PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

A Frenchman is on trial for allegedly brainwashing and robbing three generations of an aristocratic family. Thierry Tilly, 48, is said to have convinced the wealthy, titled Védrines family that he was a master spy and a representative of an ancient order fighting dark forces that were plotting against them. Prosecutors said Tilly persuaded 11 members of the Védrines family to barricade themselves inside their château from 1999 to 2006 and sign over to him assets worth more than $5 million. “We were so paranoid that we could no longer think straight,” said Ghislaine de Védrines Marchand.