0:00

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Scamfluencers

0:02

early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery

0:04

Plus in the Wondery app or Apple

0:07

Podcasts. What's your favorite song of

0:09

all time? Do you ever

0:11

feel like some people are born

0:13

to be famous? And if so, who do you think was truly born

0:15

for fame? Yeah,

0:18

I do think some people are like especially

0:20

equipped for it. Can

0:23

you imagine Kim Kardashian doing anything else?

0:25

No, I truly couldn't imagine it. And

0:29

I do think for some people like Kim Kardashian

0:31

being themselves is kind of like Kim

0:35

Kardashian being themselves is kind of

0:37

enough. But for most people

0:39

who try, it really isn't. For

0:41

me it is though. It is,

0:43

it is. I knew it was going to come back to

0:45

you in that way and fine, I agree. I like to

0:48

bring things home. Well, the story

0:50

I'm telling you today is about a guy

0:52

who was so determined to become a celebrity,

0:54

he would do anything to get there.

1:01

It's early November 2008 and Peter

1:03

Eiken is standing on the sidewalk outside

1:05

of a budget hotel in Paris. Peter

1:08

is 62 and originally from Australia.

1:11

He's got thick gray hair and is

1:14

always impeccably dressed. He spent

1:16

decades as an executive at Warner

1:18

Music where he made millions and

1:20

befriended superstars like Madonna, Rod Stewart

1:22

and Elton John. Peter

1:25

retired eight years ago and has been spending

1:27

more time on other things like his love

1:29

life. He's actually here in Paris

1:31

to meet up with the man he recently married,

1:34

Alexandre Des Palais. Alex

1:37

is French, handsome, charming and about

1:39

20 years younger than Peter. But

1:42

this isn't a fairy tale honeymoon. Alex

1:44

has recently revealed to Peter that he has

1:46

two brain tumors and only has a few

1:48

months to live. So

1:51

about a month after their ceremony, Alex

1:53

returned to France. He wanted

1:55

to meet with lawyers and draw up an inheritance

1:57

plan for after he dies. Peter

1:59

has just arrived here to meet up with Alex. And

2:02

he's got a sinking feeling that something isn't

2:04

right. For starters, Alex told

2:06

Peter that he's a billionaire. He

2:09

said he made a fortune through his global

2:11

IT company. He also said he

2:13

lived in a luxurious part of Paris in

2:15

an apartment facing the sun. But

2:17

now, Alex is saying that his apartment is being

2:20

leased out at the moment, which is why he booked

2:22

a hotel for them. This hotel

2:24

is not the kind of place a billionaire would

2:26

stay. It's a long walk from

2:28

the center of the city and it's surrounded by

2:30

sex shops and cheap restaurants. Definitely

2:33

fishy, but I will say no one

2:35

likes to save a little bit of

2:38

money quite like a very rich person. So

2:40

that is definitely true. And Peter

2:42

is willing to shrug off the

2:44

weirdness. His spouse is dying and

2:46

he desperately needs his support. But

2:49

a few days later, Peter starts to get

2:51

sick, like really sick.

2:54

He starts complaining about intense headaches and

2:56

stomach pain. He even goes to the

2:58

hospital, but he doesn't want to stay there for

3:00

treatment. He wants to be with Alex. By

3:03

the end of the week, things get so bad that

3:05

French paramedics have to rush to Peter's hotel.

3:08

When they get there, they find Alex

3:10

crying over Peter's dead body on the

3:12

bathroom floor. Peter's sudden

3:15

death sends shock waves through the

3:17

music industry. First, there's

3:19

mourning, but then there's confusion,

3:22

followed by rage. And when

3:24

investigators look into Peter's mysterious new

3:27

husband who claims to inherit everything,

3:29

they'll uncover a lifetime of secrets and

3:32

lies. They'll become convinced that

3:34

he's not only a con man, he

3:36

might also be a murderer. Audible

3:44

is here to entertain you, but it's

3:46

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3:48

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3:53

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3:57

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3:59

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4:01

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4:04

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4:06

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it's an opinionated homosexual's guide

4:10

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4:12

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4:14

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4:17

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today with Byte. From

5:21

Wondery, I'm Sarah Hagee, and I'm

5:24

Sacha Cole. And this is Scamfluencers.

5:34

This scam starts the way so many

5:36

others do with a desire for wealth

5:38

and celebrity. This one

5:40

takes a dark turn and

5:42

fast. It's about a man who will

5:45

stop at nothing to become a household name. When

5:47

that doesn't work, he starts lying, deceiving,

5:49

and possibly even hurting the people he

5:52

claims to love the most. This

5:54

is Death Becomes Him. Wix

6:00

is worn and nineteen sixty eight and

6:02

raised in a quiet suburb on the

6:04

outskirts of Paris. Picture

6:06

a classic French story of town with

6:08

clean houses and ancient churches. Alex his

6:11

father Marcel, is a journalist, while his

6:13

mother, money stays at home and takes

6:15

care of Alex and his two older

6:17

brothers. Marcel as charming and did both,

6:20

and he reportedly like to say that

6:22

if you're handsome, Ill get away with

6:24

anything. To. Firmly believes that his

6:27

kids. Will grow up to be famous. Especially

6:29

Alex when he countries. She spoils

6:31

him and take some on. Elaborate

6:33

shopping sprees because she just knows he'll

6:35

be a star. And

6:37

it seems like Alex believes that to. He

6:40

spends his seniors meeting into Paris

6:42

and club looking to meet important

6:44

people like record executives and movie

6:46

producers and around this time he

6:49

comes out is this is in

6:51

the early eighties keep of the

6:53

Aids crisis and all the homophobia

6:55

surrounding it out. His parents are

6:57

super accepting. In fact, they allow him

6:59

to. Turn their home and to a

7:01

sort of air Bnb for a rotating

7:04

cast of boyfriends. When Alex is sixteen,

7:06

he starts dating a forty year old

7:08

music producer name Seal Martinez. A

7:11

seal as blonde have he said. And

7:13

most importantly to Alex. Well

7:16

connected. He's. Also, one hundred

7:18

years old to him and

7:20

his parents are letting this

7:22

guy like hang out at

7:25

their house. Yeah, and a

7:27

seal is obsessed with Alex.

