Joël Bourgeon, who had confessed in 2019, before recanting, the murder of Martine Escadeillas, a young 24-year-old secretary who disappeared in 1986 in the suburbs of Toulouse, said he was still innocent on Friday July 1, at the opening of his trial.
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“
Mr. President, I am innocent
“, was limited to declare before the Assize Court of Haute-Garonne the accused, light blue shirt and navy blue pants, under the gaze of his companion and his two daughters, seated a few meters from him.
The 58-year-old accused had just been invited to speak briefly, after the reminder to the court of the main points of the investigation that led to his trial, more than 35 years after Martine's disappearance.
Two sisters, the brother, the brother-in-law and the former companion of Martine Escadeillas, who brought civil action, were also present in the large hall.
Joël Bourgeon was a friend of the missing young woman, who was never found, and of her companion.
Arrested in 2019, more than 32 years after the disappearance, he then confessed to having killed her, without giving details of the
where the body is believed to be.
But he retracted a week later.
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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 2016 letter from
