A 54-year-old man confessed to having killed his wife with a gunshot on the night of January 22 to 23 in Bretoncelles (Orne) and to having left her body in one of their vehicles, according to the Alençon prosecutor's office and the police station.
The emergency services, alerted by the couple's worried family, discovered the man "alcoholic and with a significant injury to the left cheek", write in a joint press release the public prosecutor of Alençon, Laëtitia Mirande and the commander of the Orne gendarmerie group, Colonel Pierre-Olivier Benech.
The fifty-year-old, originally from Eure-et-Loir, explained “having shot his wife the previous evening”.
He specified that he had fired “a gunshot at his wife, then left the home in a car in which he attempted to kill himself,” they added.
He indicated that he “got rid of the weapon” and “deposited the lifeless body of his wife in a second vehicle parked in front of the family home”.
Fatal shot in the throat and right shoulder
In this vehicle, criminal identification technicians discovered “several large bags, one of which contained the lifeless body of a woman born in 1972 identified as the wife of the accused”.
The autopsy confirmed that the fatal shot hit the victim in the throat and right shoulder.
According to investigators' findings, the events took place inside the house, while the alleged perpetrator's suicide attempt took place in his car.
The investigation into intentional homicide of a spouse was entrusted to the Mortagne-au-Perche research brigade with the support of the Caen research section.
On average, a feminicide occurs every three days in France.
The Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti announced at the beginning of January the figure of 94 femicides in 2023, compared to 118 in 2022, a drop welcomed with caution by feminist associations.
Bretoncelles, cursed village
Bretoncelles, a small town of around 1,500 inhabitants, is once again in the news for dramatic reasons.
In October, it was in this village that a mother and her three children died in a serious fire.
The fire started in the early morning and the mother, her 11-year-old twins and their 8-year-old brother died.
An investigation had been opened.
In August 2022, it was again in Bretoncelles that the body of Albertine, who died many years ago, was discovered: her son had concealed her death at least ten years ago and continued to bring her shopping.
As reported by Ouest-France, over the last fifteen years, Bretoncelles has suffered many other tragedies: the baker's daughter died in a road accident, as did a farmer, who had particularly moved the town.
A series of fatal accidents also took place at stations between 2011 and 2013.