The body had been discovered in pieces in the Seine. The appeal trial of two women accused of having dismembered the partner of one of them in 2018 near Rouen, opened on Monday at the Seine-Maritime Assizes in Rouen. In November 2022, Céline Vasselin, 36, a beautician, and Jessica Adam, 40, a client turned "girlfriend", were tried by the Seine-Maritime Assize Court for having drugged, killed with a knife and then cut up the victim, Sliman Amara, with whom Céline Vasselin had a son three years earlier.
They were sentenced to 22 years and 17 years' imprisonment respectively, sentences lower than the 30 years and 25 years' imprisonment. A third woman, prosecuted for failing to prevent the crime, was acquitted. The public prosecutor had asked for five years' imprisonment, four of which were suspended.
The prosecutor's office decided to appeal the verdict. "What is at stake in this new trial is clearly the sentences. The two main defendants have made it clear that they admit all the facts, said Chloé Chalot, lawyer for the victim's brother. For my client, this new week of hearings is very difficult to live through. For the sake of his brother's memory, he needs to be reminded that what happened to his brother is serious and unjustified, regardless of the dynamics of the couple. »
The body found in the Seine
According to Sandra Gosselin, Céline Vasselin's lawyer, "what is at stake in this new trial is the notion of control, and consequently the sentence." On Monday, Jessica Adam and Céline Vasselin appeared in the box. The third woman, who was acquitted at first instance, was sitting in a wheelchair and appeared free. At first instance, the defence lawyers said they were satisfied with the verdict, which was considered "appropriate" and took into account the psychological violence suffered by Ms Vasselin. During the trial, she had claimed that her partner had inflicted physical and psychological violence on her to explain her decision to kill him.
On November 4, 2018, the river brigade discovered a dismembered body wrapped in a tarpaulin in the Seine, then with a human hand and calf in the following days. The body was eventually identified through DNA. The verdict of the appeal trial is expected to be known on Friday.
