The case I’m about to share with you is one that has stirred significant controversy public opinion on whether the suspect is guilty or not is split into two camps with neither side able to persuade the other it’s similar to the famous OJ Simpson case you’ve probably heard about although this story is a bit lengthy its unfolding is incredibly thrilling and captivating each of us may find our own answer in the details the story takes place in a small town in the south of France a beautiful place called muan located about four miles
from the city of can this town sits on a Hillside and on a smaller Hill to the West lies a luxurious three-story Villa with elegant white gray walls contrasting with red roof tiles the crime occurred here in a spot that truly exemplifies a high-quality lifestyle reserved for the elite the Villa’s owner gizan Marshal is 65 years old after her husband passed away she inherited a substantial fortune and enjoyed a comfortable life she has a son who works far away and rarely comes home she had been living alone in this
luxurious Villa for nearly 4 years relishing the serenity of her retirement however following a recent event her family has garnered national attention on the evening of Monday June 24th 1991 the mujan police received a distress call the caller a woman named Erica reported that her close friend gizan had been missing since the previous day with no Trace found at her residence deeply worried that something terrible might have happened she asked for police assistance in the search upon receiving the report the
police quickly headed to giz Lan’s Villa to assess the situation this was a luxurious Villa on the western side of town three people were waiting for the police upon arrival the caller Erica along with and Pascal all close friends of gizan Erica explained to the officers that she and gizan were very close often sharing afternoon tea together the previous day Sunday at 11:48 a.m.
they had spoken on the phone gizan had just finished bathing and invited Erica over for lunch the next day Erica happily accepted but gizan mentioned she was busy cooking For an upcoming guest so they only chatted briefly before ending the call the conversation lasted just 2 minutes Erica continued explaining that at 11:30 a.m.
this morning she arrived at giz Lan’s house as planned and rang the doorbell but no one answered she tried calling the house phone but there was still no response this was very unusual as gizan never cancel plans without informing her even in case of an emergency Erica began to feel uneasy around this time Colette also arrived mentioning that she and her husband had been invited for lunch at giz Lan’s house the previous day at 1:30 p.m.
but when they arrived no one was home and there was no answer to their calls they left after waiting a bit since they had other obligations that afternoon later around 6:00 p.m. Colette grew more concerned and drove alone to gain’s house again she rang the bell but still received no response she waited for a while thinking gizan might have had an urgent errand but after staying until it was dark with no sign of her friend she she decided to return today to check again and happen to meet Erica the two discussed the situation and then climbed over the gate to get into the
yard they pressed their faces against the Villa’s Windows to look inside but couldn’t see anything unusual since gizan lived alone and was elderly they worried that she might have had an accident in the house like a fall with no one around to help thinking this they contacted a mutual friend named Pascal who managed a security company after learning of the situation Pascal arrived with a security officer together they managed to unlock the main door of gan’s house they found the key still in the lock on the inside of the door once
inside everything was pitched dark all the windows were locked and the home security system had not been activated a breakfast tray remained on the kitchen counter showing no sign of an intruder next they went to giz Lan’s bedroom where the curtains were drawn open and the bed was unmade with a pair of glasses and a newspaper on it as if giz Lane had just gotten up however despite searching everywhere in the house they could not find any trace of her shortly afterward giz Lan’s private doctor a 74-year-old arrived and joined
the search they thoroughly checked the entire Villa and found some jewelry and an open handbag in the bedroom closet but there was no cash inside aside from this they found nothing more in this urgent situation Erica called the police for assistance the missing person giz Lane aged 65 was born into a wealthy French family and had one sister she led a privileged life from an early age and received an excellent education her father was a businessman who managed multiple Enterprises and had participated in the resistance movement
during World War II ultimately passing away in Exile as an adult gizan married and had one son though her marriage was not a happy one she divorced her first husband and raised her son alone in her youth gizan was beautiful and had no shortage of admirers she later met her second husband a successful businessman who ran a well-known automotive equipment company after marrying they lived happily and comfortably however their happiness was shortlived as her second husband passed away from a severe illness leaving gizan deeply
heartbroken she had no further romantic relationships after that after inheriting her husband husband’s wealth gizan became a wealthy single mother she then took her son to Switzerland where they lived for a time once her son reached adulthood and began living independently gizan returned to France where she built a villa in the town of muan and has lived alone there ever since the police thoroughly searched the main building but found nothing of note upon stepping outside they noticed a small Guest House nearby and asked the