7:29

He's willing to do anything to make

7:31

Alex's dreams come true. I

7:34

still believe that releasing a single my

7:36

propel Alex to stardom so he buys

7:38

a rights. To. The song from a

7:40

popular French songwriter. And arranges for

7:42

studio time with a big. Deal Producers.

7:44

A Shield pays for everything. It

7:46

seems like Alex on the verge

7:48

of the ceiling his parents and

7:50

dreams and becoming a star. A

7:52

son he claims he's been diagnosed

7:54

with Hiv. He

7:56

told everyone that doctors have only given him

7:59

six months to. live. He walks

8:01

out of school and he starts causing trouble.

8:04

He steals his dad's credit cards and buys

8:06

designer watches and jewelry. But

8:08

when his family finds out what he's been

8:10

up to, they let it go. He's got

8:12

a lot on his plate with his HIV

8:14

diagnosis and they probably don't want to stress

8:17

him out even more. Oh no.

8:20

Monique becomes even more doting than before.

8:23

She does everything for her sick son. She

8:25

cooks and cleans for him and keeps the

8:27

kitchen stocked with his favorite chocolate. She

8:30

checks in on him constantly, affectionately

8:32

calling him, Mom's Sucre, my

8:35

sugar. Alex has his parents

8:37

and his boyfriend wrapped around his finger.

8:40

He might claim to be on his deathbed,

8:42

but he's also on the verge of achieving

8:44

his pop

8:46

star dreams.

8:49

It's 1987, about three years after Alex

8:51

recorded his first single, and about as

8:53

long since he said he was dying.

8:56

Clearly, that didn't turn out to be true. We

8:58

don't know a ton about his health around this time,

9:01

but some people who know him suspect he

9:03

was never really sick at all. He's 19

9:05

now, and more importantly, his single

9:07

is finally going to drop. It's

9:10

called La Mora Ma, which

9:12

means Love Until Death. Sachi,

9:18

can you please describe the cover art for

9:20

us? Oh, it's amazing. It's so

9:22

80s. It looks like

9:25

a Siberian Husky in a

9:27

denim jacket with a little

9:30

mapa hair looking at me

9:32

very intensely. Yeah, it's extremely

9:34

someone get this guy brown contact lenses.

9:37

Yeah. Because eyes are too blue. I

9:39

think I hate it, but I'm not sure. I'm

9:41

open to hearing more. Well, now that

9:43

the song is out, it's time for Alex to

9:45

do what he does best. Schmooze.

9:48

A shield starts bringing him around to dinner

9:50

parties and events around Paris, hoping to drum

9:53

up buzz for his new single. But

9:55

the song doesn't become a hit, and

9:57

Alex decides to ditch A shield shortly after.

10:00

After it's release in humans a small

10:02

part in a Tv show and starts

10:04

hanging out with a glamorous new social

10:06

scene. He spends his nights smoking on

10:09

balconies and flirting with older, well established

10:11

man. He's always searching for anyone who

10:13

may be useful to him. One.

10:16

Day he ends up across the table

10:18

from a famous criminal defense attorney named

10:20

Olivier Metzner. Olivier is about

10:22

twice as old as Alex and is known

10:25

in France for defending. Unsavory characters and

10:27

high profile cases. We actually have

10:29

a photo of the two men

10:31

together per to describe them. Well.

10:34

They look like an evil senator

10:37

and the young man he's going

10:39

to eat in order to get

10:41

another term in office, yeah, I

10:44

mean the age. Sounds.

10:46

Big on paper and it

10:48

looks crazier In this photo,

10:50

it looks enormous. Yeah. But

10:53

Alex knows that Olivier is smitten with him

10:55

and he decides to play hard to get.

10:58

He later tell them on newspaper about

11:00

his early interactions with Olivier. Quote

11:02

I said grandpa, nothing will ever

11:05

happen between us. I resisted him

11:07

and therefore. He was very much in love with

11:09

me. But all of us

11:11

has something Alex can't. Resist money

11:13

and a willingness to share

11:15

it. Soon. Enough. Alex

11:17

has. His own room at Olivia's

11:19

luxury Parisian apartment. And. He

11:22

still wants something. even Olivier. A Kansas

11:24

him. Industry. Connections and is

11:26

about to travel halfway across the world

11:28

to get them. Not.

11:32

Long after he needs Olivier. Alex

11:34

gets invited. To a music conference

11:36

in San Francisco where he needs

11:38

a hot shot. Executive about Warner

11:40

Music Group. Peter I Can. Peter.

11:43

Job is basically to turn the

11:45

company's artist into full blown celebrities

11:47

in Australia. Alex is

11:49

still just nineteen years old but he's

11:51

a very successful for I. Now and

11:54

Peter is immediately attracted to him.

11:57

He in Alex and a few months covering the

11:59

world together. everywhere from Seoul to

12:01

Madrid to Miami. And Alex

12:03

quickly leverages Peter's industry connections.

12:06

He goes on shopping sprees with Elton

12:08

John and visits Madonna at her house.

