More than 14 years of proceedings, judicial twists, a postponed trial, an accused who has always denied his involvement, and finally an acquittal. Alain Laprie's appeal trial, acquitted with the benefit of the doubt in November 2018, opens this Monday in Angoulême (Charente). At the heart of this news item from Bordeaux, a silver widow, a nephew in financial trouble and soon disinherited and the damning testimony of the victim's brother, now deceased.
Alain Laprie, an entrepreneur from the Bordeaux region is suspected of having killed Marie Cescon, his aunt, 88 years old. On March 17, 2004, in Pompignac (Gironde), in the western Bordeaux countryside, the octogenarian, a childless woman, was discovered inanimate by her neighbors in her house in the midst of the flames. The widow - who has been alone for ten years - is badly injured in the back of her head, blood stains the kitchen floor and the porch walls. She was dragged out of the house, but intoxicated by the smoke from the fire, the old lady could not be resuscitated.
Very quickly warned, Alain Laprie, one of Marie Cescon's nephews, arrived in Pompignac. His aunt lies in the courtyard and the fire sets the house on fire, but the 64-year-old entrepreneur insists on entering it to retrieve important documents, he says. This behavior quickly arouses the suspicions of investigators from the Bordeaux Research Section.
700,000 euros in inheritance would escape him
The nephew is the last known person to have seen the widow. That day he had spent the afternoon at Pompignac. But he would have spent his time clearing the garden and cutting wood. He also claims to have stored the chainsaw and brushcutter in the veranda, a room never touched by the fire. These tools will never be found. No more than the bottle used to supply them with fuel. A mixture of gasoline which curiously resembles that used for firing on a mattress and in the hallway of the house.
And then there is the relationship between Marie Cescon and her nephew. For a year, the widow had criticized this nephew, who took care of his business, for wanting only his money and even having stolen a bank card, testified members of the family. To the point that she had prepared a new will project excluding Alain Laprie, the favorite, who remained her universal legatee for a long time. More than 700,000 euros in inheritance would escape him while his business collapsed.
Father of three children, this graduate of a CAP in metallurgy had yet managed his boat so far. Specializing in the early 90s in the transport of blood bags, he managed to file a patent for packaging developed with the CNRS and even signed a distribution contract with an American laboratory. After several years of mismanagement, he filed for bankruptcy in 2003. His company was taken over, and Alain Laprie worked with his new boss on his turnaround. But he is no longer in charge. At the time of the death of his aunt, Alain Laprie had no contract or salary.
"I was the one who did it"
The new succession which was to favor other members of his aunt's family would therefore have something to cause a strong feeling of injustice in the nephew who had been dealing with the octogenarian for several years. "Not at all," he says throughout the instruction. He swears to have excellent relations with his aunt, never to have been aware of the changes in wills and elsewhere, perhaps the old lady was losing her head a little at that time.
The testimony of Bortolo, the victim's brother confirms the accusation: a few weeks after the crime, Alain Laprie allegedly admitted to him that he had killed Marie Cescon. "It was I who did it," he would have let go of his uncle Bartolo Dalcin, throwing himself around his neck, in tears. This scene, according to the old man's story, takes place at noon, five days after the widow's death.
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That day, Alain Laprie would have unrolled the chain of events: the day of his death, the aunt had treated his mother of "whore" and "slut", the discussion had become heated and the nephew had seized a stick to hit her on the head. The accused then allegedly lit a paper before throwing it into the room to start the fire. When Pierrette Dalcin, Bruno's partner, had entered the room, he would have reiterated: "Yes, it's me".
Too heavy a secret
This story, over the years, Bortolo Dalcin has repeated to several people: to the examining magistrate, nephews, his doctor. To his brother-in-law, he would one day, "at the end", "throat clenched, in tears", delivered his secret, ensuring that he had nevertheless promised Alain Laprie "to take the secret with him to the grave ".
But the weight of confidence is such that the old man's state of health deteriorates. During a confrontation, Bortolo maintains his version against Alain Laprie who denies: his uncle is "ready to do anything to break this heritage" and a family plot is hatched to harm him. Bortolo Dalcin then appeared as a leading witness for the prosecution. But he will never have time to give his testimony at the bar. The 85-year-old man died in February 2014.
After two cancellations of the instruction, for procedural defect, the nephew indicted in 2009 appeared for the first time in an assize court in 2016. But at the time of the oral arguments, the trial is postponed for further information. In November 2018, finally, the assizes of the Gironde acquitted him for the benefit of the doubt. The prosecution appeals.
With this new trial, which takes place on Monday, Marie Cescon's relatives may finally see a way out of this affair which has shaken their family for almost 16 years.
