Sentenced to four years in prison for the murder of her violent husband
“I think I killed him.” The Pas-de-Calais Assize Court on Friday sentenced Laurence S to four years in prison for the murder of her violent husband, without the debates having made it possible to scientifically establish the causes of death. .
Magistrates and jurors have found the accused guilty, ruling out “the state of self-defense”. They also sentenced him to five years of socio-judicial follow-up accompanied by an order for treatment.
Measured sentence
“It is a measured sentence, that Madame accepts. This will allow her to take her life back in hand and go through another chosen one, “reacted to AFP, her lawyer Me Emmanuelle Mauro, hoping that she” can get out in a year “with reduced sentences.
In April 2015, the body of Reynald S., 49, was discovered on the marital bed: dead for a fortnight, it was in a state of putrefaction. His wife Laurence, 47 years old at the time of the facts, had remained cloistered with him at home. She had claimed to have strangled him with the iron extension cord as he tried to suffocate her with a pillow.
For three days, the court retraced the course of the couple, from their meeting to the “first slaps” and until “the hell of the last months”. But if “in this case, all are behind Laurence S., including in the own family of the deceased”, of which no member has brought a civil action, “you will have to set the price of a man’s life” , launched the Advocate General, André Lourdelle, to the jurors, demanding nine years in prison.
Incompatible with strangulation
Since Wednesday, the court has struggled to determine the circumstances of the tragedy. Because the findings of the autopsy are not compatible with strangulation using a cable. Complementary analyzes also failed to identify any traumatic lesion explaining the death.
In scientific literature, “the notion of false memories exists”, insisted Me Mauro.
Laurence was beaten, humiliated, constantly watched, by a man “angry, dominant, executioner”, she recalled. “Mr. S. killed Madame socially, professionally,” he “took everything down to his dignity,” said the lawyer.