homeowners friends if they had checked it the friends mentioned that there was a basement under the guest house but they had never been inside and didn’t know what it contained hearing this the police decided to investigate the basement they followed an exterior staircase down to the basement where they encountered a metal door they attempted to push it open but it was locked deciding to break the lock they eventually managed to unlock it but oddly the door wouldn’t fully open and could only be pushed open a small amount the police real realized
something was blocking the door from the inside after another attempt they managed to widen the opening slightly but they still couldn’t see what was beyond one officer reached through the Gap and felt a folding bed positioned just behind the door with the bed’s frame obstructing the door from opening the officer attempted to move the bed but couldn’t budge it additionally there was a metal pipe and a wooden plank wedged tightly in the corner between the metal door and the bed blocking the door’s movement the officer reached
through again trying to kick the metal pipe and wooden plank loose but they were wedged firmly during this effort deep scratch marks were left on the floor fortunately they were eventually able to dislodge the obstructions the officer then lifted one end of the folding bed gradually pushing it upright while opening the door after some time the basement door was finally opened inside it was Pitch Black and the air was Heavy with a musty smell feeling around an officer found the light switch and turned it on a hallway stretched out
before them with a wine cellar on the Eastern side walking down the hallway they reached a spacious room inside eight old plastic containers were lined up filled with crushed Stones the room also contained a hand cart and various miscellaneous items nearby they quickly spotted a set of Dentures lying beside the plastic containers on the floor were two paper bags and a pair of large rounded scissors the Eerie atmosphere gave everyone a sense of for boing a few officers continued deeper into the basement and found a boiler room with
its door a jar upon entering they were met with a scene that stunned everyone present gizan the 65-year-old homeowner lay face down on the floor near the boiler her arms raised above her head with her hands together and her legs slightly apart she wore only a black and white striped bathrobe which was pulled up above her waist stained with blood her right foot was in a slipper while the left slipper lay nearby the entire scene was deeply unsettling and sent chills through those who witnessed it based on the scene the metal door was the only
entrance to the basement when the police arrived the door was locked with a folding bed blocking it from behind preventing anyone inside from escaping the entire basement had effectively become a sealed room upon on hearing the news from the police gain’s longtime friends broke down in tears they described her as a gentle person with no enemies respected by everyone around her it was unimaginable to them that she could encounter such a horrifying incident in her own home forensic examiners arrived on the scene one by one to carry out their work
the police conducted a thorough investigation of the basement and soon discovered something unbelievable on the white wooden door leading to The Wine Cellar there was clearly written Omar matu translated as Omar killed me the chilling part was that the letters were tilted neat and legibly written about 3 ft off the ground there were also blood smears at the bottom of the wooden door near the floor similar letters were found on the boiler room door though much fainter and difficult to decipher compared to the writing on the wine
Celler door technical Specialists analyzed each letter and discovered a phrase albeit incomplete which seemed to connect with the writing on the wine Celler door suggesting some kind of Link although the letters were handwritten the fingers slid quickly while writing making it impossible to extract fingerprints this meant there was no way to prove whether gizan had written it herself or if someone else had the victim’s hands were covered with bruises her finger joints were fractured and the middle finger on her left hand was
nearly torn from the scene it appeared that someone named Omar was involved in all of this through their investigation the police found that Omar was no stranger but in fact giz Lan’s Garder a 29-year-old Moroccan National giz Lan’s friend Erica informed the police that Omar was a straightforward honest person who had worked for gizan for a long time he was hardworking and trustworthy and gizan had a great deal of confidence in him Erica recalled that whenever she visited gain’s home she would often see Omar who despite being a manual laborer
was always neatly dressed and presented himself with the appearance of a gentleman leaving a good impression on her she found it hard to believe that someone so diligent and respectable could be involved in this case the next day the police began searching for Omar they first went to his home but no one was there after speaking with neighbors they learned that he had gone with his family to tulan over 60 M away to celebrate Aid Al adha this is one of the prin principal holidays in Islam during which people dress in their best clothes attend
prayer services gather for recitations and honor deceased family members families with the means often host a grand Feast inviting relatives and friends after receiving this information the police went to tulan and eventually located Omar arresting him on suspicion of murder Omar seemed unaware of the incident upon learning that his employer had been murdered he appeared visibly shocked when the police told him about the two phrases written in the basement he was in disbelief and insisted that he had no idea what had happened let alone
