Joël Bourgeon was found guilty of the murder of Martine Escadeillas and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment this Wednesday evening by the Haute-Garonne Assize Court. The defense of the Advocate General were followed to the letter. 36 years after the disappearance of the 24 -year -old secretary near Toulouse in Ramonville, the man is caught up in his past.
The family of the accused, collapsed
At the statement of the verdict Joël Bourgeon does not blink. He only has eyes for his wife and two daughters, aged 22 and 25, collapsed in the front row of the courtroom. This family that he built shortly after leaving Toulouse has never ceased to support him, since the beginning of the investigation 3 and a half years ago, throughout the duration of his preventive detention and during these 4 trying days of trial. The day before the verdict, his daughters were convinced that he would be acquitted and that they could return to Lyon with him. It is not so.
At the end of the trial, the lawyers for Joël Bourgeon, Eric Mouton and Jean-Baptiste de Boyer-Montaigut did not wish to speak, nor did his family.
The very dignified Escadeillas clan at the verdict
The Escadeillas clan attends with dignity the heartbreaking goodbye of the Bourgeon family and still do not know where Martine’s body is hidden.
One of Martine’s sisters, Nicole Saint-Blancat comments:
We are happy that he was condemned but we especially wanted to tell us where Martine’s body is to rest alongside her parents who died of sorrow. It has been destroying us for 36 years.
Jean-Claude is one of Martine Escadeillas’ brothers-in-law (he is Simone’s companion, one of Martine’s sisters). He states that this end of trial “is a huge relief (…) the verdict is harsh but fairand he comments:
It’s hard to judge 36 years after someone who has rebuilt his life, but his confession, even partial, even if he went back on it, was too detailed and detailed.
And to recognize the usefulness of the trial: “It is better to judge, even if it happens late, it was necessary “.
Frédéric David, lawyer for the Escadeillas clan regrets that we still don’t know where Martine’s body is hidden and “hope that the appeal will allow (Joël Bourgeon) in the context of a redemption by renewing the confessions made in police custody to say what we expect.”