12:11

We actually have a picture of

12:13

Alex, Elton, and Peter. It's

12:16

always funny when we do these scam

12:18

stories and we find people who really

12:21

do touch fame. Like they get very,

12:23

very, very close. And here he is

12:25

with Elton John in a nice little

12:27

hat. He's got

12:29

a little red hat on with some peacock

12:31

feathers. Yeah, it's like I've never really seen

12:34

him look like that. Yeah, he just looks

12:36

like a guy here. It's just like a

12:38

weird Polaroid photo. Yeah, it's not like the

12:40

most glamorous he's looked. And I probably would

12:42

not clock that as Elton John. But

12:45

all the while, Olivier is still in

12:47

the picture. Alex splits his

12:50

time between Peter's place in Manhattan and

12:52

Olivier's apartment in Paris. He

12:54

gets used to spending other people's money on private

12:56

jets and designer clothes. This

12:59

doesn't last long though. After

13:01

just a few months, Peter and Alex go

13:03

through an abrupt breakup. We're

13:05

not sure what happened, but maybe Peter started

13:07

to feel like hanging out with a teenager

13:09

wasn't the best look for him. Alex

13:12

will later claim that the two kept in touch

13:14

and saw each other every now and then, but

13:16

others say it was a full, clean

13:19

break. Either way, Alex is

13:21

cut off from Peter's world of celebrity and

13:23

glamor. It seems like he

13:25

sees Olivier a lot less too. He

13:28

returns to his parents' house in the Paris

13:30

suburbs. Over the next few

13:32

years, Alex keeps trying to become rich and

13:34

famous without help than Peter and

13:36

Olivier, but none of it really

13:38

takes him anywhere. Alex decides that

13:40

if he wants to make it on his own in

13:43

show business, he'll have to use a trick that's worked

13:45

since he was a kid. All he

13:47

has to do is lie. It's

13:51

the early 90s, and Alex is

13:53

now in his mid-20s. He's got a

13:55

new boyfriend, a talented young composer

13:57

and musician. We'll call him Julien.

14:00

which is the alias he's given in a book

14:02

called The Master and the Assassin. It's

14:04

by a journalist named Sophie Benet. She

14:07

spoke with Julien for the book, but didn't include

14:09

much about his life outside of Alex,

14:11

probably to protect his identity. What

14:13

we do know from the book is that Julien

14:15

is madly in love with Alex. He's

14:18

actually moved into Alex's parents' place and they're

14:20

working on an album that they just know

14:22

is going to launch both of their careers.

14:25

Alex's mom is thrilled to have her

14:27

youngest son back at home. She does

14:29

his and Julien's laundry. She cooks for

14:31

them. And when Alex says they need

14:33

more space to record music, she even

14:36

knocks down a wall to make Alex's

14:38

bedroom bigger. When that's not enough,

14:40

his parents give up their own room and

14:42

start sleeping in the living room. Can

14:45

you imagine a world where your parents

14:47

would give you their

14:49

bedroom like that in any

14:51

context? Like just apply that to anything

14:54

else with like you and your parents'

14:56

dynamics, you as the child. Never.

14:58

Never. Maybe if I was

15:00

dying and I needed a hospital equipment.

15:03

My dad used to get mad at me when

15:05

I brought my toys into their bedroom. Well,

15:09

during this time, Alex starts telling Julien

15:11

he has a big secret. He

15:13

says Monique isn't his real mom. His

15:16

real mom is a famous Hollywood actress.

15:19

He won't reveal her name, but he says that

15:21

once her album is done, he and Julien will

15:23

be able to move to the U.S. and hang

15:25

out with her and her friends. Huge

15:27

stars like Elton John and Liza Minelli.

15:30

One day at dinner, Alex says he can't

15:33

hide his secret any longer. He

15:35

reveals to Julien that he's the long-lost son

15:37

of Elizabeth Taylor. Also,

15:39

that Roger Moore is his dad.

15:42

When Julien hears this, his eyes

15:45

narrow with disbelief. He asks,

15:47

are you sure? Alex

15:50

immediately blows up. He starts

15:52

screaming at Julien and hitting him until he

15:54

falls over. Julien's scared,

15:56

but he stays. He tells

15:58

himself this was just a a bad moment,

16:00

it will pass. After

16:03

all, they're in love. And once they

16:05

finish their album, they'll both be

16:07

superstars. But Alex continues to

16:09

be cruel. He also constantly

16:11

says that Julian's life would be worthless without

16:14

him. Okay, cool, so he's

16:16

a liar and he sucks. Yeah, he

16:18

sucks big time. But Julian keeps telling

16:20

himself that eventually things will get better.

16:22

He's hopeful that they've got a real

16:24

shot at success, especially given

16:26

Alex's industry connections. But

16:29

around this time, Julian starts getting

16:31

sick. And before long, it gets so

16:33

bad that he can't get out of

16:35

bed. He's constantly throwing up. He's weak

16:37

and his whole body is in pain.

16:40

As he lies in Alex's childhood bedroom, staring

16:42

up at the ceiling, he thinks

16:44

he's going to die. Finally,

16:46

Julian gathers the strength to get his

16:49

stuff together and leave without saying a word.

16:52

He returns to his parents' house and

16:55

almost immediately he starts feeling better.

16:57

He stops throwing up and the pain in the

17:00

stomach goes away. He's

17:02

left with a horrifying suspicion. Alex

17:04

had been poisoning him. A

17:06

few people he tells don't believe him, but

17:09

Julian is positive that's what happened.

17:13

Julian managed to see Alex's dark side

17:15

and make it out alive. But as

17:17

Alex gets older and more desperate, not

17:19

everyone will be so lucky. I

17:27

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17:31

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feel like a... It's 2001. About

19:41

a decade has passed since Julianne left. Alex

19:44

is 33 now and his life isn't

19:46

going at all how he expected. No

19:49

album, no TV jobs, and no

19:51

fame. Without an income

19:53

or seemingly any prospects, Alex

19:55

is still living at home with his parents. It's

19:59

by... and early one morning. Everything

20:02

is quiet in the house when

20:04

suddenly there's a loud thud from the

20:06

living room. Alex and his

20:08

family rush over to find Alex's father, Marcel

20:10

collapsed on the ground. They

20:13

call an ambulance and rush him to the

20:15

hospital where he slips into a coma for

20:17

two days. By some

20:19

miracle, doctors are able to bring

20:21

him back, but they say it

20:23

was a close call. The family

20:25

is relieved and confused.

