A 62-year-old former Paris firefighter, accused of having suffocated a nonagenarian with a madeleine from whom he had bought a house for an annuity, was sent back to the assizes for murder, which he denies.
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"
The respondent is referred to the Assize Court
," said Thursday to AFP Grégoire Dulin, prosecutor of Tours, confirming information from France Bleu Touraine.
"
He disputes all of the alleged facts
," added the magistrate.
The victim Yvette B., 92, was found dead on May 13, 2019, pieces of madeleine in her mouth, in the room of her nursing home.
A few minutes before, the suspect Alain J. had visited him, bringing in a package of madeleines and locking the bedroom door.
According to the nursing staff, Yvette B., resident in the "
Alzheimer's Unit
", however ate the cakes only in very small bites.
The suspect, Alain J., had acquired in 1995 the house in Montbazon (Indre-et-Loire) from the victim, to whom he paid a monthly pension of 558 euros.
Former Paris firefighter, who became a guard in a house for seniors in Tours, Alain J. had been heard by the police about ten days after the incident.
He said he had taken a liking to the victim, "
his surrogate grandmother
", visiting her regularly at her retirement home.
At the time of the facts, he had contacted real estate agencies in order to sell the house in Montbazon and buy land in Bléré (Indre-et-Loire).
During his interrogations, Alain J., however, assured that he had not brought a madeleine to the mouth of the victim, who according to him was still alive at the time of his departure from the nursing home.
"
The instruction does not define the conditions or the modus operandi according to which he would have suffocated this lady with a madeleine
", remarked to AFP his lawyer Me Abed Bendjador.
The forensic examinations have also not made it possible to demonstrate the certain existence of the intervention of a third party in the death of Yvette B. “
He is in a nightmare.
He wants to scream, tries to demonstrate his innocence.
For him it is dramatic
”, underlined Me Bendjador.
Incarcerated since May 2019, the suspect "
lived an abominable detention
", according to the same source.
Alain J. faces life imprisonment.
