www.thestar.com.au
TUESDAY, S OC OCTOBER O 25, 2011
$1.20
KRIS McLaren of Leongatha will race against some of the world’s best in the Spanish Moto2 next year.
Olé, olé, olé!
Kris (second from right) and his father, Craig McLaren (right) are thrilled Kris has been offered a ride by Ben Reid, owner of the Spanish based Australian Moto2 team Ben Reid Performance Racing (BRP). Kris will head to Spain in March to start testing with team-mate and former Aussie 125 GP champion, Blake Leigh-Smith. Read more in Star Sport. The BRP team was pictured recently at the Phillip Island track. Full report page 63. (Photo courtesy © www.jeffcrowphoto.com 0419 449 655).
Murder mystery Arawata couple disputes killer claim By Brad Lester A DESCENDANT of artist Vincent van Gogh living at Arawata has disputed a new account of how van Gogh died.
New theory: Di and John Koenders, and inset, Mr Koenders’ distant relative, Vincent van Gogh.
John Koenders – the great grand nephew of van Gogh – believes his famous relative was murdered but not by the same people identified in a new book by Pulitzer Prize winning American authors, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. Mr Koenders and his wife Di have made a documentary about the life of van Gogh that was shown at the Cannes Film Festival this year, and could soon be aired on television stations around the world. In that documentary, the Koenders agree with Naifeh and Smith’s book Van Gogh: The Life that van Gogh was murdered, but not accidentally shot by two teenage boys the authors claim were responsible, including 16-year-old Rene Secretan. The Koenders’ say their documentary reveals
the people they believe were responsible for the murder and told The Star van Gogh’s doctor, Dr Gachet, was most likely involved although not the killer. Until now, it has widely been thought that van Gogh committed suicide by shooting himself. The Koenders were interviewed by Melbourne media last week and their version of events is likely to gain headlines around the world. “We feel that there were other people involved in Vincent’s death,” Mr Koenders said. “We have straightened this out for the first time. We are actually telling the truth about the whole episode.” They felt Dr Gachet did not shoot the artists but believed he was involved, as he did not approve of the romance developing between his 18-year-old daughter Marguerite and van Gogh, 37. Van Gogh was shot after he argued with the doctor. Police interviewed several boys regarding the shooting, Mr Koenders said. Continued on page 3.
Melbourne Cup long weekend liftout inside