While he has so far denied having intentionally killed Maëlys de Araujo, Nordahl Lelandais has finally admitted having kidnapped and “voluntarily” killed the little girl according to France Info. “I acknowledge all the facts with which I am charged.“, he confided on February 11, 2022, on questioning by his lawyer Me Alain Jakubowicz, after more than five hours of interrogation, before the assizes of Grenoble. Confessions eagerly awaited for the relatives of the girl, murdered in the night of August 26 to 27, 2017 by this former soldier, also responsible for the death of Arthur Noyer killed in 2017.
“It is no longer a question of quibbling but of becoming aware of the seriousness of the acts you have committed. Regarding Maëlys, we are not going to beat around the bush. You are prosecuted for having voluntarily killed“, lawyer Jakubowicz told his client. “Yes Masterreplied the defendant, visibly more inclined to reveal the truth.Can we forget the word accident?“, asks the lawyer. “Yes. It’s clear. I voluntarily killed Maëlys“said Nordahl Lelandais. “Do you agree that putting a little girl in your car at 3:00 a.m. on the night of a wedding is kidnapping?“, then asks his lawyer. “Yes Master“, admits the former soldier. Words that obviously chilled all those present during this interrogation.
I kicked
“She begins to hiccup. A little cry. At that time, I don’t know what happened. I turned my head and I had this feeling, completely crazy, that no one can understand. I had this fear of what happened in April 2017. I kicked“, he then detailed, thus recalling the night of April 11 to 12, 2017 during which he murdered Arthur Noyer. He was then sentenced in Chambéry in May 2021 to 20 years of criminal imprisonment with a period of two-thirds security.
“Shame, remorse, guilt, I’ll have all my life“, he added, before apologizing to the family. He explains: “We would like me to say that it is a sexual crime but not at all (…). I was not not at all in this sexual perspectivefar from there.“
Nordahl Lelandais now faces life imprisonment for the murder of Maëlys. The third and final week of the trial is due to start on Monday February 14, 2022 with the report of the expert psychologists. The final verdict is expected next Friday.