20:28

Marcel has always been healthy and obsessed

20:30

with staying fit. The doctors

20:32

run some tests and find he overdosed

20:34

on prescription pills. Marcel

20:36

swears he would never try to hurt himself,

20:39

but the doctors don't believe him. They

20:41

think he did it on purpose. They

20:43

send him home and tell his family to

20:45

watch for signs of depression and substance abuse.

20:49

Alex isn't super close with his father, but

20:51

he immediately starts caring for him. And once

20:54

his dad starts feeling a little better,

20:56

Alex suggests they take a trip together,

20:58

just the two of them. Marcel agrees.

21:01

He thinks the fresh air would probably

21:03

do him some good. So

21:05

the two men head down to the family's second home

21:07

in a beautiful seaside town. When they

21:10

arrive, Alex makes his dad a soup.

21:13

He insists it will make him feel better

21:15

and urges Marcel to eat it. All

21:18

of it. A while later,

21:20

Alex calls his mother back at the house.

21:22

In a choked voice, he tells her, dad

21:25

is dead. He says he

21:28

tried his best to bring him back to life, but

21:30

it was too late. Marcel

21:32

died for overdosing on his medication.

21:35

Alex's siblings rush to the house as

21:37

quickly as possible. But when

21:39

they get there, they find Alex

21:41

has already cremated his father's body

21:43

and scattered his ashes in the

21:46

ocean. Okay. So

21:49

his dad mysteriously dies under

21:51

his care after he feeds

21:53

him a big soup. And

21:56

instead of waiting for his siblings to

21:58

get there, he immediately cremates his

22:01

father and disposes of his remains.

22:03

I don't even know how that's

22:05

even legal. And the family

22:08

is also confused, but they're so deep

22:10

in their grief that they decide to

22:12

not question Alex. The

22:14

police don't investigate Marcel's death, and the

22:16

family tells his friends that he killed

22:18

himself. It's a dark

22:21

time for the family, and it only gets

22:23

darker. Over the next

22:25

few months, both of Alex's grandmothers

22:27

die under Alex's care. And

22:30

a short while later, Monique is

22:32

found lifeless, clutching rosary beads and

22:35

surrounded by pill bottles. A

22:37

suicide note claimed she was too distraught to

22:39

go on living without her husband. She

22:42

was just 60 years old. Sarah,

22:46

what? What is going

22:48

on with this family? I know. And

22:51

once again, Alex handles everything.

22:54

A quick cremation and funeral, and

22:56

an inheritance he splits between his brothers.

22:59

The police investigate Monique's death, but

23:01

ultimately rule it a suicide by

23:04

drug overdose. But his

23:06

brothers aren't satisfied. They think the suicide

23:08

note was suspicious, and that Alex had

23:10

something to do with it. So

23:12

they file a complaint with the police. In

23:14

it, they say that when they confronted Alex, he

23:16

threatened to kill them. One

23:19

brother tells the police that Alex is,

23:21

quote, obsessed with money, a swindler, and

23:23

a liar. He also says

23:25

Alex is a hypochondriac, constantly inventing

23:27

new illnesses to get sympathy from

23:29

those around him. But

23:32

the complaint never seems to go anywhere.

23:34

And by the time it's filed, Alex

23:36

has already vanished from the country. Turns

23:39

out, he's fled to the escapism

23:41

capital of the world, Los

23:44

Angeles. It's a year later, and a 60-year-old woman named Marcele Becker

23:48

is sitting at the bar at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She

23:51

has short, dark hair, tan skin, and

23:54

wears shiny, gold dresses. She

24:01

looks a bit like Kris Jenner. Her

24:03

tiny white dog, Dom Perignon, is by

24:05

her side. She's originally

24:07

from Morocco, but now she lives here

24:09

at the hotel. It's got

24:12

beautiful pools, lush greenery, and

24:14

a celebrity clientele. Marcel's

24:16

a billionaire, so she fits right in. One

24:20

sunny day, she's lounging in her private cabana

24:22

when she hears the voice of a young

24:24

man speaking French. She speaks

24:26

French too, so she introduces herself. The

24:29

man says his name is Alex. He's in

24:31

his early 30s, and he's living at the hotel too.

24:35

Soon, Marcel and Alex start spending hours

24:37

by the pool together, day after day.

24:40

They quickly realize they have a lot in

24:42

common. Marcel is a widow

24:44

and tells Alex that her stepson recently

24:47

died under mysterious circumstances.

24:49

Alex tells Marcel that he's also lost family

24:52

recently. He says he's an orphan grieving

24:54

his billionaire parents, and that he's come

24:56

to LA to start over. I

24:59

am immediately protective of Marcel

25:01

and very concerned about what

25:03

is going to happen to

25:06

her. While Marcel thinks they're

25:08

both lonely, grieving, and weighed down

25:10

by money, they don't know what to do with.

25:13

Soon enough, she's taking Alex out

25:15

to fabulous dinners and buying him

25:17

luxury gifts like diamond cufflinks, fancy

25:20

watches, and a full-length mink and

25:22

leather coat. Alex tells

25:24

Marcel about his fear, that if he were

25:26

to die, all of his riches and beautiful

25:28

apartments would go to waste. He

25:30

has no next of kin, no family on

25:33

his will. So he

25:35

proposes an idea to Marcel, something that will

25:37

link them together as their own kind

25:39

of family. He says, let's

25:41

get married. Marcel

25:43

is completely shocked. This

25:46

is coming out of the blue, and her

25:48

feelings for Alex are more maternal than romantic.

25:50

But either way, she feels bonded to him, so she

25:53

makes a counteroffer. What if she

25:55

adopts him? Do these

25:58

people understand you can write a will to... give

26:00

anything to anybody that you have. Like

26:02

you can give shit to your cat.