that he could ever harm his employer he asserted that the police must have arrested the wrong person when asked if gizan might have written the messages Omar said he couldn’t tell because he couldn’t read handwriting as for the two phrases he only recognized the word Omar as it was his name and it was the only French word he knew how to write he didn’t even know the meaning of the other words in reality Omar was not proficient in French he could only understand simple sentences his wife was French but they mostly communicated through gestures in
their daily lives after his arrest he couldn’t communicate normally with the police they had to temporarily find a Moroccan prisoner who spoke French to help translate so they could talk with him the suspect Omar was born in 1962 to a poor family in Morocco his father had moved to the town of muan France for work to support the family at 23 Omar also left his homeland for muan where he was finally reunited with the father he had longed to see he found work at the home of an elderly kind woman named Pascal upon learning of Omar’s arrival
she immediately hired him as a gardener providing him with a generous wage and comfortable accommodations Omar was grateful to have found stability and worked diligently out of appreciation for her kindness one day while out and about Omar happened to meet a French woman the two fell in love at first sight and later married allowing Omar to remain in France Pascal extended her blessings to the young couple even helping them find an apartment and signing an open-ended work contract with Omar assuring him that he could work for her as long as he
wished Omar was deeply appreciative of this generosity one day gizan visited Pascal’s home and happened to see Omar working impressed by his skill and work ethic she obtained Pascal’s consent to also hire Omar as her Gardener and his wife as a housekeeper to make their work more convenient gizan provided the couple with an apartment located between Pascal’s and her own homes allowing Omar to manage work for both households and enjoy two sources of income after Omar’s first child was born Pascal helped them rent a larger more
comfortable home in in Lan Omar told the police that since he had started working in town both of his employers had been extremely supportive and he was immensely grateful feeling he could only repay them by working hard to Omar gizan was like a second mother she adored his children and whenever she had free time she would visit his home to see them treating them like her own family Omar firmly stated that he could never and would never harm gizan and he added that it had been a long time since he had even gone down to that basement
although Omar consistently denied committing the crime the writing at the scene clearly pointed to him as the culprit and the police remained steadfast in this view now they needed to establish a motive and gather further Evidence the police then approached Miss Pascal to gather more information she informed them that Omar was a good Gardener dedicated and hardworking on the day of the incident June 23rd om om had been working at her house all day and she hadn’t noticed any unusual behavior however after finishing
his work that day Omar had proactively asked her for 2 days off explaining that he wanted to attend Aid alad celebrations in tulon with his family he mentioned that he had already received permission from gizen hearing this Miss Pascal agreed to his leave Omar left at the end of the workday that evening the police questioned Omar’s wife and father about when they had left town Omar’s wife told the police that she had taken her father-in-law and children to tulon First and her husband joined them there on June 24th she confirmed that he
had been with the family the entire time never going off alone or acting out of character she described her husband as an honest and hard-working man with no known enemies and insisted he would never harm his employer the police found it highly coincidental that Omar requested time off to go out of town right when the crime occurred moreover when he asked Miss Pascal for leave he had mentioned already getting giz Lan’s permission which raised suspicions in theory Omar had the opportunity to commit the crime on June
23rd while working at Miss Pascal’s he could have secretly gone to giz Lan’s house to kill her quickly returned to work and then left for too long on June 24th this could have been an attempt to create an alibi the day after Omar’s arrest he attended an initial hearing he insisted he had no knowledge of what had happened even declining to seek a lawyer and remaining silent throughout the next day he was formally charged by the prosecutor and held in custody in prison Omar felt every minute was torturous he thought he had finally secured a stable
job only to find himself inexplicably entangled in a murder case he felt exhausted and anxious missed his family and wanted desperately to go home however whenever he tried to sit down the guards would take away his chair this left him feeling distressed compounded by fear of potential violence so he did his best to comply 4 days after the crime the forensic report revealed that the victim’s head injuries resulted from being struck over five times with great force there was a small wound on her neck not fatal likely
caused by a tool resembling scissors her chest and abdomen bore 10 sharp force injuries all her finger joints were broken indicating she had fought back with her hands before dying additionally there were scratches and dirt on her arms and legs suggesting she had been dragged while there were numerous wounds on her body none were immediately fatal her cause of death was determined to be severe blood loss the estimated time of death was between 12:00 p.m.
