2 days ago
Aristocrat killer who forced candle down victim's throat spotted on dating apps
Art gallery owner Bennet von Vertes brutally murdered 23-year-old British graduate Alex Morgan with a candlestick in a Swiss villa - but is now said to be popping up on dating apps
An aristocrat who brutally murdered his victim by shoving a candlestick down his throat has been found searching for love on dating apps.
Art gallery owner Bennet von Vertes killed Alex Morgan in a Swiss villa in 2014. He was later handed a 12 year jail sentence for the savage attack, which saw him beat the 23-year-old British graduate with a candelabra, stab him with glass and force a candle down his throat. Now Alex's mum Katja Faber says she has been sent pictures of her son's killer trying to find love after a string of women alerted her to his profiles on dating apps.
Katja told the Standard: "It's quite extraordinary that someone on parole for such serious crimes can wander about the world as if he had done nothing."
Alex was born in London but studied at Gordonstoun near Elgin, Scotland for several years, before meeting his killer at Regent's University London, then known as Regent's College.
His mum had moved to Switzerland, and when he went to visit her in December 2014, he was invited by Von Vertes to his family's empty villa after a night out, reports the Daily Record.
There, Alex suffered more than 50 injuries in the brutal and prolonged attack, and was pronounced dead the following morning.
During his trial, Von Vertes claimed Alex was the aggressor - but he did not show any defensive injuries, suffering only one cut to his finger.
He was found guilty of intentional homicide but the case was sent back to court in 2019 for appeal, where Von Vertes claimed he was so high on drugs he believed Alex was a green alien.
The killer was temporarily transferred to an enclosed rehab facility, but after another appeal by Katja, he was again found guilty of intentional homicide.
The Supreme Court denied Von Vertes's final appeal in 2023. He was also found guilty of raping a woman in a London hotel.
But last year, Von Vertes was released on full parole - and Katja, who now lives on a farm in Spain and helps other families suffering grief, was recently sent images of Von Vertes on dating apps from two women. She was also contacted by a third woman.
One image shows Von Vertes with an AirPod in his ear and the other is of him standing in front of a set of mailboxes.
It came after one woman said unwittingly went on a date with Von Vertes while he was on day release from prison, describing him as "verbally abusive" and claiming he had boasted about serving time in prison for killing someone.
She said he had used the pseudonym Benjamin Schwarz when she met him on the app.
