a woman tried for the murder of her abusive husband in mysterious circumstances
Laurence D. claims to have strangled her partner in 2015, but scientific findings do not confirm her observations.
She claims to have strangled him to defend himself, after 26 years of domestic violence. A fifty-year-old appears Wednesday, September 29 before the Assizes of Pas-de-Calais for the murder of her husband, in murky circumstances, the investigation not having been able to clearly determine the causes of death.
Read alsoThe mixed results of “Grenelle of domestic violence“
On April 3, 2015, the body of Reynald S., 49, was discovered lying on his bed, in the apartment he shared with his wife. Dead for a fortnight, he is in a state of putrefaction. His wife Laurence S., 47 years old at the time of the events, has remained cloistered at home since the tragedy.
She quickly explains to investigators that during a heated argument, she strangled her husband with the extension of the iron, when he had just tried to suffocate her with a pillow. He did not defend himself, she assures, lending him over the interrogations of suicidal intentions.
Blows, insults, threats … According to his statements, supported by testimonies from the couple’s entourage, Laurence S. had been the victim of physical and psychological violence for 26 years. Her husband, who has bipolar disorder and who accused her of an extramarital affair, had become increasingly aggressive over the years as their financial difficulties worsened.
Bossy and depressed
Cashier in a supermarket, Laurence S. claims to have been forced by her husband to steal from the cash register. “When the employer found out, he was so aware of what she was going through that he asked her to resign, but did not file a complaint for the embezzlement, which amounted to nearly 20,000 euros. total», Comments the lawyer of the accused, Me Emmanuelle Mauro.
Among the relatives and neighbors met during the investigation – including parents of Reynald S. – very few noted traces of beatings, but all reported psychological violence, bullying and humiliation suffered by a woman “under control», Particularly isolated. They described the victim as an angry, bossy and depressed man. He had been followed for fifteen years by a psychiatrist following two suicide attempts.
Neither Reynald S.’s daughter nor any of her relatives are brought against. In May, during the first day of the trial, finally postponed following the discomfort of a member of the court, no relative of the victim was present.
“False memories?”
But besides the issue of violence “and self-defense (…) the first question to be answered is: ‘Did the gentleman really die as a result of a deliberate homicide?’“Asks Me Emmanuelle Mauro. Because according to the autopsy report, corroborated by additional analyzes, the scientific findings are “not compatibleWith strangulation using a cable or tie.
The analyzes did not make it possible to identify the traumatic cause or the revelation of the occurrence of death. A doctor noted signs of a heart attack “oldAnother considered heart failure as her “first hypothesis», Also evoking a possible asphyxiation using an object applied to the face.
“One of the leads that I bring to the court is ‘Didn’t Madame convince herself that she killed her husband?’ She stayed in the apartment with her husband’s corpse for two weeks. One can legitimately wonder what was her state of mental health, and if in the end she could not have convinced herself to have caused death.“, Then create”false memories“, Advances Me Emmanuelle Mauro.
Read alsoIs making domestic violence the “priority” of the police achievable?
During the aborted trial in May, “I asked the psychiatrist expert the question, whether false memories existed in the scientific literatureShe continues. “He replied that it was a known notion. And without being totally explicit (…) he said, ‘why not’“.
SEE ALSO – “75% of the measures have already been carried out”: Jean Castex dress an assessment of the Grenelle on domestic violence