and 1:30 p.m. on June 23rd DNA tests confirmed that the blood and Dentures found in the basement belonged to gizan due to technological limitations at the time no other DNA was detected at the scene based on the forensic report the police believed the killer was highly determined to end giz Lan’s life however the actions appeared somewhat clumsy suggesting it may have been the Killer’s first crime the perpetrator seemed to Harbor a deep hatred toward the victim yet there was a contradiction gizan had been kind to Omar and no
motive for him to commit the the crime could be found furthermore from noon to 1:30 p.m. on June 23rd Omar was working at his other employer Miss Pascal’s leaving him no time to commit the crime Miss Pascal also confirmed this if the real killer wasn’t Omar then why was his name mentioned in the basement throughout the basement only giz Lan’s DNA was found the only entry point was the locked metal door with a bed blocking it forming a sealed room it seemed there was only one possibility that gizan wrote the killer’s name in her final
moments on the other hand if the writing was done by the killer it couldn’t have been Omar as he wouldn’t incriminate himself perhaps the true culprit intended to frame Omar through this message or it could be that someone else named Omar was involved since the writing didn’t include a last name which might suggest a coincidence however this was merely police speculation with no actual evidence to support it during during the investigation one officer offered a different perspective he argued that the writing couldn’t have been done by gizan
herself as someone Gravely injured and near death enduring excruciating pain would hardly be able to write such clear messages additionally one of the lines of text appeared quite neat a difficult feat for a typical 65-year-old on closer examination of the writing they noted grammatical errors as an educated member of the upper class gizan was unlikely to make such basic mistakes however when the police reviewed some of giz Lan’s personal documents they found that she often made grammatical errors especially confusing
past and indefinite tenses it appeared that she had a habit of making such mistakes therefore the possibility that she had written the messages couldn’t be ruled out solely based on grammar a month after the crime a police handwriting expert compared the letters with giz Lan’s writing in other documents the results suggested that the two lines in the basement were indeed written by gizan the expert concluded that the clearer line had been written while gizan was kneeling and the fainter line was written while she was lying on
the ground this indicated that by the time she wrote the second line she had weakened significantly leaving the message incomplete although the handwriting expert believed the messages were giz Lanes other experts disagreed they pointed out that the endings of the letters found at the scene were very short whereas in giz Lan’s other writings the letter endings were consistently long especially certain letters based on this they argued the writing wasn’t hers the issue of handwriting remained contentious and without a definitive conclusion on
whether gizan had written the messages the investigation hit a dead end meanwhile news of giz Lan’s death spread widely with the media competing to report on the case such a strange crime naturally attracted intense public interest with everyone eager to learn the truth the pressure on the police to solve the case was mounting they Revisited the scene multiple times in search of Clues with only a single metal door providing access to the basement it seemed that placing the folding bed metal pipe and wooden plank to block the
door could only have been done by someone inside the basement they speculated that gizan might have suffered from some form of mental illness and during a moment of instability she could have acted wildly in the basement she might then have managed to shut the metal door using the folding bed metal pipe and wooden plank to prevent anyone from entering in a state of mental confusion she could have written those strange messages on the day of the crime gasan had invited friends over for a meal given Omar’s role as the gardener he
naturally would have known his employer schedule choosing to act at such a Time wouldn’t have been a smart choice as it would significantly increase the difficulty of committing the crime when gizan was found with extensive blood stains on her if Omar had truly been the culprit he would likely have had blood on him as well yet outside the basement no blood was found in any other area nor were there any Footprints not even on the stairs leading to the ground floor this led to the possibility that gizan herself had staged the entire
scene however this theory was quickly dismissed by giz Lan’s family and friends they described her as a cheerful person with a comfortable untroubled life she had never sought psychological help and no psychiatric medications were found in her home such Behavior seemed impossible with no new leads the investigation made no progress prompting some reporters and private investigators to launch their own inquiries one reporter named Levy pointed out an area in the basement that had been overlooked The Wine Cellar he
noted that he had discovered a gap in the police’s investigation records which detailed every room in the basement but did not describe the structure of the wine seller this suggested that the police may not have thoroughly examined that crucial area further research by Levy uncovered that in 1989 2 years before the crime gizan had hired a contractor to install a ventilation system for the wine seller then one year before the incident she had two windows added to improve air flow in the cellar Levy also highlighted
that the swimming pool’s filtration system was located in the basement given that gizan had been wearing a bathrobe and slippers it seemed she had just finished bathing and was likely heading to the basement to turn on the pool’s filtration system in preparation for her friends who might want to swim later tragically she was murdered at that moment thus the entire situation could not have been self-inflicted the killer after murdering her created a sealed room by blocking the door and escaped through a wine seller window an oversight that the
police had yet to discover these statements caused a public uproar many people felt that what he said made sense and supported his Viewpoint however others argued that his claims were based on unverified Clues installing a ventilation system in a basement is quite common but adding Windows seemed unusual if Levy’s reasoning was correct the prime suspect would still be Omar as giz Lan’s Gardener who was well acquainted with the basement layout so could the killer be Omar according to Omar’s own account on the day of the incident June 23rd he
worked at Miss Pascal’s home in the morning at noon he rode his motorcycle from her home to his own residence in Lan for lunch on his way home at 12:05 p.m. he stopped by a bakery in muan to buy some bread at the time there was only one employee in the bakery after purchasing the bread he continued his ride home around 12:15 to 12:20 p.m.
