The results of the autopsy of a couple in their forties found dead on Friday in his burnt-out house in Autoreille (Haute-Saône), have established that the man had killed his wife before committing suicide, learned the AFP Tuesday with the prosecution.
Read also: Haute-Saône: a couple found dead in a burnt house
According to elements of the gendarmerie investigation, " the husband fired on his wife during the night with a sawed-off rifle, the 9 mm ammunition of which makes no noise, " explained the prosecutor of the Republic of Vesoul Emmanuel Dupic at a press conference. The two children aged 16 and 18 present in the house did not hear the shooting.
This 41-year-old nurse, who worked the night shift, used to sleep in the morning. The next day, the 47-year-old husband took advantage of the children's outing to burn down the house and commit suicide with the weapon, continued Emmanuel Dupic. " The reason for this act is perhaps a depressive state, followed by a radical decision ," said the magistrate.
No history of domestic violence
The forties, who was no longer going to work, "also seemed very jealous, but it is not known whether his wife, 41, had planned to separate from him, " he adds. The couple had lived together for fifteen years and had no history of domestic violence. " It's astonishment for the whole family " and especially for the wife's three children, underlines Emmanuel Dupic. The couple had no children together.
Rescue workers were warned by the woman's 18-year-old son, who saw a violent fire take over the house he had just left to go shopping. The firefighters mastered the incident and then discovered two bodies inside. The woman was found partly burned in her upstairs bedroom, and he was found on the sofa, on the ground floor, with the gun at his feet.
The autopsy revealed two bullet holes fired at close range: one on the wife's head, the other on her husband's temple. Three empty jerry cans were found on the ground floor of the house. The investigation, opened for research into the causes of death, was entrusted to the Vesoul research brigade.
AFP has identified 30 suspected feminicides since the start of the year. In 2019 according to an AFP count, at least 126 women were killed by their partner or ex, i.e. a woman every three days on average.
