After five hours of interrogation, Friday, February 11, and when no change of heart was expected from Nordahl Lelandais, he finally admitted in extremis to having “voluntarily” killed Maëlys de Araujo, on the night of August 26 to 27, 2017, after having kidnapped her. “I recognize all the facts with which I am accused”, he declared, on questioning by his lawyer Me Alain Jakubowicz, the last to question him.
“It is no longer a question of quibbling but of becoming aware of the seriousness of the facts you have committed. As far as Maëlys is concerned, we are not going to beat around the bush”gave him his advice. “You are prosecuted for having voluntarily killed”, he reminds his client.
– “Yes Master”, responds the accused in his cubicle.
– “Can we forget the word accident?
– “Yes”. “It’s clear. I voluntarily killed Maëlys”says the defendant.
– “Do you agree that putting a little girl in your car at 3:00 a.m. on the night of a wedding is kidnapping?”
– “Yes Master”.
So far, the former soldier claimed to have killed the child involuntarily and that she had voluntarily climbed into his car. Throughout his interrogation on Friday, he also stuck to this version of the facts.
Standing in his box, he recounted this nightmarish night, unfolding his story slowly, sometimes with a few tears that surfaced, without it being known whether they were real or feigned. In the morning, Jean-Yves Coquillat, the former prosecutor of Grenoble, said he saw him kneel when the remains of the little one were found. He had asked “sorry” to the little girl. “I had the feeling that it was cinema”commented the retired prosecutor.
When it came time to recount the child’s death, Nordahl Lelandais slowed down, looking contrite. “She starts to hiccup. A little cry. At that moment, 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 detailed in a crowded but silent room.
“Shame, remorse, guilt, I will have all my life”he let go, presenting once again his “apologies” to the family. “We would like me to say that it is a sexual crime but not at all”he added. “I was not at all in this sexual perspective, far from it”.
It remains to be seen whether the accused, obviously wrung out, understood the scope of his confession in the form of a coup de theater. The president should question him on Monday to verify that this is indeed a real turnaround.
“If you ask me if Nordahl Lelandais has moved forward, taken a step towards the civil parties, the answer is no, very clearly”reacted shortly after the lawyer for Maëlys’ mother, Me Fabien Rajon, affirming that the civil parties had “were outraged by (his) statements”.
Already sentenced in Chambéry in May 2021 to 20 years’ imprisonment for the murder of Arthur Noyer, the accused faces life imprisonment for the murder of Maëlys. The third and final week of the trial is due to start Monday at 9 a.m. with the report of the expert psychologists. The verdict is expected next Friday.