Toulouse: murder of Martine Escadeillas, the accused remains in prison
Unsurprisingly, the investigating chamber of the Toulouse Court of Appeal rejected this Tuesday, January 25, the request for the release of Joël Bourgeon, referred to the Assize Court for the murder of Martine Escadeillas, in December 1986 in Ramonville.
Joël Bourgeon, 58, will not be released before his trial before the Assize Court of Haute-Garonne which should be held in the fall, in Toulouse. The investigation chamber of the Toulouse Court of Appeal, seized again, revealed that the guarantees provided by this 58-year-old man satisfied a release.
Joël Bourgeon was arrested three years ago for work near Grenoble by the gendarmes of the Toulouse research section. Trainer, this father of two girls was accused of the murder of Christine Escadeillas, who disappeared on December 8, 1986 from her home in Ramonville. Blood had been found on the stairs of his building, blood still in a cellar but his body remains untraceable.
Opened twice and returned for lack of evidence, the instruction was again appointed to a Toulouse investigating magistrate after the letter from a friend of the victim. A letter where this woman wondered about the track of this little exploited close friend of Martine. Enough to relaunch this cold case thirty years later. And the resumption of the investigations gave rise to serious suspicions, confirmed by the confessions of Joël Bourgeon in police custody. Only he retracted a week later and has since maintained his innocence. This did not prevent his referral to the criminal court.
His lawyers Mes Eric Mouton and Jean-Baptiste de Boyer Montaigut accepted this new refusal. “This decision remains difficult to understand. Free, what could this man do to harm his trial? Nothing, ”laments Me Mouton. His continued detention was, however, appreciated by the family of Martine Escadeillas who still hope to be able to offer a burial to their sister who disappeared at the age of 25.