His relations with the "Tatie de Pompignac", the last will of the victim who wanted to exclude him from the succession, the supposed confessions that he would have made to an uncle shortly after the death of the victim… For more than 2:30 Thursday, February 20, Alain Laprie answered questions from the President, lawyers from the civil party and the Advocate General. Since Monday, this 64-year-old Bordeaux resident has been on appeal before the Assize Court of Charente, Angoulême, for the murder of Marie Cescon, his 88-year-old aunt, found in 2004 severely wounded in the head and suffocated by the arson of his house in Pompignac near Bordeaux (Gironde).
Living a few kilometers from Pompignac, Alain Laprie visited his aunt, widowed for several years, two or three times a week. The victim's “favorite” nephew took her to the bank, helped her with her errands, tinkered around the house and managed the affairs of this Italian who spoke French but did not write it.
"I always said that I love my aunt"
In exchange for this daily support, the "Tatie de Pompignac" gave him several donations, tickets from hand to hand and sometimes larger sums. Thus, at the very beginning of the 2000s, Alain Laprie received 17,000 euros in the form of four checks and the aunt gave him bearer vouchers given to his children. In 1998, she even designated him as his universal legatee.
However, notes Me Christine Maze, lawyer for the civil party, "I do not hear any particular affection when you speak of your aunt". Alain Laprie eludes: “I always said that I loved my aunt. I have been defending myself for 16 years against something I did not commit. I'm not here to show my affection ”. Me Maze insists. The nephew struggles, however, to illustrate with examples his relationship which he says is almost filial with the victim.
According to the testimony of neighbors and cousins of the victim, several months before the death of Marie Cescon, their relationship had deteriorated. The "Auntie de Pompignac" assured anyone who wanted to hear that her nephew wanted only his money. The octogenarian had even written and signed with his own hand a new will excluding Alain from his estate and favoring other nephews and nieces, some of whom joined the proceedings this week.
"We had to find someone and it was me"
On March 17, 2004, the day of the murder, Alain Laprie had spent the late afternoon in Pompignac tending the garden. The nephew had explained to the investigators that he then deposited the brush cutter, the chainsaw, the fuel for the tools and a yellow work polo shirt on his aunt's veranda. These objects, as well as a telephone with large keys and the will, were never found after the discovery of the body.
"Very quickly, elements seem to designate a familiar," notes the president of the Assize Court during the question and answer session. "Apart from imagining someone who has a passion for touch-tone telephones," he scoffs, "his disappearance indicates that someone did not want the victim to be able to call for help if she regains consciousness." The accused remained silent or almost: "I have no answer, I was at home".
"You were quickly suspected in this case," continued the magistrate in a red dress, recalling a first police custody in June 2004. "Everything I did and said was suspect," replied the nephew, in a tone calm which contrasts with its outbursts of the previous days. We have been constantly fooling around. We had to find someone and it was me. ” As for the New Testament, which excludes him from inheritance: he never knew of its existence, he says.
"I am told I killed your sister , I do not finish the rib steak"
Through the questions of the civil party and the prosecution, a scenario emerges. According to this hypothesis that Alain Laprie does not recognize, the evening of her death, Marie Cescon would have brandished her new will in the face of the alleged murderer who would have pushed her back causing her to fall on the floor of her kitchen. The old lady would have gotten up, but then he would have hit her on the back of the head causing a deep sore on the scalp. The assailant then opened the taps on the stove, forgetting to open the gas cylinder located outside, and set the pavilion on fire, failing to detonate the entire hamlet.
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
A few days after the death of Marie Cescon, Alain Laprie is said to have gone to visit Antoine Dalcin, the victim's brother, in Cocumont, the family stronghold, near Marmande (Lot-et-Garonne). During this lunch, the nephew would have confessed to his old uncle: "I was the one who did it." A confession after which they would have finished their meal. The nephew, however, always denied having made these comments. Antoine Dalcin will not confide his "secret" to the authorities until 2009. Hands behind his back and straight look, Alain Laprie is surprised by the president: "I am told I killed your sister , I do not finish the entrecote, I take it immediately to the gendarmerie ”.
So who killed "Tatie de Pompignac", "what is the most plausible thesis?" Asks Me Christine Maze. "I do not know, I am not an investigator," quipped the accused. In one of his first hearings, shortly after the death of Marie Cescon, Alain Laprie had hypothesized a burglar or a prowler. In the modest pavilion of this small country hamlet, the investigators had found after the death more than 800 euros in hidden cash and the victim's full purse. On the fingers of Marie Cescon's remains, her wedding ring and a ring finger were still in place.
Faced with questions from the general counsel, Alain Laprie finally raised his voice: "If there had been an assault on my part, if there had been a fight in this room, we would have found my DNA, my fingerprints . There is nothing, nothing on the stove buttons. There is nothing, because it is not me! "
