The 46-year-old firefighter suspected of having strangled his 38-year-old partner on Thursday in Ifs in Calvados was indicted and imprisoned, the Caen prosecution told AFP on Sunday. Saturday, the prosecutor of Caen Amélie Cladière had requested an indictment " for murder by spouse " before the presentation to the investigating judge.
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At around 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, the emergency services and the police, called by a third party to rescue an inanimate woman at her home in Ifs, near Caen, discovered the victim " with a plastic bag on his head and a link around the neck, "said the prosecution in a statement. Revived at first, she died in hospital during the day.
Placed in police custody, the spouse explained " that a separation was in progress and that the spouses had quarreled ", but denied any intention to kill. According to the prosecution, " the first medical findings reveal traces of significant violence, out of step with the minimum explanations of the suspected person ".
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Investigators did not find any complaints or previous handrails. But the separation in progress " had generated several episodes of conflict and the victim would have recently confided to a friend that she had thought about the detour of an argument that her husband could physically attack her, " added the prosecution. The couple have two teenage children.
The case could bring the number of suspected femicides since the start of the year to at least 39, according to an AFP count. Last year, between January and July, some 70 deaths were recorded. In 2019, AFP identified at least 126 cases of women killed by their partner or ex-spouse, an average of one woman's death every three days.
