Joël Bourgeon, 58, will know this Wednesday evening if he is acquitted or if he is condemned for the murder by Martine Escadeillas. The Haute-Garonne Assize Court has been judging this 36-year-old case since Monday, which has long remained cold-case insoluble. The body of the secretary who disappeared in Ramonville near Toulouse in December 1986 has never been found.
“I don’t understand how he could be condemned”
This Tuesday from his box Joël Bourgeon responded to the accusations repeating that he was innocent and that his 2019 confession had been dictated to him by the gendarmes. The accused’s eldest daughter, Margaux Bourgeon speaks on behalf of her sister Lou-Eva and her mother Rachel. She hopes at the end of the trial to be able to bring her father back with her to eastern France:
It is not possible that he will be condemned. You don’t condemn an innocent person. I have no doubts about the outcome of this story. If he had done something he would have told us. He is innocent. Tomorrow he is driving home with us – Margaux Bourgeon
“Doubt is not possible. He explained that he had an altercation with her.”
Conversely for the lawyer of the Escadeillas clan, there is no possible doubt, Joël Bourgeon is guilty. Frédéric David refers to the confessions made by the accused in police custody. According to the lawyer script murder is clear:
He came to explain to Martine Escadeillas that his companion was fickle and that he was serious and really loved him. He has an altercation with her, it goes wrong, we are on stairs with walking edges and we can assume blows possibly leading to death – master Frédéric David
General Counsel must make its requisitions this Wednesday at the end of the morning. Joël Bourgeon faces 30 years of criminal imprisonment.