26:04

You don't have to have legal binds

26:07

with people to give them things. I

26:09

think it's more, she's flattered and it's like,

26:11

no, what if we still find a way

26:13

to be tied together that goes deeper than

26:15

it will? But he brought it up. Well,

26:18

not long after on Alex's 34th

26:20

birthday, he and

26:22

Marcel head to a Los Angeles courthouse and

26:24

sign the adoption papers. A

26:27

video from this day later winds up on YouTube.

26:30

It shows Marcel gifting him an expensive

26:32

watch. Afterwards, they kiss on

26:34

the cheek and she tenderly touches his

26:36

face. But the sweet

26:38

moment doesn't last long because later

26:41

that day, Alex demands that Marcel add

26:43

him to her will immediately,

26:46

you know, to make things official. And

26:48

he asks her to set up an allowance for him. I

26:51

feel like for someone who owns

26:53

all this property that he wants

26:55

to bestow to his wife. Mom.

26:58

Mom. Wife, mom. His fiancee

27:00

wife, mom, friend. And

27:03

yet he needs an allowance. Yeah,

27:05

he also abruptly leaves the Beverly Hills

27:07

Hotel, leaving Marcel to cover his $30,000 tab.

27:12

Marcel refuses to pay it. She's

27:14

having second thoughts about adopting this man she

27:16

barely knows. So she secretly

27:19

hires a private eye. And over the

27:21

next few days, the investigator calls

27:23

her with a shocking discovery. Alex

27:26

isn't a billionaire. He's not even a millionaire.

27:29

And it sure seems like he just wants to be

27:31

close to Marcel for her money. She

27:34

and Alex go out to dinner together one night,

27:36

but before she can confront him, she

27:39

takes a sip of her drink and immediately

27:42

doubles over in pain and urges

27:44

Alex to call the hospital. The

27:47

paramedics arrive and whisk her away. She

27:49

survives, but is convinced that Alex

27:52

poisoned her. Though she

27:54

doesn't get the police involved, she does file

27:56

papers to annul her adoption. Just

27:59

10 days. after it

28:01

began. Marcel has dodged a

28:03

bullet, but Alex's next target

28:05

won't be so lucky. About

28:10

five years later in the spring of 2008, Peter Eichen is

28:13

at home in

28:15

Sydney, Australia. He's in his

28:17

early 60s and has retired from Warner

28:19

Music Group. For the last

28:21

few years, he's been enjoying a quiet

28:24

life and luxury, spending most of his

28:26

time in a massive penthouse with

28:28

panoramic views of the Sydney Harbor.

28:30

He's got a rooftop garden and

28:32

expensive furniture, and he's a serious

28:34

neat freak, so he keeps it

28:36

all impeccably clean. One

28:39

day, his phone rings. It's

28:41

Alex, the guy he met at that music conference

28:43

in San Francisco in the late 80s and

28:45

dated for a few months after that. Alex

28:48

is 39 now and says he's in Sydney

28:50

for a tech conference. He wants to catch

28:52

up. Peter is surprised

28:55

but intrigued. Alex tells

28:57

Peter that he founded an IT company that's

28:59

made billions and that one of the richest

29:01

men in the world wants to buy some

29:03

of his technology for $8 billion. Peter

29:07

is thrilled for him. He and

29:09

Alex quickly fall back into a

29:11

romance with long lunches, candlelit dinners,

29:13

and nights at Peter's penthouse. But

29:16

then comes the bad news. Alex

29:18

says he's suffering from two inoperable brain

29:20

tumors. He says he'll be dead by

29:22

his 40th birthday. Alex

29:25

tells Peter that this is actually the reason he

29:27

reached out to him. He wanted to

29:29

reconnect with his one true love, and

29:31

he wants Peter to inherit his fortune

29:33

after he dies. I

29:36

am so troubled by how

29:39

tenuous the grasp on inheritance

29:41

law is with all these people.

29:44

You don't need to do this. Well,

29:46

Peter's head is spinning. He doesn't tend

29:48

to rush into relationships, but he's flooded

29:50

with love and sympathy for Alex, so

29:52

he decides to go with his heart.

29:55

He says he'll marry Alex. They tie

29:57

the knot a few months later in October. civil

30:00

ceremony in London where Peter lives part

30:02

time. But the wedded bliss doesn't

30:04

last long. The day after the

30:06

wedding, Peter emails a friend for advice.

30:09

He says Alex is urging him to update

30:11

his will and make him the sole beneficiary.

30:14

Peter's wary and he doesn't know what to

30:16

do. Meanwhile, Alex

30:18

is crying all the time. He

30:21

says he's having seizures and that when the next

30:23

one comes, it will most likely leave him

30:25

a vegetable. He asks Peter

30:27

to hold him all night long through the pain.

30:30

Peter is an emotional mess. He's

30:33

upset about Alex's health, but

30:35

he also has his doubts. He

30:37

confides in friends about what's going on

30:39

and he makes a plan to confront

30:42

Alex about all the inconsistencies in his

30:44

stories. A few weeks

30:46

after the wedding, Alex flies to Paris. He

30:49

says he needs to meet with his lawyers to make

30:51

arrangements before he dies. Peter

30:53

decides to meet him there. This

30:55

is when he winds up at the

30:57

cheap hotel and starts getting violently sick.

31:00

Peter is admitted to the hospital complaining

31:03

about headaches and stomach pain. Doctors

31:05

try to get him to stay for treatment, but

31:08

he's hysterical and uncooperative. He

31:10

ends up leaving. One

31:13

November night, Alex calls a paramedics.

31:15

He sounds panicked and scared. He

31:18

says Peter has collapsed and needs

31:20

help immediately. But by

31:22

the time paramedics arrive, Peter is

31:24

dead. A coroner later finds

31:27

that the cause of death is heart failure

31:29

and hepatitis. But Peter's friends don't

31:31

buy it. They're horrified and

31:33

they're angry. And they're

31:35

about to turn their attention to the

31:37

lover Peter left behind. When

31:41

John Reed hears that his dear friend

31:43

Peter has died suddenly, he's shocked.