he arrived at his doorstep and ran into a casino owner with whom he exchanged a few words before parting ways by 12:40 after finishing lunch he left home again to return to work at Miss Pascal’s arriving there around 1:30 p.m. he worked until evening and then on his way home stopped at a public phone booth to call his wife who had gone ahead to tulan informing her he would meet them the next day after the call he went home to rest following Omar’s description the police went to the bakery to verify his claim the owner checked the worklog for
June 23rd and found that there was more than one employee working that afternoon when questioned the employees who were present that day all reported not seeing Omar this raised the possibility that Omar had lied and hadn’t visited the bakery that day next the police interviewed the casino owner Omar had mentioned according to his account on the afternoon of June 23rd he had been walking with his wife when he met a friend and invited him to lunch they then went to a store to buy groceries between 12:15 and 12:25 p.m. they
finished shopping and went home the casino owner stated he couldn’t recall whether he had encountered Omar as he usually didn’t pay close attention to familiar faces the police noted that Omar’s account didn’t mention the casino owner’s wife and the owner himself couldn’t remember meeting Omar suggesting that Omar might have fabricated this part of his Story upon checking Omar’s phone records the police discovered that the call to his wife had been ma
de at 12:51 p.m. on the day of the crime which didn’t align with the timeline he had given without a solid Alibi for that day and with sufficient opportunity to commit the crime Omar remained the prime suspect in the case Omar argued that he never expected to be accused of murder had he known he would be in such a predicament he would certainly have paid closer attention to every detail of that day four months after the crime police conducted tests on the clothes and shoes Omar wore on June 23rd along with the large pair of scissors found at the
scene results showed that Omar’s shoes did not have dust particles from the basement but traces of plaster and fiberglass were found on his pants additionally animal DNA was detected on the scissors the police speculated that the worn soles of Omar’s shoes had become smooth and therefore didn’t retain dust while the plaster and fiberglass on his pants could have come from the basement where the crime took place moreover the animal DNA on the scissors was broad enough in scope not to rule out the possibility it could be
human however some experts pointed out that the chemical composition of the plaster and fiberglass didn’t match anything in the basement where no items containing plaster were found and fiberglass could be encountered in other environments therefore these findings alone were insufficient to conclude that Omar had been in the basement by November 1991 Omar had been in prison for 5 months he began a hunger strike to protest demanding his innocence and release but no one seemed to care one night Omar did something
shocking he set his prison blanket on fire fortunately a guard discovered it in time preventing a larger Blaze after a month without food Omar had grown very weak concerned he might die the police transferred him to a hospital for treatment and allowed his family to visit during the visit Omar broke down in tears finally releasing his pent up emotions with his family’s encouragement he eventually resumed eating a few days later misss Pascal led a group to meet with the police including her daughter son-in-law and
their household maid they all expressed their belief that Omar was innocent describing him as a gentleman who wouldn’t harm even an ant let alone kill gizan they vowed to help him find a lawyer hoping to clear his name soon additionally Miss Pascal shared a shocking piece of information with the police on the night of the incident she had received an anonymous phone call the caller a man with a deep horar voice said your Gardener has caused big trouble he used his own blood to write that message Ms Pascal had initially found
the call perplexing thinking it might be a cruel prank but after giz Lan’s murder and Omar being identified as the prime suspect she began to feel that something was off she now felt certain that the voice on the phone wasn’t Omar’s the police were skeptical of Miss Pascal’s story because in their earlier detailed questioning she hadn’t mentioned the anonymous call now 6 months after the crime she was revealing this crucial detail casting doubt on its authenticity Miss Pascal explained that at her age she often forgot things when
the police first questioned her she had forgotten about the call and only recalled it later the police conducted surveillance on the phones of Miss Pascal’s and Omar’s families but found nothing unusual their conversations mostly revolved around how to help Omar although Miss Pascal’s family believed in Omar’s innocence the police did not they checked his bank records and discovered that over the past 2 years nearly 880,000 Franks equivalent to about 92,000 USD had been withdrawn from Omar’s account a substantial sum
