Murder of Amandine Estrabaud: why Guerric Jehanno was again sentenced to 30 years in prison

Fifth and last day of the appeal trial of Guerric Jehanno before the Assize Court of Haute-Garonne. The opportunity to present two diametrically opposed visions of the same facts to the nine jurors and the three magistrates responsible for judging this eight-year-old case. As in first instance, the Advocate General requested 30 years of criminal imprisonment against the accused, for the kidnapping, kidnapping, rape and murder of Amandine Estrabaud, June 18, 2013. On the benches of the defense on the other hand, Me Pibouleau and Cohen had pleaded for acquittal, for lack of evidence, hoping to see their client free from the assize court. They were not heard, much to the relief of Amandine’s family.

When the quality of testimonials fades over time

Anticipating the defense plea, Bernard Lavigne said he could understand that the witnesses heard so many times have come this week “in a state, if not of annoyance, at least of fatigue”. And, therefore, that “the quality of their testimony could fade” over time. A euphemism as Amandine’s neighbor, the main witness for the prosecution, was able to give the feeling on Monday that the gendarmes who questioned her on multiple occasions may have appeared to her to be biased. Another difficulty is the new certainties also displayed by Guerric’s work colleagues, who are much more favorable to the accused. Moments of hesitation which led the Advocate General to return to the case and to defend from the outset “the quality of the investigation as well as the objective quality of the debates”.
The gendarmes, who investigated several leads, sometimes competing with each other, until 2018, at the same time established a reading grid for the case. The suspect was to be free on Tuesday afternoon, present in Roquecourbe at least between 3:45 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., wear orange trousers, be able to drive the white van described by the neighbor and know the victim. This is why Guerric Jehanno’s profile has gradually emerged. And “he is the only one to correspond to all these criteria”, even though there are “no objective elements which show that Amandine Estrabaud had a reason to disappear”. Hitchhiked by Guerric on his return from high school, “she probably asked him to come and see the infiltration problems behind the house in Roquecourbe. There was then assault, then rape. It is more than likely that he concealed the body at night ”.

By a majority of at least 8 votes

Relying on the confessions made to his best friend as to several fellow prisoners after his indictment, the Advocate General did not accept the premeditation but asked the jurors to find Guerric Jehanno guilty of all the facts which he had to face. are accused and to sentence him to 30 years of criminal imprisonment.
He was heard by the jury which ruled “by a majority of at least 8 votes”, indicated the president of the court.

“I find it hard to appreciate this victory as long as we haven’t buried Amandine”

8:50 p.m., Friday. The verdict has just fallen in the Assize Court of Haute-Garonne. Amandine Estrabaud’s parents, her brother and her aunt fall into each other’s arms, weeping for long minutes in silence on one side of the courtroom, while the defense lawyer holds her head in both hands of the other.
Sitting in front of Guerric Jehanno, eyes lowered, Me Pibouleau accuses the blow, shot down by the 30 years in prison from which his client is once again scarred.
Irma clings to the hand of her son Guerric, visibly resigned. He comforts her. Crush a tear. Quiet, too. Until the two policemen who surround him tell him it’s time to leave. A relief tinged with bitterness for Amandine’s family.

“I’m exhausted,” says Eliane, the beloved auntie of the deceased. Even if she did not show anything, the internal tension was sharp during the defense pleadings, in particular during that of Me Cohen who did not hesitate to surf on the family wounds to explain that, perhaps, Amandine was left voluntarily and that in reality there was no crime on this sad day in June 2013.
Unfortunately, in the Estrabaud clan, no one believes it. “I find it hard to appreciate this victory as long as we haven’t buried Amandine; it’s still half a victory. Bitter, ”sighs Rémy, his little brother.
So, Me Pierre Debuisson intends to take advantage of the presence of the media to launch a final appeal to Guerric Jehanno.
“He can still ease his conscience. If he now says where the body is, the sentencing judge will necessarily take it into account. This could save him up to 8 years of freedom. And that would help Amandine’s family enormously. ”

Training and the gendarmes in the hot seat

It is an attack in good standing of the most important parts of the procedure to which Me Cohen gave himself yesterday, even questioning the “honesty” of those very people who were responsible for shedding light on this affair. .
“Intimate conviction is not one day’s fantasy. It is the strength of the proof against the weakness of the means. But it can also be the strength of the means against the weakness of the proof. We have the strength of the means, and we don’t even have the weakness of the proof because they have no proof at all. “

In question according to him, the director of investigation “lying while he was under oath”, and “judicial falsifications”. And Me Cohen to refer to Patrick Dils: “Who succeeded in making Dils confess, who spent 18 years in prison? Who managed to get him to confess? The Gestapoists? The bad policemen? It’s the gendarmes! The latter will appreciate, especially since it is the investigation of the judicial police which sent Patrick Dils in prison, and that of the gendarmes who released him. However, this type of case poses the problem of confession and how to obtain them. This time, it is by citing the film by Costa-Gavras that he calls into question the judicial authority accused of having requested the return of the detainee who had obtained the first confidences from Guerric in the latter’s cell. “What a lamentable system! Justice dishonours itself, ”Mr. Cohen had already commented earlier in the week.
Me Pibouleau was not that far after the verdict. But it is with great emotion that she confided in the Dispatch when she had just let Guerric leave between two police officers. “The dice were cast in advance,” sighs the defense lawyer. For the Estrabaud family, a culprit was needed. It doesn’t matter if you convict an innocent person. It is a decision that I cannot understand. It’s a shame. “
For the two lawyers of Guerric Jehanno, the way in which the charges of rape and murder added to those of kidnapping and forcible confinement, for which there was already “no evidence” according to them, is up to a “sleight of hand, not to say judicial falsification”.
They give themselves five days to consider the possibility of filing an appeal in cassation.