The trial of Joël Bourgeon, accused of having killed a young 24-year-old secretary, Martine Escadeillas, who disappeared in 1986 in the suburbs of Toulouse, opens on Friday July 1 before the Assize Court of Haute-Garonne.
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This man, now 58, was a friend of the victim, who was never found, and his companion.
Arrested in 2019, more than 32 years after the disappearance, he then admits to having killed her, without saying precisely where the body is.
A week later, he retracts.
For the investigators, however, the details given by Joël Bourgeon at the time of the confession could only be known to the murderer.
Initially, the testimony of a neighbor of the disappeared, claiming to have seen a man in his forties with a bald head squatting on a woman who was screaming, had helped to put him out of the cause because he was not then only 23 years old.
The statements of this neighbor will guide part of the investigations, before the investigators come to the conclusion, years later, that she had not been able to see the scene sufficiently clearly.
Since 1986, several other leads, including the possible involvement of serial killer Patrice Alègre, have been considered, then dropped.
Many years later, a letter from 2016 from an acquaintance of Martine will eventually lead to the arrest of Joël Bourgeon.
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His lawyer, Eric Mouton, says he is
“determined to ask for his acquittal”
during this trial which is due to last until Wednesday July 6.
While admitting that
"confessions always raise questions, even if they were obtained without a lawyer"
, he underlines the absence
of "concrete elements"
against the accused.
These first statements by the accused in 2019 are also
"full of contradictions"
and do not establish his guilt, he told AFP.
On the other hand, the two sisters and the brother of Martine Escadeillas are convinced that Joël Bourgeon is the murderer and invite him to say where the body is.
“If he goes back on his confession, he will free his conscience again.
If he says what he did with Martine's body, he will be better off and his pain will be lessened
,” said one of the sisters, Nicole Saint-Blancat.
The family wishes
"to find Martine's body so that she can rest with her parents, with dignity"
, she adds.