a man tried for the murder of his partner, found in a suitcase
Driss Ouhmid, 47, is accused of killing Marianne Chèze, 37, in August 2019. He allegedly acted “out of jealousy”.
A man has been on trial since Monday before the Assize Court of Haute-Savoie, in Annecy, for the murder of his companion, whose body was found in August 2019 in a suitcase.
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The accused, Driss Ouhmid, 47, who allegedly acted by “jealousy“, had been arrested on August 18, 2019 at the wheel of a car in the town of Doussard, near Lake Annecy, with on board his two children aged six and nine and the body of his companion. The victim’s body, thin and small, was found in a fetal position, locked in a padlocked suitcase, stored in the trunk of the vehicle.
The man had himself announced to members of his family a few hours earlier that he had killed Marianne Chèze, 37. The investigators were therefore able to track him on his return from Italy, where he made a round trip to see a cousin before returning to France “to surrender“, according to his lawyer. “He made no attempt to escape at all“, assures Me Marc Dufour to AFP.
The death of the victim, by strangulation, occurred on the night of August 16 to 17, 2019 in the couple’s apartment in Annecy. Dris Ouhmid”acknowledges being the author of the death», Indicates his lawyer, but he mentions «litigation“. During the investigation, the accused denied having wanted to kill his companion, but confessed to having struck her many blows and strangled her.
Previous domestic violence
“He wanted to have the code for her mobile phone because it had been a very long time since he had taken away that she had a regular lover.“, explains Mr. Dufour. For him, the “jealousyis at the heart of the case, as well as the prospect of a separation. “Obviously, she wanted to leave. (…) I think that this loss of a loved one is an absolutely impossible mourning that leads to drama“.
The presence of serflex (tightening collars) on the victim’s wrists, ankles and around the neck was revealed by the accused, during his hearings, as a kind of sexual game, which would then have degenerated. Which is “completely off topic“, according to the deputy prosecutor of the Republic of Annecy, Pierre Filliard. Advocate General at the trial, he considers that the “will to killis present in this dossier, which he calls “spousal homicide“.
Facts of domestic violence emerged during the investigation, giving rise to a handrail in July 2018, a year before the death, but no complaint had been filed. The death of Marianne Chèze has been translated as the 93rd feminicide of the year 2019 by the collective “Féminicides by companions or ex”.
Tried for murder of a spouse, Driss Ouhmid, who has been incarcerated since August 20, 2019 at the Aiton penitentiary center (Savoie), faces life imprisonment. His trial is due to last until April 1.
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