The interrogation of Gabriel Fortin, judged by the assize court of the Drôme for three assassinations and an attempted assassination, came to an end on Monday, already paving the way for the first pleadings of the civil parties.
The traditional interrogation of the accused at the end of the proceedings, which was initially planned for a whole day, lasted less than 15 minutes. The President of the Court, then the Advocate General and the lawyers, failed to bring him out of his obstinate silence.
To each question, in the even tone he adopted throughout the trial, the accused declared that he had “nothing to say”: neither about the three murders and the attempted murder committed between January 26 and 28, 2021; nor on the documents found in his computer which suggest a long process of preparation; nor on his dismissals, on which he had however previously spoken a little to denounce them. Finally, on his arrest on a bridge leading to Valence, a few minutes after his vehicle left a crime scene.
“For someone to be judged well, he must be able to express himself. Are you aware that you run the risk of being misjudged? asked the president of the court, Yves de Franca. Gabriel Fortin has just reiterated his ultimate denunciation of a “prosecuting investigation”, without further arguments. Advocate General Laurent de Caigny asked him, for each victim, if he is guilty of the charges against him. “I have nothing to say,” he repeated again.
A way out before the weekend?
“I don’t think it’s very useful to continue”, ended up letting go of the president. In the opinion of several participants in the trial, this acceleration of the hearing, which began on June 13, opens the way to an outcome before the weekend. The verdict, initially expected for Friday, could be delivered as early as Thursday, or even Wednesday evening.
The 48-year-old unemployed engineer faces life imprisonment for the murders of a Pôle emploi executive in the agency where he was registered, and of two human resources managers who had participated in his dismissals more than a year. decade ago.