31:46

John is 59 years old and Spanish.

31:49

He's a tiny guy with bushy eyebrows and

31:51

white hair swept to the side. Back

31:54

in the day, he used to manage rock stars

31:56

like Queen and Elton John. He

31:58

was also Elton John's partner. in the 1970s

32:01

at the height of his fame. That's

32:03

how he met Peter. These days,

32:05

John lives a quieter life in London,

32:08

but his world is shattered when he hears

32:10

of his old friend's passing. And when

32:12

he discovers that the funeral is gonna

32:14

take place in Paris, just two days

32:16

after Peter's death, John is

32:18

angry. Peter didn't live in Paris,

32:20

and many of his friends and family won't be

32:22

able to fly there on such short notice. But

32:25

John can. He's super rich and

32:27

he's retired. When

32:30

he gets to the stone crematorium in

32:32

the basement of a Paris cemetery, John

32:35

is immediately skeptical. The

32:37

service is performed in French, a

32:39

language Peter didn't speak, and

32:41

the music is slow and dismal. It's

32:43

a far cry from the Elton John

32:45

song, Funeral for a Friend, which he knows

32:48

Peter would have wanted to be played. John

32:51

notices Alex sobbing during the service.

32:53

And even though John isn't thrilled with

32:55

the slapdash funeral Alex threw together, he

32:58

knows Alex can probably use some support

33:00

right now. So he invites

33:02

him to a small gathering he's hosting a few

33:04

days later for some of Peter's friends in London.

33:07

And when Alex shows up, he looks

33:10

amazing. He doesn't look sick or on

33:12

the verge of dying. He's wearing a

33:14

floor length leather and mink coat, and he

33:16

eats a ton at dinner. But

33:18

he refuses to speak, which strikes John

33:20

as odd. So John

33:22

decides to keep an eye on Alex, and

33:25

over the next few weeks and months, he

33:27

becomes incredibly suspicious. He

33:30

soon discovers that Alex has presented a

33:32

new will for Peter, which lists his

33:34

name as a sole beneficiary of Peter's

33:36

$20 million fortune. And

33:38

a British court granted Alex probate, so

33:40

he's inherited everything, and he's

33:42

already spending it. Peter's

33:45

friends and family are shocked. They

33:47

know that Peter spent years revising his

33:49

will, making sure he spread his money

33:51

among his family and several charities. No

33:54

one believed he would suddenly change his mind

33:56

and leave everything to a guy he only

33:58

just reconnected with. But it gets worse.

34:01

John also hears that Alex has moved

34:04

into Peter's fancy London apartment with a

34:06

couple of friends, and that

34:08

they're partying and smoking in the apartment which Peter

34:10

would have hated. They reportedly

34:12

throw big dinner parties and splurge

34:14

on new furniture for the house,

34:16

including big screen TVs. Alex

34:19

even bought three Porsches, one for

34:21

him and one for each of his new

34:23

roommates. John

34:26

has now gone from suspicious to

34:28

enraged. He starts to look deeper

34:30

into Alex. He asks a

34:32

friend to visit the Manhattan address where Alex

34:34

claims to have an apartment. But the

34:37

doorman says he's never heard of Alex. Then

34:40

John pulls up the website of

34:42

Alex's supposed billion-dollar business, and it

34:44

looks like a Geocities disaster. It

34:47

has links to pages about music,

34:49

animation, and widgets. The

34:52

books page is full of reviews, like one

34:54

for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This

35:00

actually just endears me to our friend

35:02

the murderer. It was his blog, I

35:05

guess? Listen, we all had one. Well,

35:07

at this point, John is freaking

35:09

out. He knows something is seriously

35:12

wrong, so he convinces Peter's family

35:14

to go to court in England to contest the

35:16

will that Alex submitted. He also

35:18

looks into getting a toxicology report on

35:21

Peter's remains. Turns out, the

35:23

policy in France for a sudden death is

35:25

to remove and store a person's organs for

35:27

a year. John acts quickly,

35:29

and he's able to request a

35:31

report just under the deadline. When

35:34

he gets the results, he's appalled. The

35:37

report finds that Peter has had at

35:39

least eight substances in his blood at

35:41

the time of his death, but mostly

35:43

a drug called paracetamol, which is basically

35:45

Tylenol. There was so much of

35:47

it in his system that his official

35:50

cause of death is changed to cute

35:52

paracetamol poisoning. For Peter's

35:54

family, this tragedy is turning into

35:56

a nightmare. They're increasingly convinced

35:58

that Peter's death... was no accident.

36:01

They're fighting the will that they're sure is

36:03

a forgery, so at least Peter's actual request

36:05

can be honored. And in

36:07

Paris, they decide to file a complaint with

36:09

the police. In it, they

36:11

allege that Peter was murdered by his

36:14

shady new husband. And

36:23

I feel like a... It's

36:27

been about a month since Peter's family

36:29

got his toxicology results and filed a

36:31

complaint with the Paris police. A

36:34

court in England has just ruled that Alex

36:36

forged Peter's will and that it's no longer

36:38

valid. They freeze Alex's

36:40

account and hand his estate over

36:43

to Peter's actual heirs, relatives, friends,

36:45

and charities. Alex

36:47

agrees to turn Peter's ashes over to

36:49

his family. He's also forced to turn

36:51

in the keys to Peter's London apartment

36:53

and return the porches, as well as

36:55

a pair of diamond and emerald cufflinks.

36:58

And, Saatchi, one of the things Alex

37:00

blew Peter's inheritance on was a big

37:02

donation to a tree planting charity. It

37:05

took more than a quarter of a million dollars.

37:08

And now, he has to ask for it back.

