He is a regular at assize courts.
An old traveling companion of the prison administration too, undoubtedly even one of its most difficult residents.
Already convicted of two homicides, Franck Siegler, 53, will be retried on appeal from this Tuesday in Douai (North) for a third murder, committed in 2017 on a fellow inmate at the prison of Vendin-le-Vieil (Pas-de -Calais).
Sentenced at first instance to life imprisonment in Saint-Omer, he had refused to appear.
"He is now ready to explain himself", indicates his new lawyer, Me Jenny Ponsdesserre.
As a CV, Franck Siegler only has his criminal record to produce.
As for his place of residence, it is often surrounded by high walls and its windows have bars.
In 1986, when, barely of age, he committed his first homicide, this native of Belfort (Territoire de Belfort) had already 16 convictions by the juvenile court to his credit.
Beaten by an alcoholic father then abandoned by his mother, he was placed in a foster home when he was a teenager and left school at the age of 14.
Without a job or a home, he lives like a vagabond.
Frank Siegler, explains having strangled a prisoner out of resentment towards the prison administration.
(Screen capture) DR
On the night of February 12, 1986, Franck Siegler strangles a 24-year-old man whose lifeless body he leaves in his landlady's attic.
As a motive, he explains that his victim would have made sexual advances to him.
The following year, he was sentenced to 10 years of criminal imprisonment at the Assizes.
Multiple disciplinary incidents
Released in 1993, he continued his delinquent career and increased convictions, mainly for cases of violence.
This earned him a chain of incarceration.
In March 2007, he committed his second crime when he did not return to Meaux-Chauconin prison after being granted leave.
He takes advantage of this escape to return to his region of origin and resume bond with a former comrade in the closet.
Together, the two men attack a 33-year-old man.
Siegler will explain that his victim had confessed to him pedophile inclinations, a thesis which is not based on any evidence.
Philippe Vuillet is strangled, hit in the face and then abandoned in a grove, his head tied to a tree by a tie.
Before being arrested, Franck Siegler had tried to pass himself off as this man whose papers he had recovered.
In this case, the Belfortain was sentenced to 30 years in prison at first instance and then to life imprisonment on appeal.
"He is a disturbing character," confides Me Karine Laprevotte, a lawyer at the Nancy bar who defended him during his trials.
He can be both capable of experiencing the noblest feelings while having incredible violence in him.
His life is incredibly sad, marked by a big flaw in childhood.
"
Again incarcerated, Franck Siegler is an unmanageable prisoner with a course punctuated by disciplinary incidents.
In order to obtain transfers, he had already torn off a 9 cm piece of skin to send it to an examining magistrate.
Another time he stuck a fork in his throat.
He also made several attempts to escape.
Vendin-le-Vieil prison, where he commits his third homicide, is his 44th establishment.
A socially dangerous man
On January 9, 2017, he was accused, with the help of another inmate, of strangling a 27-year-old prisoner, Geoffrey Debouver, with a shoelace.
"I had promised to kill one, that's it, I did it," he boasts to two supervisors a few minutes after his package.
In custody, Franck Siegler explains without batting an eyelid that he acted in this way to show his resentment towards the prison administration, complaining in particular of the distance from his family - he is the father of a child.
The expert psychologist who met him for the 2007 affair concluded that Siegler was a socially dangerous man with proven criminological danger.
During a psychiatric examination, he had reported sexual abuse suffered in childhood by an uncle.
A trauma that would have consecrated his revolt.
In the eyes of these experts, it was built in hatred of the other.
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Placed in solitary confinement, Franck Siegler is a permanent challenge for the prison administration.
In December 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a safety period of 22 years for the assassination of Geoffrey Debouver.
He is therefore preparing to appear once again in Douai.
“My client suffers from serious emotional deficiencies, underlines Me Jenny Ponsdesserre who assists him for this new round.
It was not structured.
If he had had a minimum of affection during his life, it would not have come to this.
"
