The question is on everyone’s lips. Why did Nordahl Lelandais kidnap Maëlys De Araujo on August 27, 2017, in the middle of a wedding, in Pont-de-Beauvoisin? Pressed by his lawyer, the accused admitted for the first time, on Friday February 11, abducted and then killed “voluntarily” the 8 year old girl. Confessions that he reiterated Monday morning, without justifying his actions. The president of the Isère Assize Court, before which he has been appearing for two weeks, finally encouraged him to explain himself on his mobile, Tuesday, February 15, at midday.
It is 1:30 p.m., hunger and fatigue are felt. For more than four hours, Doctor Patrick Blachère has been unfolding his expertise at the helm. He is the one who introduces the question to the audience. “What was his purpose in taking a kid with him? He would have to say why he took her”launches the psychiatrist. The president bounces back. In her calm, poised voice, Valérie Blain spells out each syllable to address the accused.
“Mr. Lelandais, on Friday, you admitted for the first time to having killed Mr. Noyer voluntarily. You also said to have voluntarily killed little Maëlys. And you also admitted to having kidnapped Maëlys.
– Yes.
– So why did you kidnap Maëlys?
“I didn’t understand the term kidnapping. But the assessor and the lawyers explained it to me well: to remove her without the consent of the parents is an abduction.
Once again, Nordahl Lelandais dodges. But the president of the assize court persists. “Why did you take her away from her parents in the middle of marriage? It’s to kill her? It’s important that you can say why you took her”, insists Valérie Blain who strives to understand the personality of the accused and his springs since the start of the trial. For the first time, Nordahl Lelandais stutters.
“I took her in my car…She got in my car to go see my dogs.”
Nordahl Lelandaisin front of the Assize Court of Isère
“I did not remove it on purpose”, adds the 38-year-old former soldier, who takes care of his appearance and wears a light blue shirt. Sighs in the courtroom.
The President of the Assize Court runs into a wall. She doesn’t like it, Nordahl Lelandais feels it. “Madam President, don’t you like my answer?” “It’s not that I don’t like her, she questionsanswers Valérie Blain, a bit annoyed. In a way, she can be sorry too.” The accused continues his account, laconic.
“I’m going for cocaine and at the same time she wants to see my dogs.
“And you’re going to kill her… Why?”
– It’s an inexplicable moment, I’m freaking out. I recognize that my blows are voluntary.
– Voluntary blows, you have recognized them for a long time… And you have admitted having killed voluntarily.
“When I kick I mean to kill her, yes.”
The President of the Assize Court takes a break. She turns her gaze to the psychiatrist Patrick Blachère, who remained at the helm during the exchange. “There are plenty of questions I would like to ask him”, he intervenes. While avoiding “do a wild expertise at the helm”the expert lists them aloud: “He says ‘because she was crying I had the will to kill her’. Why did her crying trigger this? How did he feel when he got rid of the body?”
Once again, the President of the Assize Court seized the ball and urged Nordahl Lelandais to react to the “explanatory elements given on the fly” by Doctor Patrick Blachère. “Why do you have an urge to kill?” By way of explanation, the former dog handler repeats his version of the facts: the figure of the corporal, that he killed a few months earlier appears to him, in the shape of“hallucination”.
“I see Arthur Noyer’s face and the fear suddenly arises. I want this fear to end.”
Nordahl Lelandaisin front of the Assize Court of Isère
The accused padlocks himself, without giving any keys to understand him. Asked about his feelings at this precise moment, he said to himself “in total incomprehension”. “I don’t even know if it’s day or night, what time it is, where I am”he says. “However, you will react in a very rational way, with the deposit of the body in one place and the return to the party hall”retorts the president of the assize court. “When you leave the body in the forest, how do you feel?” The accused talks about “shame” and of “guilt”but is said “unable to call for help”.
“I do not do anything.
– You are doing what is very similar to what you did with Arthur Noyer.”
Silence.
“Anything else to add?
– I’m sorry to have words that are misunderstood. I try to do as much as possible. I know this may hurt…I know again that I’m not believed, but it’s the truth.”
After these answers, the psychiatrist Patrick Blachère wonders: “What if he could see Corporal Noyer in someone else’s eyes? What means would he put in place to protect himself?” The President of the Assize Court authorizes the accused to respond. Nordahl Lelandais claims that he reads books on Buddhism, which allow him to learn to “turn anger into wisdom”. He promises: “I will accompany this anger in me, I will calm it and control it.” It remains to convince the jurors.