Seven years after the death of her daughter Fiona, Cécile Bourgeon appeared this Tuesday for the fourth time with her ex-companion Berkane Makhlouf, for "aggravated fatal blows".
The Lyon Assize Court is appealing the couple, after the annulment, in February 2019, of the appeal verdict of Puy-en-Velay which had sentenced them in 2018 to twenty years imprisonment.
Will she be able to shed light on what happened in Clermont-Ferrand in May 2013 in this family closed door and on what became of the girl's body, never found?
In the meantime, Cécile Bourgeon, who appeared free after his release from prison in early 2019, appeared unrecognizable in court.
Now redhead, curly hair held in a large headband, a little thinned, the young woman, detached, has returned at length to the episodes of her life.
When the president asks her how many children she has, she hesitates, breaths and lets go: “Four… Fiona, who is deceased, Eva, Bilal and one last daughter.
"
Drugs and repeat pregnancies
Cécile Bourgeon is the story of a life, told without affect or emotion, driven by drug use, bad company and repeated pregnancies.
Fiona arrived by accident, “a baby-pill” she explains, when she is only 20 years old and is in a relationship with Nicolas Chafoulais, her first companion.
“He was the one who introduced me to drugs,” she says.
We took heroin, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, speed to go to parties.
"
The birth of Fiona is however experienced as "a real fulfillment" for the young mother, who gives birth to Eva three years later.
The couple separate.
Drugs, again, play a bad role.
"It was she who destroyed me, who killed me", assures the defendant.
She hides her daughter's bruises under makeup
With Berkane Makhlouf, who also suffers from a strong addiction to drugs, the young mother describes "love at first sight".
Crossed with Ali, his half-brother, Makhlouf, who does not work and lives on the RSA, moves in under Cécile's roof a few days after their meeting.
And a month after a rape suffered by the young woman in Clermont-Ferrand.
After a month of understanding, the couple are disillusioned.
Makhlouf is irritable, even violent at times.
"At times, he went crazy," recognizes the mother in a monotonous voice.
She thinks about leaving him, but becomes pregnant once again as the couple sink deeper into drug hell.
Meanwhile, little Fiona is wasting away, obviously the victim of abuse.
Cécile hides her bruises and bumps under makeup, makes her miss school.
Clément, Cécile's brother, feels “that Fiona is not well in the home, that something is wrong”.
A witness still describes her as "pale, with ringed eyes, advancing like a zombie".
Until his disappearance in mid-May 2013. Three months before the birth of Bilal, Makhlouf's son.
"My children, I have always loved them"
Last March, Cécile Bourgeon gave birth to her fourth child.
A little girl named Majouba.
Conceived shortly after his release from prison, and awaiting a new trial, with an Algerian in an irregular situation, met three months before on a social network and immediately married.
Eva now lives with her father.
The two youngest are placed in foster care.
"But nobody can afford to judge," Cécile Bourgeon is carried away in her box.
You could say I was a bad mother, but my children, I have always loved them.
"
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The verdict is expected to be delivered on December 16.