BY REASON OF DOUBT: The Belshaw Case.

Hardback. On December 3, 1980, Professor Cyril Belshaw, world-renowned anthropologist at the University of British Columbia, was put on trial in the medieval city of Aigle, Switzerland, for the murder of his wife Betty. 21-mths earlier her body had been discovered wrapped in rubbish bags. It had been jettisoned down a slope in the Swiss Alps. 2-mths before that, Belshaw had reported her mysterious disappearance in Paris. The book details his search for his wife, the investigation by the Swiss police, and the striking consequences of Belshaw's falsification of his wife's dental records. The book reaches its high-point in the extraordinary 3 day trial which took place amidst a blaze of publicity both in Europe and in Canada. The verdict was an acquittal on the central charge. However the judgement also spoke of Belshaw having incurred on himself by his attitude "an enormous presumption of guilt" and of acquittal by reason of "a very light doubt". Illus. 208pp. 8vo. h/back. F. in Vg+ dw.