for that time as a gardener with a fixed monthly income where had Omar acquired such a large amount of money Omar explained that the money wasn’t his it belonged to a friend doing business in France this friend didn’t have a French bank account so he used Omar’s account when whenever his friend traveled back to Morocco Omar would help withdraw a portion of the funds this explanation was confirmed by the friend the police also learned that Omar frequently requested salary advances from his employers Miz Pascal and
gizan at the beginning of the month of the crime Omar had requested a 1,000 Frank advance from gizan a housemade working for gizan told the police that a week before the incident on June 14th she also saw Omar requesting an advance from gizan to investigate further the police spoke with Miss Pascal she confirmed that in June Omar had requested salary advances from her twice citing rent and money for his mother in Morocco Miss Pascal didn’t think much of it and agreed noting that requests for advances were common as everyone had
their financial struggles the police checked Omar’s bank records and found that in June he hadn’t sent any money to his mother or paid rent in June alone he had requested four advances from his two employers the police presented a theory perhaps Omar became resentful if gizan refused his second Advance request which led to the crime notably when gizan was murdered no cash was found in her handbag the police questioned Omar about this but he denied requesting an advance from gizen however he admitted to requesting
two advances from Ms Pascal in June explaining that he intended to send money to his mother but hadn’t done so before his arrest Omar insisted he hadn’t taken any money from gizan and would never engage in petty theft he argued that if he were the culprit why wouldn’t he have taken the jewelry as well regarding the missing cash from gan’s handbag Omar suggested it might have been the housemaid as he recalled gizan mentioning a maid who frequently took valuable items from the home the police were skeptical of Omar’s
statement during the conversation Omar inad advertently revealed that he had a gambling habit the police seized on this point probing further Omar admitted he enjoyed gambling but claimed he only visited the casino a few times a month playing only games he had previously won with modest bets however the investigation revealed that Omar visited the casino nearly every week contradicting his account the police also noted Omar’s experience with bar hostesses a bar owner reported seeing Omar flirt with women in his bar
this painted a different picture of Omar who appeared less honest than he seemed additionally his previous statements contained inconsistencies that had yet to be cleared up 6 months after the crime public interest in the case hadn’t waned reporters came to the prison to interview Omar faced with their questions he maintained his innocence accusing investigators of falsely implicating him and deliberately smearing his name he felt helpless unsure of how to prove his innoc many people after reading the news sympathized with Omar believing in his
innocence and accusing the police of incompetence for detaining an innocent man and pressuring him to confess 6 months after the crime in December 1991 Omar applied for bail for the second time but it was denied fueling public dissatisfaction support for Omar grew louder with his defense lawyer arguing that the police had wronged him and were obligated to to seek Justice on his behalf 2 months later in February 1992 Omar filed a third bail application despite sound arguments from his defense lawyer the court denied it because just
days before his application police forensic experts had produced new findings revealing that dust on Omar’s pants matched dust from the basement indicating he had been there Omar explained that 2 months before the incident gusan had bought some flower pots and not knowing where to store them she asked him to take them to the basement the police didn’t believe him as he had previously stated it had been a long time since he’d been in the basement yet he now claimed to have been there 2 months before the incident a
clear contradiction in March 1992 a newspaper published an article claiming that due to his gambling debts Omar had once stolen a gold necklace from his wife according to the report in May 1990 a man named named radad sold a gold necklace at a jewelry store in France and this radad could have been Omar whose last name was radad the police questioned Omar about this but he adamantly denied stealing his wife’s necklace saying it was completely unnecessary his wife was gentle and respectful toward him and if he truly
needed money she would have willingly helped him he insisted it was absurd to think he would steal from her most importantly in May 1990 as the article stated he wasn’t even in France he was in Morocco and immigration records could verify this therefore the person who sold the necklace could not have been him in March 1992 Omar filed a fourth bail application which was again denied before the judge Omar complained that he wanted to know who had provided these baseless details to the Press he believed that the Articles were
deliberately trying to smear his reputation and someone must have leaked these rumors to the reporters during the subsequent investigation the police identified several other suspects these included Omar’s own brother a chef who had a conflict with gizan a Frenchman and a man named Gilbert initially the police thought Omar’s brother who resembled him might have been mistaken for Omar by gizan however when they found the brother they discovered that he didn’t resemble Omar at all had never been to France and had remained in Morocco the
