He claims his innocence, but Samire L., Aurélie Vaquier's companion indicted for aggravated murder, is now at the foot of the wall.
This Wednesday, a search with substantial means of investigation, including ground penetrating radar and dogs trained to find corpses, had led fairly quickly to the discovery at the couple's home, in Bédarieux (Hérault), of the body of this 38-year-old woman. years missing since January 28.
Killed on the spot, the victim was buried in what Raphaël Balland, prosecutor of Béziers (Hérault), describes as "a concrete sarcophagus".
This rebound did not obviously shake the assurance of Samire L., 39, who had been living with Aurélie since the end of the summer after having met her in July in a shared apartment in Villeveyrac.
During the hearings in police custody and then during his appearance on Friday morning in the office of the examining magistrate in Béziers, Samire L. stood up to the investigators.
Despite the evidence, he said he had nothing to do with Aurélie's death.
He supported the version - to say the least astonishing - that a man had been able to break into their home to kill her and hide the body under a concrete slab.
In the discussions with the investigators of the gendarmerie, he was assisted by Me Mathieu Montfort of the cabinet of Jean-Robert Phung, tenor of the bar of Montpellier, and by Me Lisa Valiente of the bar of Béziers.
They felt that they had to read the file before speaking and commenting on their client's situation.
The position of the suspect, placed in pre-trial detention, did not in any case surprise the victim's brother.
The planned white march has been postponed
“It doesn't surprise me about him.
During the whole period of research to find Aurélie, he did not stop lying and fleeing the questions that bothered his screenplay, ”explains Jérémy Vaquier.
As of Thursday, Aurélie's brother even put a word on this murder: feminicide.
“Across the country there are a lot of people who find myself in my case.
Those individuals who harm women and destroy families must be excluded from our society.
Let them be punished very severely.
That he never comes out ”, insists Jérémy Vaquier.
Friday, the public prosecutor Raphaël Balland for his part characterized the murder of Bédarieux.
“These tragic events have sparked a new debate on violence against women.
The fight against this violence has become our top priority.
Justice must pass but it is also the business of our entire society, ”said the prosecutor while anti-feminicides begin to mobilize on the networks and a first white march had been scheduled for this Sunday in Bédarieux before being finally postponed by Aurélie's relatives.
An acrobatic line of defense
Facing the acrobatic line of defense of the enigmatic former cook, stands the file accumulated by the investigators of the research section of Montpellier.
A very complete compilation of material evidence and the suspect's own tinkering to support the thesis of Aurélie's voluntary departure for a sort of retirement with an unknown friend.
“Since it was really a mess at home with the work, I advised her to take a step back at her grandmother's in Poussan (Hérault), this grandmother she loves so much, rather than at a stranger, ”Samire L. explained to us on Saturday, February 27, during the first gathering of Aurélie's relatives in Bédarieux.
That day, the companion was raving about his hearing with the gendarmes and the very long search which had given nothing.
On the contrary, he said he had provided "transparently" all the valuable information to the investigators: in particular on his departure by car for the country of Gex (Ain), on the morning of the 28th.
The same day when Samuel L. claims to have received at 1:37 a.m. a message from Aurélie accrediting the thesis of his alleged voluntary departure, with spelling errors as a bonus.
A text that he is now suspected of having written himself.
“This message was presented to me by Samire on February 15 as having been issued two days earlier, on the 13th. But it was a cut and paste without date indication.
And the screenshot revealed that the message actually dated January 28, ”summarizes Jérémy Vaquier.
“In December, Aurélie called me.
She was in tears, she didn't know what to do anymore »
The day after the first meeting in Bédarieux, the group of friends invited themselves to the couple's local accommodation.
Samire L. then urges them to do some research "in case we could find a clue as to where she went".
The girls are interested in Aurélie's dressing room.
And they discover that she would have left without her favorite clothes, her shoes, the jacket she had just bought and adored, her jewelry and toiletries that she would not have forgotten.
“In the walk-in closet, we discovered that a whole pile of clothes had been taken out, but a woman who leaves some day does not empty a whole shelf.
It was the same in the closet, ”testifies a friend of Aurélie.
Another close to the victim reports an episode evoking a certain tension in the couple.
“In December, one evening, Aurélie called me.
She was in tears, she didn't know what to do anymore.
Samire was in a total panic, a pretty serious fit.
Obviously, the project they had to set up a vegan restaurant and a shop for the products that Aurélie made was getting complicated, especially with the work to be done.
I told her that she didn't have to go to the end, that she could still go back, ”says this friend.
In January, in a complex context of curfew and health crisis, sales of its organic products on the markets were disappointing.
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On January 23, Aurélie, by message, canceled the visit to Bédarieux that she herself had offered to her two brothers Dorian and Kévin scheduled for the 24th. Then nothing.
