The alleged murderer of Martine Escadeillas, who disappeared in Toulouse in 1986, will be tried in early July
The alleged murderer of Martine Escadeillas, a secretary who disappeared in Toulouse in 1986, will be tried in early July by the Assize Court of Haute-Garonne, the lawyer for the civil parties said on Wednesday evening. The trial of Joël Bourgeon, imprisoned in 2019, will take place July 1-6.
The Toulouse Court of Appeal had rejected on January 25 a new request for the release of Joël Bourgeon, a decision deemed “frankly incomprehensible”, while “the trial is still not scheduled”, had then reacted the lawyer for the accused, Me Eric Mouton. “I remind you that we have no body, no motive, no DNA, and the only witness exonerates Joel. This man, who has never been convicted, is a father who, moreover, has always worked”, said Me Mouton. Joël Bourgeon has been imprisoned in Seysses prison since 2019.
It was following a reorientation of the investigation that Joël Bourgeon, a former friend of the missing woman and her companion, was arrested in January 2019. He had first confessed at the time of his arrest before retracting. Martine Escadeillas, 24, disappeared on December 8, 1986 after dropping her companion off at a bus stop in Ramonville, near Toulouse where she lived. Afterwards, she never showed up for work and bloodstains were discovered in the stairwell of her apartment building.