entire time he was therefore ruled out as a suspect the chef who had previously clashed with giz Lin had left his job and at the time of the incident was working for another employer with a solid Alibi proving he wasn’t at the scene so he was also eliminated as a suspect the Frenchmen had left France for Switzerland 2 days before the crime and didn’t return until afterward with clear travel records confirming this so he was ruled out as well the final suspect Gilbert lived in a trailer not far from gilan’s home and had a poor
reputation with neighbors accusing him of petty theft however on the day of the crime he wasn’t in France but was visiting relatives in Morocco verified by his plane ticket and passport with this all individual suspicions were cleared in April 1992 Omar filed a fifth bail application but was once again denied frustrated he began a hunger strike on April 16th to protest and a few days later he even refused water he was quickly hospitalized after passing out despite his extreme protest he received no encouraging news two months
later a judge visited him in the hospital to inform him that his sentence would be extended by another year this devastated Omar worsening his mental and physical health his defense lawyer questioned whether this suffering was the result of imprisoning an innocent man arguing that no clear evidence identified Omar as the culprit and that he shouldn’t endure such treatment after nearly a month of hunger striking Omar realized it wasn’t working and gave up in March 1993 he was transferred to a prison in nce confined to a solitary
cell for special prisoners where the toilet was clogged the walls were filthy and the conditions were revolting he became desperate and angry losing all hope in life at one point he hit a razor blade in a piece of bread and swallowed followed it he alerted the guards afterward but initially they ignored him until he collapsed in pain eventually he was taken to the hospital and survived after his recovery he resumed his extreme protests upon release from the hospital he was transferred to a standard cell with better conditions
Omar spent 10 months in the niece prison during this time the police officially announced the conclusion of their investigation into gan’s case 3 years after the crime in January 19 94 the trial began at the nce local Court defendant Omar radad was charged with murder on the day of the trial the courtroom was packed with some supporters believing in Omar’s innocence after nine intense days of arguments between both sides the verdict was announced Omar radad was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 18 years in prison many around the world
were disheartened by this outcome feeling that Omar had not received a fair trial the news sparked a wave of public outcry in France and even caused a stir in the Moroccan Community many believed the case lacked sufficient evidence and that Omar was an innocent victim leading to widespread support and demands for a retrial Omar’s defense lawyer hired a private investigator to seek evidence in his favor and encouraged him not to lose hope two weeks after the verdict in February 1994 a group of 18 lawyers issued a
joint statement condemning the court for convicting Omar with insufficient evidence together they demanded a retrial following this statement the labor union Federation promptly released an article criticizing the group of lawyers claiming that a few politically motivated attorneys eager for fame were publicly defaming the judicial system a month later a writer named lir published a book on the case titled Omar the making of a criminal he stated that he wrote the book in 3 weeks driven by anger lir believed that Omar was also a
victim in giz Lan’s case caught in an elaborate setup and hinted that there might be hidden political dealings behind the case he also pointed out that giz Lan’s brother-in-law was a prominent figure in the marble industry who may have influenced GE Lane’s trial using power and connections to tilt the scales of Justice resulting in an unfair trial for Omar following these statements gilan’s family promptly filed a defamation lawsuit against the author in court the judge ruled that L’s claims lacked evidence and had caused emotional
distress to gilan’s family lir was found guilty of defamation ordered to apologize to the family and required to pay damages that same year another author named veres also published a book on the case titled Omar mat histo darim in it the author sharply criticized judicial Injustice and suggested that racial discrim mination was involved in 1994 a woman living in the town of murau happened to read this book she voluntarily reached out to the author claiming that on the day of the crime she saw a truck left near giz
Lan’s home with some wooden boards in the back which appeared to have blood stains on them she suspected that the owner of this truck could be the real killer of gizan the author veres along with the woman held a press conference to publicly reveal this crucial clue the police were compelled to investigate and discovered that the truck the woman saw belonged to a neighbor who was a painter and regularly used the truck to transport wood in red paint at the time of the crime the painter had a solid Alibi so he was ruled out as a suspect
