It is this time in Grenoble that he is judged. Sentenced to life imprisonment last November by the Court of Assizes of Drôme in Valence, Francisco Gonzalez-Ortiz left the court claiming his innocence. He has always denied having savagely killed Jeanne Lelong, 84, at her home in Saint-Marcel-lès-Sauzet, and her friend Paul Pastor, 67, on the evening of June 18, 2018.
The appeal trial begins this Wednesday, September 21, and will last three daysuntil Friday. “One more test” according to Brigitte Pastor, the wife of Paul Pastor, “yes, I’m afraid he’ll get through it. Until the end at first instance, I was afraid he wouldn’t be convicted”.
Jeanne Lelong’s son, Frédéric Lelong, is also convinced of the guilt of Francisco Gonzalez Ortiz: “For me, an appeal trial for this kind of sociopath as the experts had called him, is a lot of wasted money, time and energy. And it’s messy for the families”. He evokes certain points raised by the defense lawyers of the accused at first instance, who recalled disagreements within the families of the victims.
The Trolley Man Trial
Francisco Gonzalez Ortiz was arrested on June 19, 2018, the day after the incident, in a disused hotel in Montélimar. Many witnesses saw it the day of the crime and the day before in the surrounding communities, often pushing confidently a blue and red supermarket trolley, with loose business in it. The cart will also be seen in front of the house where the double murder took place.
The DNA of Francisco Gonzalez Ortiz was found on the ax used to kill Jeanne Lelong, also on a broken bottle and on one of the windows of the house. The two bodies had been discovered covered with some sort of blankets on the morning of June 19.