Convicted in Monaco fire death, Ted Maher faces new murder-for-hire claim
A Monaco arson convict who reinvented himself as Jon Green now faces a New Mexico murder-for-hire claim after years of moving between countries.
A former Monaco convict who later resurfaced under a new name now faces fresh allegations in New Mexico, deepening a case defined by reinvention, flight and the gaps that can let a fugitive keep moving.
Ted Maher, now known as Jon Green, was convicted in Monaco in December 2002 of arson causing death and sentenced to 10 years in prison after the fatal fire that killed Lebanese-Brazilian banker and philanthropist Edmond Safra in his Monaco penthouse on Dec. 3, 1999. Nurse Vivian Torrente also died in the blaze, turning one of Europe’s most notorious fire deaths into a case that crossed borders and followed Maher for decades.
Maher did not stay behind bars long. He escaped from Monaco’s House of Arrest in January 2003 and was quickly captured in Nice, France, a brief flight that underscored how quickly a high-profile defendant can slip through national systems before being recaptured. The episode became part of a long trail of legal and identity changes that would later place him back in U.S. headlines.
In 2022, NBC News reported that Maher was living under the name Jon Green. That account said he was arrested in San Antonio, Texas, on June 13, 2022, on burglary, larceny, forgery and fraud charges after a dognapping case in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Three stolen search-and-rescue dogs were recovered, and one of them gave birth to eight puppies while the case unfolded. Maher denied the allegations.
The new murder-for-hire claim pushes the story beyond a single criminal case and into the broader problem of fugitives who can reemerge with new identities and fresh allegations in another state or country. The Monaco fire, the escape in France and the later Texas arrest illustrate how hard it can be to track people whose aliases, travel and legal histories span multiple jurisdictions.
The Safra family’s own history has also continued to unfold. Lily Safra, Edmond Safra’s widow, died in Geneva on July 9, 2022, according to the Edmond J. Safra Foundation. Even as that chapter closed, the criminal case tied to her husband’s death remained active in public memory, now shadowed by the latest allegations against Maher.
The case will be revisited Saturday, May 16 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+, with Erin Moriarty reporting.
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