in May of that same year an article titled the second Omar appeared in the press the article claimed that gizan knew another man named Omar and the two had met at a casino before the crime occurred following this lead the police did indeed locate another man named Omar who lived about 10 mi from Muro however verification showed that this man had no connection to gizan the article was merely a ployed to attract media attention meanwhile Omar who was incarcerated had repeatedly appealed to the Supreme Court a year later the
French Supreme Court declared that there had been no procedural errors during giz Lan’s trial and asserted that Omar’s trial had been fair in September of that year A Man released from clairo prison revealed to a Moroccan newspaper that during his time in prison a fellow inmate named Alan had confessed to him claiming that he was the one who killed gizan Alan allegedly had a girlfriend who worked as a maid at gan’s home but had been fired for poor performance the maid angry about her dismissal reportedly asked Alan to take revenge on
gizan the two allegedly broke into giz Lan’s Villa intending to steal but when they were caught they panicked and killed her Alan supposedly wrote Omar mat to shift suspicion onto Omar and mislead the police upon receiving this statement the police immediately questioned Alan the results showed that on the day of the crime Alan was in the hospital due to a motorcycle accident and his girlfriend was also at the hospital taking care of him Alan admitted that what he said in prison was fabricated the police checked Hospital records
confirming his Alibi and the lead once again came to a dead end in May 1996 at the request of Morocco’s King Hassan II French president Jac sharak reduced Omar’s sentence from 18 years to 4 years and 8 months additionally a secret agreement was reached that Morocco would release a French prisoner 7 years after the case another article about giz Lan’s murder suggested that gizan had previously had Financial disputes with three Italian men who later fled to Italy however as this news emerged all attention shifted to Omar’s impending
release the following day people were curious to see how the wrongly accused Gardener would live after gaining his freedom that day crowds gathered outside the prison as Omar walked out cheers erupted in an interview with reporters Omar said he would not give up on seeking the truth and was determined to find the real killer to clear his name after the interview he got into a car and left looking well and even flashing a victory sign at the cameras before departing in February 2000 on the 6th anniversary of Omar’s conviction the
court of appeals at the request of the investigation and review committees ordered a reopening of the investigation into giz Lan’s case specifically reexamining the handwriting found at the scene the task was given to two handwriting experts their findings showed that the two messages found in the basement were not written by the victim gizan in January 2001 the court of appeals further ordered DNA testing on items found at the scene such as the metal pipe wooden plank and paper bags a month later results revealed the DNA of
two men though their identities could not be determined this new evidence was not substantial enough to affect Omar’s conviction 11 years after the incident writer lir received a mysterious call from a man man claiming to be named guy the caller said he had once been a driver for the leader of the solar Temple Cult of which gizan was allegedly a member guy stated that at 11:45 a.m.
on June 23rd 1991 he had driven three other cult members to giz Lan’s house the three individuals exited the car while he drove away returning at 2:15 p.m. to pick them up guy speculated that gizan might have been killed by the cult due to financial disputes lir passed this information to the police but upon investigation they found that guy was a con artist with no evidence to back his story he had a criminal history with multiple convictions for blackmail and fraud guy’s account was deemed unreliable and likely an attempt to seek
attention after his release Omar wrote a book about his experiences titled por quam mua translated to English as why me in the book he details his wrongful conviction and the suffering he endured the book quickly became a phenomenon selling very well and even being adapted into a film notably in the book Omar mentions a bakery and explains that when questioned by police he mistakenly gave the wrong bakery’s name in reality he frequented a different Bakery but hadn’t realized his mistake at the time many readers visited this Bakery
and the staff confirmed that Omar indeed often came by around noon to buy bread to this day Omar continues his search for the truth although he received a partial pardon and now lives freely he still cannot find peace and constantly strives to prove his innocence tirelessly seeking ways to appeal however some still believe the case is not as complex as it seems and that Omar is the one who killed gizan perhaps only he truly knows the real truth of this case this brings us to the end of today’s case surely each
of has your own answer let’s discuss it in the comments below goodbye and see you next time
