“It’s not a wrong road, (…) it’s the assassination of an old woman”, launched the Advocate General Pierre Gérard, during the third and last day of a trial marked by the shadow areas.

The 63-year-old defendant has always maintained his innocence since his incarceration in May 2019.

“This asphyxiation is due to this cluster of madeleine in the mouth. We find its pieces in the trachea, the vocal cords and the main bronchi”, continued the magistrate.

“We have a crazy amount of madeleine, forced into a woman’s mouth”, “probably not all at once”, continued Mr. Gérard.

“It’s my conviction, I have no way to prove it,” said the Advocate General, faced with a file marked by the absence of direct evidence.

Yvette B., 92, resident of an Alzheimer unit in a Touraine nursing home, was found dead on May 13, 2019, in her bed, pieces of madeleine in her mouth.

The accused had just visited him, bringing a package of industrial madeleines. The motorcycle enthusiast had locked the bedroom door, a behavior that had raised questions among the nursing staff. The former Paris firefighter had taken out a life annuity in 1995 on a family home of the victim.

The first two days of the trial had seen the defense, organized by masters Abed Bendjador father and son, instill doubt, pointing in particular to the inaccuracies of the witnesses and the reality of the financial motive raised by the public prosecutor.

https://www.lexpress.fr/actualites/1/societe/assises-20-ans-de-reclusion-requis-contre-l-accuse-du-proces-a-la-madeleine_2173461.html