He answers in great detail but “does not explain” his “barbarity”. At the Assizes of Yvelines, a 70-year-old retiree gave a long account on Wednesday of the murder of his companion, whose body had been found dismembered and calcined in a wood in 2017. On August 31, 2017, pieces of burned bodies had been discovered on a footpath in Vernouillet, about forty kilometers west of Paris.
It will take nearly two years for investigators to identify them in May 2019: the victim is a 67-year-old woman, reported missing by her companion on October 16, 2017. On the day of the crime, she had “gone into a delirious phase”, says the accused, and allegedly tried to strangle him during a “scuffle”. He says he then “grabbed his throat” in return. “Then I no longer felt his breath (…) I had a moment of amazement. I did not call the Samu. I did not do the first aid gestures, ”he continues.
“Have you considered calling the police? asks the president. “I couldn’t bear to lose my family’s respect. I made a choice, I made the wrong choice. (…) The choice to make my companion’s body disappear, ”repeats Philippe Marchand.
“Horrible Operation”
The accused explained that he used a knife and a saw to dismember the victim’s body, “a horrible operation which lasted almost four hours”, he says. Philippe Marchand sighs, says his “remorse”. “It really shocked me what I did. I have never been violent, I have always been respectful, especially towards women. I cannot explain this barbarity. »
In a black sweater in the box, his hand clutching the microphone, the former taxi driver recounted at length the romantic relationship he had had since the end of 2015 with this “kind” and “elegant” woman, of whom he had “fallen under the charm immediately “, after the libertine evening during which he had met her.
They had moved in together a few months later. “It was idyllic the first few weeks and then it very quickly degenerated, because of her behavior”, explains the accused, who describes her as “very jealous” and suffering from “hysteriform disorders”. “Hysterical? No. I always thought she was depressed, “said the victim’s son in the morning, questioned on this term by the court.
“Depressive relapses”
Several times hospitalized, the sexagenarian suffered from “depressive recurrences”, according to an expert. Monday at the bar, a policewoman said that the accused, after reporting the disappearance of his companion, had called his service several times to inquire about the follow-up to the investigation. Marchand also admitted to having sent text messages from the victim’s phone to himself and members of his family after his death.
The retiree is also suspected of having used the victim’s bank accounts for more than a year, from which more than 28,000 euros were debited. A friend of the accused, who had been seeing him “for 60 years”, had described on Monday a man who had loved since his retirement “to change women, to have extramarital relations”. He added that he had been, at the time of his arrest, “surprised and horrified by the facts”.
According to the investigation, Philippe Marchand had a relationship with another woman from July 2016. Calling himself several times “in love” with the victim, he also explained that the latter wanted to “capture” him. The verdict is expected Friday.