A man, sentenced to thirty years in prison at first instance for having killed his 35-year-old companion in 2017 in the Côtes-d'Armor, said he was again innocent at the opening of the appeal trial on Thursday June 2. .
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"
I claim my innocence, I did not understand the Court's decision last year
," said Simon Jégou, 35, brown hair and anthracite gray shirt, at the Ille Assize Court of Appeal. -and-Vilaine.
The body of Claire Bouchaud, medical secretary at the hospital, was found in a bramble on May 7, 2017 by a walker, near abandoned houses, about twenty kilometers from Saint-Brieuc.
The young woman had not given any sign of life since April 22.
And it was not until April 26 that the alert of her disappearance was given by her sister, and not by her companion who explained to the investigators that she had left for a garage sale, without taking her mobile phone, so that she had to pick up their son in Rennes.
"
We really have a file in which there are many gray areas (...) It is indicated in the indictment order that there are no elements allowing to establish with certainty the guilt of Simon Jégou
”, declared to AFP Me Frank Berton, new lawyer for the accused, considering that the place and the date of the crime were not determined.
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Stabbed to death in the heart
The lawyers for the civil parties believe that the accused is "
indeed the author of this feminicide
".
“
The defense is free to put forward things that are extremely biased and not necessarily completely accurate in relation to the entirety of the file.
We maintain, and an assize court at first instance thought so, that there are a certain number of elements which point to Simon Jégou as being the perpetrator of this crime
, ”said Me William to AFP. Pineau, lawyer for the victim's family.
During this first day of hearing, the debates focused on the personality of the accused.
Saying to have had a "
happy childhood
", of a character "
very reserved and sensitive
“, Simon Jégou consumed cannabis from the age of 14 and at the age of 19 heroin, up to one gram and “
5 to 6 injections
” per day.
Claire Bouchaud, well integrated socially, who had told those around her "to
be unhappy in her life as a couple
", no longer supporting her companion's drug addiction, was fatally stabbed in the heart area.
The verdict is expected Friday, June 10.