A 63-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison by the Doubs Assize Court for having slit the throat of his wife whose departure, after 40 years of living together, was
“intolerable”
to him .
His wife,
“his docile little bird was beginning to take flight and he could not bear the idea of finding himself alone, it was intolerable”
, concluded the general advocate, Alexia Marquis, before requesting 30 years of imprisonment. imprisonment for
“
murder of spouse
”
, after two days of hearing.
On December 29, 2021, a police patrol arriving at the foot of a building on rue de Dole, in Besançon, witnessed the scene: a large man violently stabbed a woman on a balcony.
The victim, prevented from fleeing through the door, attempted a retreat via the balcony, in vain.
Targeted by the police, the man retreats to his apartment where he attempts suicide by stabbing himself.
Transported to hospital with a life-threatening prognosis, Philippe Ohren survives.
His wife, Corinne Pitallier, died on the spot, the victim of 26 stab wounds, including a fatal 16 cm wound to the neck.
With mid-length brown hair and a graying beard, Philippe Ohren wears a cross on his chest.
“I am accused of acts that I necessarily committed, but I do not remember them.
Everything is not clear in my mind
,” he says in a calm and intelligible voice, with a detached air.
Depressive state of the accused
“Clearly Corinne Pitallier was under influence and coercive control
,” argued Me Claude Varet, her family’s lawyer.
A version fiercely contested by the defense.
Described by neighbors as
"a kind, helpful and funny man, Mr. Ohren was not in control, Mrs. Pitallier was not an object woman"
, criticizes Me Catherine Bresson, counsel for the accused who had never been violent.
About a month before the events, the former childminder emancipated herself and she had mentioned the idea of a separation, according to their son.
According to psychologist Clara Cavignaux,
“the act could have been favored by the depressive state”
of the man affected by the loss of his job and the death of his brother.
“He was convinced that she would always stay there, taking care of him, of his health
,” she analyzes.
The accused, who had not known his biological father, had been rejected from the family home by his adoptive father and could not bear the idea of being abandoned.
His own son came to the court to describe his
“absolute happiness”
which is now impossible despite his recent paternity.
“The person who took his mother’s life was his father.
How do we live?
Well, we survive
,” confides his lawyer, Me Céline Party.