Inside the battle between Daniel Langlois and the American chocolatier charged with his murder in Dominica - as locals claim the 'killer' Jonathan Lehrer threatened anyone who went on his Bois Cotlette estate

Canadian animation pioneer Daniel Langlois and his girlfriend Dominique Marchand had lived in Caribbean paradise for two decades and last year finally realized their dream of opening their own eco-resort. 

But last Friday their bodies were found inside a torched car, burned beyond recognition not far from their home on the island of Dominica.

American Jonathan Lehrer, 58, the owner of a neighboring cocoa estate, has been charged in their murder - along with alleged hitman, Robert Snider, from Florida.

Detectives believe that a long-running property feud between the North American neighbors over a public road may have led to the killings.

The brutal slayings of the beloved couple have rocked the small island community - and a picture has emerged of Lehrer as a well-connected, affluent landowner who 'felt he was a law unto himself.'

Locals claim that Lehrer threatened hikers, tourists and farmers in the area who he believed were encroaching on his estate.

It has also been alleged that Lehrer's position as a government-sanctioned immigration agent - procuring passports for wealthy foreigners - gave him a protected status. 

Soon after news of the murders emerged, locals of the island began pointing fingers Lehrer, from New Jersey, who owns and operates the Bois Cotlette estate, which is one of the oldest former plantations on the island.

Dominica local Jacqueline Dupigny told DailyMail.com that Lehrer was known to come out with his dogs whenever he felt anyone was trespassing on his property - a claim repeated on many Trip Advisor reviews of the estate.

On Facebook, she wrote: 'Why did this have to happen especially when the suspect REPEATEDLY threatened hikers, taximen, tourists, villagers, farmers and land owners in the area. A real tragedy that will result in more income loss for the people of Dominica.'

Many locals claimed Lehrer's position as a government-sanctioned agent in the island's program to get foreign investors in exchange of a passport earned him special treatment from authorities.

The Dominica government says on its website Lehrer is one of the agents who 'provide professional advice and assistance with preparing and submitting your application for citizenship by investment in Dominica.'

Dominica attorney Gabriel Christian told DailyMail.com the position made Lehrer 'felt he was a law unto himself.'

Christian added: 'Mr. Langlois and Ms. Marchand did not seem to have been adequately protected- despite their efforts to raise the matter in the courts. 

'[Lehrer] was one of the passport peddlers... Look at who are our CBI agents. Bois Cotlette is still on the Government website.' 

Since at least 2014, Lehrer and Langlois had been embroiled in a nasty battle over the usage of the Morne Rouge Public Road, which passes through both the chocolatier's Bois Collette Inc estate and Langlois' luxurious Coulibri Ridge resort. 

The fight reached the island state highest court in 2018, when Langlois took the American to court, accusing Lehrer of 'causing interference with the unobstructed and free use of the public road' for at least the past four years.

In court documents from 2019 seen by DailyMail.com, Langlois said Lehrer once 'blocked the road by placing boulders across the road, digging a trench across the said road, erecting metal pipes and placing equipment and supplies on the road denying the claimants and their employees access to their property.'

A local report from 2018 says a protest was staged on the road after 'a land owner from Bois Cutlette' blocked it. Dominica News Online said, 'The residents, most of whom are employees at Petite Coulibri, have been unable to pass safely to get to work, and decided to protest the action of the land owner.'

Dominica's highest court ruled in 2019 that the road was public and could be freely used by Langlois' guests, but the feud between the two wealthy North Americans - and Lehrer's commitment to stop people from using the contested street did not end there.

Locals and Trip Advisor reviews describe Lehrer as an aggressive landowner who would not allow locals or anyone without an appointment to use the public road that went though his estate.

Many reviewers of the estate claim they were intimidated and mistreated by Lehrer when they tried to go to the old plantation without an appointment or were simply hiking in the area.

Lehrer replied to all the negative reviews of his business, berating the posters for paragraphs and often accusing them of entering his property without permission.

'It is very easy to spot an intruder... Kind of looks like this,' Lehrer wrote to a reviewer who said they were accused of trespassing while hiking in the area. 

'Staying at your friend's budget house for a week, get curious about Bois Cotlette, would rather freeload than pay. Shame on you both and your friend,' Lehrer added.

Lehrer went after another reviewer who claimed to have been intimidated, with the American even appearing to issue a delayed threat. 

'In the future you should consider not trespassing,' Lehrer wrote. 'Perhaps more alarming is the fact that while a more responsible person when coming to the property and finding it to be closed would leave. It is a good thing you left when you saw us approaching or you would have had much more to write about in your review.'

Dominica police told DailyMail.com on Thursday that they are looking into claims that Lehrer was aggressive and intimidated locals, but can currently only confirm they received a report over the land dispute between the North American neighbors.  

Police say Lehrer was behind the 'ambush' murder of Langlois and his wife by a hitman who killed them and then set their car on fire, according to police. 

Langlois was known as the founder of Softimage, which created 3D animations software for movies like Jurassic Park, Men in Black and Star Wars. 

He and Marchand spent 20 years planning their eco-resort, which they had finally opened last year, after massive delays cause by a hurricane that practically destroyed the island.

Dominica residents credit Langlois for helping rebuild the island and offering good jobs to locals following the natural disaster.

On November 3, the government of Dominica gave Langlois a 'Meritorious Service Award for his contributions to sustainable development and research projects,' as reported by Dominica News Online. 

Dupigny told DailyMail.com the Canadian couple was beloved in the island and would be greatly missed.

She said: 'The sweetest foreigners to set foot on this island. They were exemplary stewards of the land around them and to their staff they treated them with so much respect.'

The entrepreneur sold his software company to Microsoft in 1994 for $200 million and went on to found the Daniel Langlois Foundation for the Art, Sciences and Technology.

Since selling the company, Langlois and his partner dedicated themselves to philanthropy, sustainability projects, and to the island. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to Dominica police for comment on this story.