37:11

I guess it's nice that he bought some trees. I

37:14

mean, who knows what he was planting there? Alex

37:16

flees England and returns to Paris to hide

37:18

out. But about six months later,

37:21

in June 2010, he's arrested by

37:23

French police. He's held on

37:25

suspicion of killing Peter. Turns

37:28

out, a woman who is the longtime partner

37:30

of one of Alex's brothers had

37:32

written a letter to multiple authorities

37:34

detailing Alex's twisted history. Like

37:37

how Peter was the fifth person to die

37:39

mysteriously in his presence, how he

37:41

arranged for them all to be cremated, and

37:43

how he just so happened to be the

37:45

beneficiary of all of their wills. After

37:49

days of interrogations, Alex

37:51

is thrown into prison to await trials.

37:53

French authorities also arrest one of

37:56

Alex's longtime companions, the person who

37:58

moved into Peter's apartment The

38:00

car was gifted shortly after the friend signed

38:02

on as a witness to the forged will.

38:06

Once in custody, he flips and starts

38:08

telling the police everything. The

38:10

case gets tons of press in France,

38:12

especially after it comes to light that

38:15

Alex had dated Olivier Metzner. He's

38:17

one of the country's most famous criminal

38:19

defense attorneys. It

38:22

seems like the scales of justice are about to

38:24

even out, except that the

38:27

French court system is notoriously slow.

38:30

Alex gets himself one of the best lawyers in

38:32

France, which might be how, in March 2011, he's

38:36

granted a medical release from prison. That's

38:38

less than a year after he was taken into

38:41

custody. He still has to check

38:43

in monthly with the police ahead of his trial,

38:45

but Alex is free. He continues

38:47

to maintain his innocence and moves on with

38:49

his life. He also

38:51

reportedly wastes no time finding new

38:53

victims. He travels to

38:55

small towns in France and lives with

38:58

a series of starry-eyed older women. They

39:00

all seem to be dazzled by his good looks

39:03

and empty promises. They hide

39:05

him from the authorities because Alex

39:07

has definitely not been doing his

39:09

court-mandated check-ins. After just

39:11

six months, French police find Alex in

39:13

the home of one of his older

39:15

female companions hiding under a pile of

39:17

laundry. They threw him back in jail.

39:20

But remember, this guy has a

39:23

great lawyer. Another five months

39:25

later, he's released and

39:27

appeals court rules that he had not been advised

39:29

of his rights when he was taken into custody.

39:32

Once again, he's on probation with

39:34

court-ordered check-ins, but he can

39:36

roam free while the case moves, oh so

39:39

slowly through the system. Alex

39:41

is determined to never see the inside of a

39:43

prison cell again, and when faced

39:45

with another threat to his freedom, he's willing

39:48

to take extreme risks to keep

39:50

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meal kit. In

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2013, about two years after Alex is released from

40:58

prison the second time, the

41:01

body of his former flame, Olivier, is

41:03

found floating in the ocean near his

41:06

private island. His death is

41:08

later ruled a suicide. Meanwhile,

41:10

Alex gets remarried to a

41:13

man named Guillaume. The two moved to a

41:15

rural town outside of Paris where

41:17

apparently they enjoy a happy, quiet

41:19

life. They have a huge garden

41:21

filled with olive trees and Guillaume

41:23

seems to believe Alex's version of events.

41:27

It will never cease to amaze

41:29

me how many scam artists and

41:31

criminals are somehow able to find

41:34

the most gullible people in the

41:36

world. It is truly insane. And

41:39

then in January of 2019, nine

41:42

years after Alex's arrest, he's

41:44

hit with a 42-page indictment.

41:46

It accuses Alex of murdering his

41:48

husband, his parents, and both of his

41:51

grandmothers. Alex denies

41:53

it all. But before his

41:55

case can go to trial, his husband

41:57

tells a journalist that Alex has been

41:59

hospitalized with COVID. He's placed on

42:01

oxygen and it seems like he actually might be

42:03

at the end of his life. Considering

42:06

all the fatal illnesses Alex has seemingly

42:08

faked in the past, there are a

42:10

lot of doubts about whether this is true.

42:13

But sure enough, Alex dies a mysterious

42:15

death within a few days before

42:18

he ever sees a courtroom.

42:21

Oh my god, he dies? He

42:23

gets away with murder by dying?

42:26

Incredible. Yes, and no one

42:29

knows the exact cause of Alex's death.

42:32

Some believe that, as his husband claimed,

42:34

he died from complications from COVID, and

42:36

others speculate Alex planned it, perhaps

42:39

even poisoning himself to make sure he

42:41

had total control over his own narrative. Either

42:44

way, he snatched any hope of justice

42:46

for Peter and everyone else he allegedly

42:48

poisoned along the way. His

42:50

husband Guillaume views things differently. Including

42:53

all of this as an injustice against

42:55

Alex, who he claims was the victim

42:58

of a brutal conspiracy. In

43:00

June 2022, a trial went forward without Alex. His

43:05

two accomplices were tried for falsifying Peter's

43:07

will. They were found guilty, and each

43:10

sentenced to more than two years in

43:12

prison. Alex was just 53 years

43:15

old when he died. But with

43:17

his relative youth, charm, and endless willingness

43:19

to lie to get what he wanted,

43:23

he managed to leave behind a

43:25

legacy of pain, confusion, and sadness

43:27

that will last decades more. Sachi,

43:35

what can you even say about

43:37

a story like that? The

43:39

thing about this one that I think is

43:41

interesting, and frankly feels a little different than

43:43

some of the other ones that we've

43:45

done, is it's just the same thing

43:47

over and over again. Like he just

43:50

kept meeting the most gullible person in the

43:52

world and then would be like, hey, I'm

43:54

in love with you. What if we got

43:56

married and gave each other all of our

43:58

riches because I'm dying? I

44:00

have all these questions sort of about who he

44:02

told and when he told them. Like, did he

44:04

tell other people he was terminal and then he

44:07

wouldn't die but his spouse would die? Was

44:09

he the kind of person where everyone

44:11

knew, like, don't get close to him

44:13

because you're gonna die mysteriously after you

44:15

eat soup? It's hard to understand how

44:18

convincing someone like this can be, I

44:20

guess, until you're confronted with

44:22

someone this evil. Like, I feel like

44:24

that's the only explanation that I can

44:26

possibly have for how any of this

44:28

continued to happen. I have

44:31

empathy, obviously, for all these people who

44:33

got got by this guy because he

44:35

sounds like a straight up serial killer.

