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Murder of Anaïs Guillaume: the manipulations of Philippe Gillet at the heart of the new trial

2021-04-05T13:46:34.897Z


Sentenced at first instance to 22 years in prison for the murder of Anaïs Guillaume, whom he has always denied, Philippe Gillet is on appeal


The first time, he didn't let any cracks show through and uninterruptedly proclaimed his innocence.

Almost in vain.

Bleached in the death of his wife, Philippe Gillet was sentenced in April 2019 to 22 years imprisonment for the murder of Anaïs Guillaume, his mistress who disappeared in April 2013. Two later, the 48-year-old farmer with a bull's neck and with a shaved head, is retried from this Tuesday before the Assize Court of Appeal of Reims (Marne).

If he still screams his innocence, the situation has changed.

In November 2019, six years after his disappearance, Anaïs Guillaume's body was discovered on the farmer's land in Fromy (Ardennes).

A twist that throws a harsh light on the manipulative temperament of the accused.

Sim cards from shuffled phones

When the 21-year-old blonde woman disappeared on April 16, 2013, suspicion quickly fell on this operator, described as brutal and rude.

For several months, Anaïs, a farm worker, has had a tumultuous sentimental relationship with her boss, a widower since the death of his wife, officially dead crushed by a cow, in January 2012. A version to which justice has never adhered.

Philippe Gillet, acquitted in this part of the case during his first trial, will also be retried for these facts.

Disapproved by the parents of Anaïs, the couple had changed their minds despite a complaint, filed in June 2012, by the young woman following domestic violence.

The evening of her disappearance, Anaïs spends the evening with Philippe Gillet and friends.

She sleeps with her lover then, according to him, evaporates in the middle of the night.

The farmer claims to have noticed nothing suspicious.

However, during that same night, Philippe Gillet turns on his late wife's cell phone again, uses his and Anaïs Guillaume's, mixes the SIM cards of the different devices ... For the examining magistrate, he thus “tried to artificially recreate a discussion between him and Anaïs Guillaume ”in order to“ constitute an alibi ”.

Another incriminating element revealed by the investigation of the gendarmes, the purchase of about fifty kilos of lime - a product known to accelerate the decomposition of bodies - a few days before Anaïs disappearance.

No wonder for a farmer, defended Philippe Gillet, during his first trial.

During this hearing, the breeder had repeated his certainty that Anaïs Guillaume had simply had to "rebuild his life" far from the Ardennes.

A hypothesis today obsolete.

The body discovered in 2019

In October 2019, after Philippe Gillet's conviction, an anonymous letter reached his lawyer, Me Ghislain Fay, and the prosecutor of Charleville-Mézières.

The crow makes shattering revelations: according to him, Anaïs Guillaume was kidnapped in 2013 in the Ardennes, sequestered for three years in Belgium, then finally killed and buried on the farmer's property.

A place that would have already been searched without success by the gendarmes during the imprisonment of Philippe Gillet.

The raven's conclusion is peremptory: if a body is indeed under this pile of manure, it is because another person has deposited it there and that an innocent person is sleeping in prison.

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Anaïs Guillaume case: the crow was the killer's daughter

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A few days after having read the letter, Victoria Gillet, the farmer's daughter, decides to undertake herself excavations at the place mentioned by the raven.

She rents a backhoe loader and discovers bones.

DNA expertises confirm that this is the body of Anaïs Guillaume.

The place "had not been excavated during the judicial investigation", quickly tempers the prosecutor.

But the doubt is born: would Philippe Gillet be in prison by mistake?

For the gendarmes of the research section of Reims, this providential intervention of a crow falls a little too well to be sincere.

Discreetly, the soldiers immerse themselves in the prison life of Philippe Gillet.

Several times caught in possession of cell phones in detention, the farmer has only one regular visitor: his eldest Victoria, who has always believed in the innocence of her father and works in Belgium… A disturbing coincidence, it is of the kingdom that the crow's letter had been posted ...

The Accused's Daughter, Key Witness

Last August, Victoria Gillet was placed in police custody.

At his home, they discover a draft of the mail addressed to the prosecutor.

After a few minutes of questioning, she admits being the author of the missive and admits having undertaken the excavations on her father's instructions.

“Mr. Gillet's two daughters have already suffered a lot,” says their lawyer, Me Richard Delgenes.

The eldest was caught in a conflict of loyalty vis-à-vis her father whom she wanted to help ... "

Seriously ill, the young woman will be a key witness in the three-week trial.

“The discovery of Anaïs Guillaume's body necessarily changes things compared to the first trial,” says Ghislain Fay, who will defend Philippe Gillet with his colleague, Hugues Vigier.

M. Gillet maintains that he did not kill Anaïs Guillaume and intends to explain himself.

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Source: leparis

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