Husband Sought in Champion Skier's Slaying

May 2, 2006 — -- Police in Switzerland are seeking the husband of former world champion skier Corrine Rey-Bellet, who was shot dead in her parents' alpine chalet in the Swiss resort of Les Crosets.

Police said a gunman had already left the crime scene when they arrived. Police have named Rey-Bellet's husband, Gerold Stadler, 34, as the main suspect in the murder investigation. Philippe Medico, an investigative judge, said the Swiss police had issued an arrest warrant for Stadler who had been seen leaving the house holding a gun and whose car was found in the nearby village of Ollon.

The killing has shocked the international skiing community, and more than 2,000 skiers and fans have posted condolences on Rey-Bellet's Web site. Swiss ski director Hansruedi Laich said he was shocked at the news. "To lose such a great skier in this way is tragic," he said.

Rey-Bellet, 33, was considered one of the world's best skiers until a knee injury that forced her to retire three years ago. In her accomplished career spanning 15 years, she had been the Swiss champion, won five World Cup titles, and taken part in four Olympic Games.

Sonja Nef, a friend of Rey-Bellet's who retired from the Swiss Ski Team this spring after 15 World Cup victories, said to ABC News, "Corrine was an ambitious, exceptionally kind, friendly girl, who was always lucky in skiing."

She said that Rey-Bellet had confided in her, as long ago as December, that she was homesick and was having problems with her husband.

The couple separated 10 days ago, and Jean-Marie Bornet, a spokesman for Valais police, said the possibility of a domestic crime "could not be excluded." They had only been married for two years after having met when Stadler, a banker, had offered Rey-Bellet investment advice through the Credit Suisse athlete retirement program.

Medico said that the couple had been having a family conference about the couple's marital problems on the night of the murders and that the skier's father had stormed out of the meeting. The skier's 2-year-old son, who was sleeping upstairs at the time of the killing, was also unharmed. Rey-Bellet's mother, Verena, was wounded in the slayings, and was listed in serious but stable condition.