44:38

However, I think some

44:40

people really want to

44:42

be taken. Like,

44:46

these are not good lies. These are

44:48

not well-constructed lies. These lies don't make

44:51

any sense. This is Black Widow stuff.

44:53

It's 100% that. The lies

44:55

don't make any sense and, you know,

44:57

he wasn't that beautiful. Like,

45:00

plenty of people marry for

45:02

money or are able to

45:04

seduce older men who are rich. That's

45:06

not like a new thing. But

45:09

that he was able to do this so

45:11

many times, it really blows my mind.

45:13

I cannot stop thinking about that part.

45:15

And just killing his whole family like that, and

45:18

they were like really nice to him. His

45:20

motivation for everything seemingly was that he wanted

45:23

to be famous. He wanted people to,

45:25

like, give a shit about him. And

45:27

then he just killed anybody who cared about

45:29

him. When he was adopted by Marcel, that

45:31

alone is an amazing grift. He could have

45:34

pretended like he lost all of his money

45:36

and he needed help and that she needed

45:38

to take care of him. And it seems

45:40

like she would have until she died organically.

45:42

And instead he murdered her. At

45:45

that point, he was so deep into

45:47

his scam and he still wasn't even

45:49

patient where it's like this woman agreed

45:51

to everything. You don't need to kill

45:53

her yet. Nor do you need to,

45:55

like, be like, give me all your

45:57

money right now. He was stupid, lazy.

46:00

and monstrous. What a wretched

46:02

trifecta. This is one of

46:04

the darkest ones you've ever told me,

46:06

Haggie, I think. He's true evil and

46:09

just absolutely insane.

46:12

Well, what did we learn? Okay,

46:14

I really do think a lot of this

46:17

went on because of France. Yeah.

46:19

Where it's like, this very

46:21

like, oh, you know, like we

46:23

just, people die. Like, I hate it.

46:26

So laissez-faire, they invented the term.

46:28

You just let someone cremate someone

46:30

like that out of nowhere? Too

46:33

casual. Everybody was drinking wine,

46:35

smoking their cigarettes. They're just like,

46:37

oh yeah, that's his son. We'll

46:39

let him cremate him even though

46:41

the rest of his family isn't

46:43

here. I know. All the law

46:45

enforcement was probably so busy writing

46:47

their BC clets with their Beckettes.

46:49

Yes, absolutely. They were really like,

46:52

oh yeah, white guy must be

46:54

innocent. Handsome white guy

46:56

who hung out with Elton John.

46:58

He would never Elton

47:01

John would never know a

47:03

criminal. No. And

47:05

it is crazy when you also think

47:07

about how many terrible like serial killer

47:09

types someone as famous as Elton John

47:12

has come across. You know what I

47:14

mean? It's like you probably met the

47:16

craziest people on earth and you didn't

47:18

even know it at that moment. I guess

47:20

maybe the key is to just not meet

47:22

Elton John. I'm on track. I think the

47:25

lesson I'm learning is anyone who wants to

47:27

be famous is capable

47:29

of a lot of harm. That's probably true.

47:31

If you are actively trying to be famous, take

47:34

a look in the mirror. Think about

47:36

why. Think about if the world needs

47:39

it. And the answer is probably no.

47:41

And if you're French, it's definitely

47:43

no. No, no. answers

47:51

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48:10

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that you think We should cover please

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email us at scamplancers at wondering.com We

48:21

use many sources in our research a

48:23

few that were particularly helpful were the

48:25

book the master and the assassin by

48:27

Sophie Benet The love until death podcast

48:29

series by Mark Seale Lemons

48:31

the thousand lives of outside of

48:33

desphalia by guess bar delim Bloomberg's

48:36

the talented mr. Desphalia by Brad

48:38

Stone and Andrew Harnary's reporting for

48:40

the Sydney Morning Herald Gabrielle

48:42

Jolie wrote this episode additional writing by

48:45

us such a coal and Sarah Hagee

48:47

Sarah Any is our story editor and

48:49

producer and Eric Therm is our story

48:51

editor Back checking by Will

48:54

Toblin sound design by James Morgan

48:56

additional audio assistance provided by Adrian

48:58

Tapia music supervisor is

49:03

Coordinating producer is Bezi Blaylock

49:06

and our managing producer is Matt Gantt

49:08

Jeanine Kornilow and Stephanie Jens are

49:11

our development producers our associate producers

49:13

are Charlotte Miller and Lexi theory

49:16

Our producers are John Reed Yasmin Ward

49:18

and K. Yang Our

49:21

senior producers are Jen Swan and Ginny

49:23

Bloom our executive producers

49:25

are Jenny Lower Beckman Marshall Louie

49:27

and Erin O'Flaherty or wondering

49:39

Academy is a new scripted podcast that

49:41

follows Ava Richards played by HBO's industries

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My holla herald a brilliant scholarship student

49:46

who has to quickly adapt to her

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new found eat or be eaten world

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Ava's ambitions take hold and her small-town

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values break in hopes of becoming the

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first scholarship student to make the list

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Bishop Gray's all coveted academic top

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10, curated by the headmaster himself. But

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after realizing she has no chance at

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the list on her own, she reluctantly

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accepts an invitation to a secret underground

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society that pulls the strings on campus

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life and academic success. If

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she bends to their will, she'll have everything

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she's ever dreamed of. But at what cost?

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Academy takes you into the world of

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a cutthroat private school where power, money,

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and sex collide in a game

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of life and death. Binge all 10

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