On June 2, 2007, Hugues de la Plaza, a French/American citizen, was murdered in his Hayes Valley apartment.
The San Francisco Medical Examiner, Dr. Venus Azar, ruled the death as Undetermined or "Suspicious" in December, 2007.
There was even talk that Hugues may have committed suicide; an outrageous consideration per Hugues' friends and family.
In a rare act in January, 2012, the French National Police came to San Francisco along with Hugues' Father to conduct their own investigation.
They officially ruled Hugues' death as a Homicide based on a second set of DNA markers on Hugues' wrist watch which had been broken and left on the floor at the time of his murder. This fact also lent credence to the possibility of a struggle in Hugues' apartment.
The San Francisco Police Department admitted to not processing the house for DNA at the time of the murder since they were convinced it was a suicide.
An independent analysis of the evidence by former San Francisco medical examiner Dr. Michael Ferenc, commissioned by the SFPD, also concluded unambiguously that Hugues was murdered. This report, disturbingly, was withheld from the public by the police for more than seven months.
To this day, S.F. Coroner Dr. Azar staunchly maintains her ruling of Undetermined.
The case remains open and unsolved.
Cause of Death: Sharp Force Trauma
The San Francisco Medical Examiner, Dr. Venus Azar, ruled the death as Undetermined or "Suspicious" in December, 2007.
There was even talk that Hugues may have committed suicide; an outrageous consideration per Hugues' friends and family.
In a rare act in January, 2012, the French National Police came to San Francisco along with Hugues' Father to conduct their own investigation.
They officially ruled Hugues' death as a Homicide based on a second set of DNA markers on Hugues' wrist watch which had been broken and left on the floor at the time of his murder. This fact also lent credence to the possibility of a struggle in Hugues' apartment.
The San Francisco Police Department admitted to not processing the house for DNA at the time of the murder since they were convinced it was a suicide.
An independent analysis of the evidence by former San Francisco medical examiner Dr. Michael Ferenc, commissioned by the SFPD, also concluded unambiguously that Hugues was murdered. This report, disturbingly, was withheld from the public by the police for more than seven months.
To this day, S.F. Coroner Dr. Azar staunchly maintains her ruling of Undetermined.
The case remains open and unsolved.
Cause of Death: Sharp Force Trauma
On June 2, 2007, Hugues de la Plaza, a French/American citizen, was murdered in his Hayes Valley apartment.
The San Francisco Medical Examiner, Dr. Venus Azar, ruled the death as Undetermined or "Suspicious" in December, 2007.
There was even talk that Hugues may have committed suicide; an outrageous consideration per Hugues' friends and family.
In a rare act in January, 2012, the French National Police came to San Francisco along with Hugues' Father to conduct their own investigation.
They officially ruled Hugues' death as a Homicide based on a second set of DNA markers on Hugues' wrist watch which had been broken and left on the floor at the time of his murder. This fact also lent credence to the possibility of a struggle in Hugues' apartment.
The San Francisco Police Department admitted to not processing the house for DNA at the time of the murder since they were convinced it was a suicide.
An independent analysis of the evidence by former San Francisco medical examiner Dr. Michael Ferenc, commissioned by the SFPD, also concluded unambiguously that Hugues was murdered. This report, disturbingly, was withheld from the public by the police for more than seven months.
To this day, S.F. Coroner Dr. Azar staunchly maintains her ruling of Undetermined.
The case remains open and unsolved.
Cause of Death: Sharp Force Trauma
The San Francisco Medical Examiner, Dr. Venus Azar, ruled the death as Undetermined or "Suspicious" in December, 2007.
There was even talk that Hugues may have committed suicide; an outrageous consideration per Hugues' friends and family.
In a rare act in January, 2012, the French National Police came to San Francisco along with Hugues' Father to conduct their own investigation.
They officially ruled Hugues' death as a Homicide based on a second set of DNA markers on Hugues' wrist watch which had been broken and left on the floor at the time of his murder. This fact also lent credence to the possibility of a struggle in Hugues' apartment.
The San Francisco Police Department admitted to not processing the house for DNA at the time of the murder since they were convinced it was a suicide.
An independent analysis of the evidence by former San Francisco medical examiner Dr. Michael Ferenc, commissioned by the SFPD, also concluded unambiguously that Hugues was murdered. This report, disturbingly, was withheld from the public by the police for more than seven months.
To this day, S.F. Coroner Dr. Azar staunchly maintains her ruling of Undetermined.
The case remains open and unsolved.
Cause of Death: Sharp Force Trauma
