Death Complicates Ikin Investigation

Whilst Australia's media and the weird mob at Fairfax have been  hyperventilating over the great non-challenge of Julia Gillard's leadership, the French media has been delving into the strange death of high profile French lawyer Olivier Metzner whose clients have included Manuel Noriega, former French  prime minister Dominique de Villepin   and Alexandre Despallieres the man being investigated over the death of Australian record boss Peter Ikin.

Metzner                                          Despallieres                                        Ikin                                    Noriega

Metzner was rich, gay and connected and lived in a luxury apartment on the Boulevard Saint-Germain but it was at his private island in Brittany where his body was found floating in the surf.
Metzner was the lawyer for former French singer Alexandre Despallieres who is being investigated over the death of Warner Music boss Peter Ikin who died after a fall down the stairs of a Paris hotel. Despallieres obtained probate on a will Ikin purported to have left but that was overturned in a London court. He was also a personal friend of Despallieres and it's believed he was not being paid which leaves the accused murderer in a sticky position.

As to the reason for Metzner's death, although many say he suffered from depression, others have hinted at darker reasons and point to Metzner's involvement with members of the French underworld.
Read The Independent's Obituary.

Murder Suspect Remains In Jail



Alexander Despallières

 The French husband of the late Australian Peter Ikin, Alexander Despallières remains in a cell  in the gloomy Fresnes jail after an application for bail in the Paris Court of Appeal  on the 18th January was rejected.

Ikin was a much loved music industry figure who was pals with a host of big names like Elton John and Rod Stewart. He died after a suspected heart attack and a fall down a flight of stairs.

However suspicions were raised especially after Ikin's body was cremated without family permission and Despallières managed to gain probate on a will he presented to a London court naming him as the sole beneficiary to Ikin's estate.

Enter John Reid, fiery Scot's show business entrepreneur and friend of Ikins who hired investigators to look into the matter. An examination of Ikin's stored blood showed alarming amounts of paracetamol that could have been fatal. Despallières was charged with Ikin's murder and with forging his will.

An alleged accomplice Jeremy Billien was charged with uttering forged documents in respect of the will that Despallières had used to gain Ikin's reputed $20 Million fortune. Billien and another were named as witnesses to the purported will. Billien remains on bail.

Adding a sinister note to the case was a letter from a relative to the French prosecutor alleging that 5 people including his parents and grandparents had all died in Despallièrs' sole presence. The case is expected to be back in court at the beginning of April when Despallières will have the noted French lawyer Olivier Metzner defending him.

Despallières enjoyed brief fame as a pop star in France and had ambitions to develop a TV series. Here is a video we have uncovered of an audition where he appears.

French Accused Murderer at the Playboy Mansion



Peter Ikin

A video has surfaced of accused murderer Alexandre Despallieres partying at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles with his co-accused Jeremy Bilien.

A French magistrate is currently investigating the death of much loved, former Sydney based Warner's Music boss Peter Ikin who died in 2008 after falling down a flight of stairs in a Paris hotel.

A good friend of Ikin's and the former manager of Elton John and dancer Michael Flatley, John Reid  hired a French lawyer to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding Ikin's accident.

In July Despallieres and his former French-American wife Laetitia Nail, Bilien and an associate Vincent Bray , were arrested by French police on suspicion of murdering Ikin to claim his fortune. Bray has been released whilst the others languish in Paris's Fresne Prison.

For his defense Despallieres has high flying French lawyer Olivier Metzner on his side.

Music Identity's husband arrested

Ikin & Despallier's civil ceremoney

John Reid

In March we reported that Elton John's former manager John Reid had asked a French lawyer to investigate the mysterious death of the retired head of Warner's Australia Peter  Ikin who died after a fall down some stairs.

Now Ikin's French husband Alexandre Despalliere's has been arrested in France along with 2 friends Vincent Bray and Jeremy Billien.

Olivier Metzner

When Ikin died Despalliere produced a will that purported to leave Ikin's $20Million fortune to him after he and Ikin  had married in a civil ceremony a few months before the  music boss died. The Frenchman was granted probate on the will and immediately purchased 3 Porsche cars-one each for he, Bray and Billien. That will was overturned in a London court and Despalliere reportedly settled for $500,000 and agreed to move out of Ikin's Chelsea townhouse. Ikin's estate went to a charity and his only relative, a Catholic priest in Melbourne

Ikin was a pal of many top music figures including Elton John and Rod Stewart and extremely popular in Australia. Friends had been asking questions since his death and claimed Ikin had been in good health when it was claimed, with Despaliere as the only witness, that he had toppled down some stairs after an apparent heart attack, His body was cremated soon after.

 Under French law a judge must now decide if there is case for charges to be laid against the three in connection with Ikin's death. There is a twist-Despalliers had been living until his arrest with one of France's most high profile criminal defence lawyers Olivier Metzner who has defended clients like the former dictator of Panama Manuel Noriega.