The investigating chamber of the Rennes court of appeal (Ille-et-Vilaine) examined on Thursday the appeals for the placement in pre-trial detention of two people involved - to different degrees - in the Magali Blandin case, this Specialized educator and mother of four children killed by her husband, Jérôme G., on February 11 near Rennes.
First, it was the victim's mother-in-law who entered the box: a frail little woman with white hair floating in a jacket too big for her.
Monique G., 72, was indicted for aiding and abetting murder and aiding and abetting attempted murder, as was her husband, Jean, aged 75.
Incarcerated since March 20 following the confession of her son, the septuagenarian did not speak, lost in sobs, leaving her lawyer Gwendoline Tenier to remind that as a mother, she was not bound by the law to denounce his son.
If his client lied to investigators, it was, according to Me Tenier, under pressure from his son Jérôme G. who ended up confessing to the murder of his ex-wife.
The mother-in-law not yet heard by the examining magistrate
Lawyer for those close to Magali, Me William Pineau thinks on the contrary that the mother-in-law was "at the heart" of the plot.
"The alibi that she provided allowed to exclude the investigators of her son for several weeks", he explains, reproaching him "the unworthiness of the lie".
"She did not know how to take her place as a grandmother and protect her grandchildren," he says again.
This Thursday, the hearing also allowed to know more about the presumed role of the in-laws.
They would have been aware of the disastrous intentions of their son - to have Magali killed by Georgians - around Christmas.
In addition, on the day of the crime, Jérôme G. allegedly asked his father to make phone calls and send emails from the family home in Montauban-de-Bretagne in order to consolidate his alibi.
For her part, the Advocate General considers that a release is premature, the mother-in-law - like her husband - having not yet been heard by the examining magistrate.
"His word is fragile given the weight of the small family circle in this file," continues the magistrate.
She also wants the investigation to advance on the financial side.
The parents would have given 50,000 euros to their son in December 2020 "to finance his divorce".
Jean G. would not have supported that Magali Blandin recovers part of the property of the couple with the divorce.
Did Jérôme G.'s mother know that this money was to be used to have her daughter-in-law executed?
His lawyer insists that not.
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The second person to ask for his release is Georgian, suspected of attempted extortion.
His lawyer says his client was not aware of anything.
“He lived in the hangar rented in the black by Jérôme G. who abused his irregular situation, supports Me Élodie Brault.
He did not know the existence of Magali Blandin, the couple being separated before his arrival on the territory.
However, the phone of this forty-something contains the photo of an extortion letter written by a Georgian friend, and which he had to show to Jérôme G. to blackmail it.
"He has never shown the photo, he does not speak a word of French, he lent a car to Jérôme G. the time to find the money to pay the rent", continues Me Brault.
The car in question will be used to transport the body of the victim to the wood where she was buried.
The investigation chamber must render its decision for the two detainees this Friday.
