Dominica: Murder accused American hotelier seeking bail

Jonathan Lehrer, one of two American nationals charged with the murders of famed Canadian animator Daniel Langlois, 66, and his longtime partner Dominique Marchand, 58, is seeking bail on “medical grounds.”

According to court documents, the matter is to be heard on Tuesday at the High Court in Dominica. The state is opposing the bail application.

In December last year, murder charges were filed against Lehrer, 57, and 62-year-old Robert Snyder Jr., over the deaths of animation pioneer and Quebec philanthropist Daniel Langlois and his partner. Jonathan Lehrer on his way to court last December (File Photo)

The prosecution alleges that between November 29 and December 2, 2023, the two Americans murdered Langlois and his partner Marchand. Their bodies were found incinerated in a car near Gallion, in the south of the island where they owned a hotel. Langlois and Marchand had been reported missing for several days.

The Americans were not required to enter a plea in the magistrate’s court, since murder is an indictable offence and can only be tried before a judge and jury at the High Court.

In December last year, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said that a special prosecutor would be appointed to deal with the murders, saying then, “I have every confidence in the justice system to administer this matter fairly and above board.”

Lehrer and Langlois had fought bitterly over the use of a road that sliced through the former’s property on the Bois Cotlette Estate, one of the oldest plantations in Dominica. But the High Court had ruled that the road was public.

Langlois had made a fortune developing cutting-edge 3D animation software for the company he founded, Softimage, that was used in Hollywood blockbusters such as “Jurassic Park,” “Star Wars,” and “The Matrix.”

In 1994, he sold his company to Microsoft, and three years later was awarded a scientific and technical Oscar, according to his foundation’s website.