PORT-AU-PRINCE — Four men confessed they killed a Swiss woman after she began to investigate the finances of an orphanage in northern Haiti, a police official said. Carl-Henri Boucher, a police chief for the northern department, said cellphone records led investigators to Jackson Mezil, the director and accountant of the orphanage.
Boucher told radio station Scoop FM in a live interview that authorities believe Mezil initially attempted to kill Wesseler “Marie” Philippes with a pistol but the gun jammed. Mezil, his brother Wilfrid and two hired assassins who were paid the equivalent of $62.50 then strangled the woman, the chief said.
Police said the body of the 45-year-old Philippes was found May 22 near the town of Grande Riviere du Nord.
Philippes was working for the Zurich-based nonprofit Black Rain Group which operates a different Haitian orphanage and home for the elderly.
It was unclear why Philippes would have been investigating Mezil's orphanage.
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