He was tried by the Hauts-de-Seine assize court for having burned his partner alive. But Christophe J. swears: it was his own days he wanted to end, not those of Ghylaine. This is in any case the version to which the accused clung, this Monday, when he returned to the evening of September 22, 2017, when, in the privacy of the family apartment of Plessis-Robinson, the this ordinary couple's life has turned into horror under the eyes of their 7-year-old daughter.
But, to believe it, Christophe J., also burned on 70% of the body, only keeps rather vague memories of the night of the drama. At the helm, this 42-year-old former model maker, tried for "murder on a spouse", does not know, does not understand, does not remember or does not explain.
"I don't remember throwing gas on it"
Like Thursday, at the opening of his trial, he was unable to explain how the body of his concubine caught fire after a violent argument heard by almost the entire building. "I tried to kill myself but unfortunately, it fell on Ghylaine who did not get out of it", he advances in a voice uneasy before adding between two sobs: " I don't remember throwing gas on it. ”
The experts are however formal: it is around Ghylaine's body that the greatest amount of gasoline was spilled. An essence from a plastic mineral water bottle that Christophe J. says he has been keeping for a year, in the event of a shortage, not in his box near his scooter, but in a cupboard with a sliding door, in the entrance of the appartment.
A bottle that the couple's little girl, during her hearing by the investigators of the PJ, will say, however, never to have seen before the evening of drama.
READ ALSO> Hauts-de-Seine: she fights for the memory of her sister Ghylaine, burned alive by her companion
This bottle, the accused admits lip service having seized it before spraying himself and then setting himself on fire. But that's about all. However, he denies having struck his partner in the face several times. And if Ghylaine suddenly found herself on the ground, there is nothing there yet.
For several months, the couple has been struggling
"It was fear, panic and gasoline spilled on the ground that brought it down," he whispers. Afterwards, I don't know how the fire spread to her. I repeat: I had no intention of harming him. "
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The man, who harbored a few resentments, however, had threatened on at least two occasions "to burn down his apartment". Because for several months, the couple's future has been dotted. Tired of her life by the side of the accused, whom she considered too brittle, too cold, too distant, Ghylaine dreamed of something else and associated with another man.
An adulterous relationship of which Christophe J. had been warned by an anonymous SMS received on September 5, two weeks before the tragedy. And on the evening of the disastrous September 22, Ghylaine had announced to her spouse that she wanted to leave him. "At the end, she was sad," confirms Nadège, Ghylaine's younger sister. She told me that she wanted to leave, to start a new life. "
"The only thing I was given was a pair of earrings in a jar"
She won't have time. Burned in the third degree on 92% of the body, she died of her injuries two days after the fact. “It's just awful. The last vision I would keep of her is that of a mummy, laments Sandrine her other sister, who since the tragedy founded an association to help families victims of feminicides. In the hospital after his death, the only thing I was given was a pair of earrings in a jar… ”
Tuesday, the court will hear psychiatric experts who were able to meet Christophe J. during the investigation. The verdict is expected on Wednesday. The accused faces life imprisonment.