head.

The day he was named a "person of interest", he supposedly locked himself in an apartment and committed suicide with a steak knife.

I don't blame the parents in this case for being upset.

I hope the French investigations give them answers.
 
no wonder the parents are upset.... sloppy police work..... overworked & understaffed is no excuse...... how can sfpd say the death was investigated?
 
no wonder the parents are upset.... sloppy police work..... overworked & understaffed is no excuse...... how can sfpd say the death was investigated?

I agree. Not checking his emails and phone records is insane.

I guess it is POSSIBLE that he killed himself, but the bit about washing the knife and putting it away really bothers me.

I wonder who else lived in the building who could have done it?
 
Give posters a break. This was only posted yesterday and to be honest this is the first time I've seen it on the board.

Has nothing to do with gender or what country live/come from for me.
 
Give posters a break. This was only posted yesterday and to be honest this is the first time I've seen it on the board.

Has nothing to do with gender or what country live/come from for me.


Glad to hear it!

I hope you are correct!
:blowkiss:
 
More on Hugues:

http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?page=...d=317&issue_id=375&volume_num=42&issue_num=30

http://www.pcgamer.com/archives/2007/06/61107_-_i_dont.html


I'm surprised there isn't more attention here at WS. Is a French guy less important somehow than an American woman? Or has everyone decided he was a suicide? :confused:

If an American died in France under similar circumstances, would you be more interested?

Is curious how it got under the radar. We'll have to see how deeply the SFPD spun and buried it as a suicide here in the US. The family using the French government as a lever was smart, but deprived us of info as this developed (do we need a WS France division?). Don't see any gender or nationalist implications here, though.
C6

C6
 
Is curious how it got under the radar. We'll have to see how deeply the SFPD spun and buried it as a suicide here in the US. The family using the French government as a lever was smart, but deprived us of info as this developed (do we need a WS France division?). Don't see any gender or nationalist implications here, though.
C6

C6

I hope you are right, Crypto. It seems like such an interesting case. I think that more attention from message boards might be helpful to put some pressure on SFPD.
 
I haven't read all the articles yet, but doesn't it make more sense that he was stabbed, ran home and locked the door?

And how do they know it was a steak knife?

Salem
 
~snip~
Police found de la Plaza lying in a pool of blood in his living room, an open laptop on a coffee table and a broken wine glass nearby. Suicide, San Francisco police say.~unsnip~

This is from the 1st link posted above. How can SF Homicide say this is a suicide? This needs to get sent to the California Attorney General.

These poor people, having to call in the police from France and then being assigned an Officer stationed in Los Angeles. That's a 6 to 8 hour trip, one way depending on traffic. I think this is a diplomatic crisis. Besides the Attorney General, who else should be notified? The reporter is from Sacramento, she must have access to the Governor......

Salem
 
1041185977_3da93aa6b3.jpg




He loved music, motorcycling, philosophy: the Stoics, the Epicureans, the Hedonists and, of course, the modern philosophers: Deleuze, Chomsky, Onfray. His heroes included Ghandi, Thoreau, Martin Luther King, Jesus, and the Buddha.

He loved cats: like him, they are soft, gentle, secretive, and have a taste for freedom.

He had anarchist and completely utopian ideas. He dreamt of an egalitarian society based on love, freedom, tolerance and responsibility. And only one way to attain this: education, education.

LINK
Wow, I just read the blogspot site for Hugues and he was an amazing young man. The photos really touched me. Reading about all the places he had been in his young life and that smile.... well it got me. I pray this young man didn't suffer long, and that closure comes for his family and many friends.

I will continue to follow this case.
 
I haven't read all the articles yet, but doesn't it make more sense that he was stabbed, ran home and locked the door?

And how do they know it was a steak knife?

Salem


They don't. There was no conclusive evidence of what the weapon was. I believe they are guessing it was a steak knife because there was one or more in the apartment. Clean as a whistle. No blood on anything in the apartment that could have been the cause of death.

This is one of the many things that doesn't make sense.


Thank you for taking interest in this case. :blowkiss:
 
warning: crime scene photos

Hugues de la Plaza's autopsy unveiled LINK
Besides, consider that logic for a moment: de la Plaza would have had to first stab himself in the neck, breast and abdomen, then transport the knife into the kitchen and clean it off before returning to the living room where he was found. You don't have to be a script writer for "The Wire" to determine that story line doesn't work.

Posted by G.W. Schulz on January 10, 2008 01:36 PM
 
It makes more sense to consider that he was stabbed by the person who was heard running away, then he went back inside and locked the door so that person couldn't get back in. Maybe he was in shock and didn't realize how badly injured he was and passed out before he could call for help.
 
After reading the articles I came to the same conclusion. Why is it so hard for LE to believe that? Maybe because it's easier to just rule it a suicide?
 
Very disturbing, IMO. The case needs more publicity so that a proper investigation gets done.
 
luthersmama, have you pm'd Steve Huff about any of this?
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
158
Guests online
1,013
Total visitors
1,171

Forum statistics

Threads
589,935
Messages
17,927,879
Members
228,005
Latest member
vigilandy
Back
Top