the main suspect, indicted, is released

The investigating judge made this decision due to a ruling by the Court of Cassation annulling a decision by the Grenoble Court of Appeal which ruled that the murder of this young woman in 1986 was not time-barred.

New twist in the Marie-Thérèse Bonfanti affair. The main suspect in the murder of this young woman in 1986, in Poncharra, in Isère, was released and placed under judicial supervision, France Télévisions and Franceinfo learned from corroborating sources. Yves Chatain, 57, was indicted in May 2022 for kidnapping, kidnapping and murder and placed in pre-trial detention after his confession in this cold case. On his instructions, a skull corresponding to the victim was discovered in a forest in Isère.

“The investigating judge made the decision to release him despite the prosecution’s opposition requests”Eric Vaillant, the Grenoble prosecutor, told franceinfo. At the end of November, the Court of Cassation, seized last January by Yves Chatain, annulled a decision of the Grenoble Court of Appeal which deemed the murder of the young woman not prescribed. The case was referred to the investigating chamber of the Lyon Court of Appeal.

Relatives of the victim “disappointed”

The Grenoble prosecutor had requested his continued detention, “considering that the decision of the Court of Cassation is not final due to the referral to the Lyon Court of Appeal”. The appeal from the prosecution is not suspensive, Yves Chatain is therefore released. “We are disappointed by this situation”reacts to France Télévisions the daughter Marie-Thérèse Bonfanti, informed of this decision by her lawyer, Bernard Boulloud.

Aged 25, Marie-Thérèse Bonfanti, mother of two children, disappeared on May 22, 1986 while distributing newspapers in Pontcharra. This neighbor was suspected then released and the investigation ended in a dismissal in November 1987. It was reopened in 2020 thanks in particular to “the perseverance of families” and to the “will” investigators, declared Eric Vaillant during a press briefing. Questioned on the basis of new elements, Yves Chatain then had “recognized”, while in police custody and before the investigating judge, “killed her”the prosecutor said.