At the Rhône Assize Court
“This is not the trial of Gérald Thomassin. » In a firm tone, even a bit brittle, Eric Chalbos, president of the Rhône Assize Court, once again sends Sylvie Noachovitch back into line. Shattering every defense attempt, every argument deployed to plant the seed of doubt in the minds of the jurors. Because if the actor has long been suspected of the murder of Catherine Burgod, he has since “benefited from a dismissal of the case”, recalls the magistrate, indicating to the court that the “question of his guilt will not arise” at the time to deliberate.
However, Thomassin’s shadow continues to loom over the trial of Mamadou Diallo, the only person to have taken a place in the dock. Missing for more than four years, the former hope of French cinema was once again invited to the debates this Wednesday, despite his absence. Despite him. All it took was hearing his slightly nasal voice. A voice betraying a pronounced state of high, despite an “intelligible” delivery. It was the evening of June 25, 2013, almost five years after the murder of the mother.
“It was I who killed the lady”
In the middle of the night, the drifting actor telephones his brother. His request is simple, he must watch over his dog because in a few days, he has an appointment at the police station. “It was I who killed the lady,” he says straight away. “You’re stupid!” Why do you say that ? », replies Jérôme, doubtful. “I took 3,000 bullets in my pocket and I left for La Rochelle. I tell you it’s me,” he insists. “But no, you’re not capable of killing a fly, stop your bullshit,” retorts the brother. What medicine did you take this evening? »
But the man insists. “No, it’s me, I know I did it,” he insists over and over again for about fifteen minutes, without ever providing any details. “I know you can’t kill a mouse, so a woman can’t. Stop your film,” the elder tells him once again, before warning him: “I hope you didn’t tell the same thing this evening to 150 people because you know how people are. They talk a lot. You’re going to get yourself into trouble again, into things where you don’t need to go. »
“Gérald, he was the Turk’s head”
No matter, Thomassin continues to flagellate himself. In the room, attentive to listening to this strange telephone conversation, the brother’s voice still resonates: “You’re completely unblocked, because right now, you’re completely stoned. You better go to sleep. » “The cops, they have nothing so we might as well tell them who it is. I will take responsibility,” says the marginal, threatening to tell everything to the investigators on the spot. “Okay, go ahead if you want to spend the night in police custody. You are tall, you are 39 years old but you will be placed in a sobering-up cell, that’s all you are going to gain,” his brother reproaches him one last time before dismissing him.
“He was tired of people picking on him”
Questioned Wednesday afternoon by videoconference, Jérôme Thomassin still remembers these disturbing confessions precisely. “Gérald was not in a normal state. He was completely drunk,” he rushes to his aid. “Gérald, he was the head of a Turk”, a “shit magnet” he insists, disgusted that the defense is trying to direct suspicion on his brother whom he imagines “died today”. “Gérald, he has always maintained his innocence since this conversation. He was tired of people picking on him. It was a dirty talk, sums up the witness on the other side of the screen. Yes, he was on drugs. He was drinking but that was no reason to accuse him”
“At the same time, he gave the stick to be beaten,” observes President Eric Chalbos in turn, before reminding the jurors one last time that all “this must not have any influence on the Diallo judgment”. Response Thursday evening.