Hunting weapon: Father and son executed

A Macedonian father and his son fell victim to a deliberate homicide in Sorens – the suspected perpetrator has confessed and a hunting weapon was seized.

Following a concerning missing persons report involving a father and son residing in the canton of Vaud, search operations carried out in cooperation with the Vaud Cantonal Police led to the discovery of two bodies in Sorens/FR. The suspected perpetrator, Vincent V., was arrested. He admitted to having killed both individuals. The investigation is ongoing.

According to initial information from family members, the father and his son had set out together on the evening of 24 March to visit a farmer in Sorens. They were to complete a transaction for the purchase of three agricultural tractors. From that moment on, the family received no further sign of life from them.

In cooperation with the Vaud Cantonal Police, an extensive police search operation was established in the municipality of Sorens. This led to the discovery of the missing persons’ vehicle in the Prarys area. The license plates had been removed. At the same time, the farmer in question was apprehended without resistance at his place of residence in Sorens.

During questioning, the 30-year-old farmer admitted to having deliberately shot both victims with a hunting rifle while they were inside an alpine hut in the municipality of Sorens; he led investigators to the site where the two bodies were subsequently found.

The investigations carried out to date have revealed that the perpetrator most likely killed his victims in the barn of the alpine hut in question using shots fired from a large-calibre hunting rifle. He is then said to have inflicted severe blows to the heads of both victims before throwing their bodies into the slurry pit of the alpine hut — which was filled with water at the time of the crime. The mobile phones of both victims were also found in the pit. He is also said to have hidden the licence plates of the victims' vehicle.

During the house search, investigators found the hunting rifle most likely used in this tragedy, as well as the spent cartridge casings from the hunting weapon.

The autopsies show that the bodies were struck by shots consistent with those fired from a hunting rifle. Both victims also showed signs of having been struck on the head with one or more blunt objects. The official cause of death of both victims has not yet been determined.

The perpetrator's 58-year-old father, as well as the perpetrator's 17-year-old girlfriend, were questioned and released after the interview.

The IG Wild beim Wild maintains a list of criminal offences committed by Swiss hobby hunters that have made it into the media.