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Manhunt launched after milionairess's body found in Paris hotel
Robert Mendick and Peter Allen29 May 2009
This is the millionaire businesswoman who was found naked and battered to death in a Paris hotel room.
Kinga Legg's boyfriend Ian Griffin, today named by the police in connection with the killing, is thought to be heading for the French Riviera after fleeing in his Porsche.
Ms Legg, 36, who lived in a £4 million house on a private estate in Surrey, died from a series of blows to the body and head. Mr Griffin, a declared bankrupt behind 28 businesses, calmly walked out of the £1,000-a-night Bristol Hotel on Tuesday. Several hours later cleaners discovered Ms Legg's body in the bath of their room. The walls were spattered with her blood.
The Polish-born owner of international tomato supplier Vegex, whose clients includes Tesco and McDonald's, suffered massive head injuries.
Police believe the victim had left London for a weekend break and was followed by Mr Griffin, who arrived early on Tuesday. A row is thought to have broken out after the pair consumed “copious” amounts of champagne.
Sources said the hotel room was destroyed, with radiators ripped from the blood-stained walls and 18th century furniture and vases smashed.
Henri Moreau of the Brigade Criminal said: “The autopsy showed that she died of blows to the body. There was no weapon used except for bits of furniture and fists.”
Another police source said: “The woman was hit repeatedly, perhaps with a lamp stand or some other blunt tool. Nobody heard any shouts or screams. Lots of furniture had been knocked over or smashed, and a curtain had been pulled down.”
Hotel staff told how Mr Griffin had calmly asked that his girlfriend should not be disturbed as he left. He put a “do not disturb” sign on the door.
French police are now hunting him urgently, with Interpol issuing an alert and police at airports and borders being notified. He could be heading in his grey Porsche 911 for a yacht, which may be owned by Ms Legg, moored on the Riviera.
His father, Bernard Griffin expressed his shock. Speaking from his £1 million home near Warrington, Cheshire, he said: “I have not seen my son for a while. I know of Kinga but I know nothing about this incident in Paris.”
A former telecommunications boss, he was once held in prison in Madrid over fraud allegations. He ran a succession of failed businesses, as well as sunbed shops in the North-West.
He was declared bankrupt in 2006, and was understood to have been living off Ms Legg. They had been together for about three years.
Mr Griffin's last known address was a mansion on a country lane in Knutsford, Cheshire, where he was regarded as “flash” by neighbours. He had recently been staying with Ms Legg in her rented property in Leatherhead. Her maiden name is Wolf and she is originally from Opatowek in Poland. She moved to Britain and married Peter Legg in Blackpool in 1996.
They lived for a time in Cheshire, where she started an affair with Mr Griffin. Miss Legg split from her husband after two years' marriage.
Reader views (1)
This is horrific.. Mr Griffith - I would regard as highly dangerous - considering no weapons were used and the amount of damage he did to Miss Legg and the room, lets hope he is caught ASAP as anyone he comes into contact with will be in danger, "man on the run, pictures in papers and on the net - he'll be in panic mode"..
- Natalie Ralston, Sydney, Australia, 01/06/2009 01:14
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