Criminal case “of the pen” in Geneva: everything has to be redone

The so-called “de la plume” affair, one of the most captivating criminal cases of recent years, is experiencing a new twist. The Federal Court, in a judgment made public this Friday at noon, overturns the judgment of the Geneva Court of Appeal and requests it to render a new decision. She will have to re-examine the fate of the septuagenarian from Solothurn who killed his wife in 2016 in their home in Grand-Saconnex.

As a reminder, this notable had defended, for seven years, the thesis of a natural death of his wife. A feather found in his bronchi had nevertheless directed investigators to the criminal trail, that of death by asphyxiation. At first instance, the judges of the Criminal Court held that the defendant’s version was scientifically impossible. They found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to 13 years in prison.

A twist of events occurred at the start of his appeal trial: the man had radically changed his version of the facts. He then spoke of “erotic asphyxia”, of a sexual game that the couple loved and which had gone wrong: his wife had died while he was applying a piece of eiderdown to her face, but he never had desired his death, which left him devastated. He hadn’t realized she was choking, it was an accident.

The Appeals and Review Chamber believed this new story (it had in any case considered that the prosecution had “not managed to demonstrate an alternative version to that of accidental asphyxiation”). Negligent homicide was then held. The septuagenarian then received a 3-year prison sentence, half of which was suspended.

The public prosecutor, convinced that it was indeed a murder, then referred the matter to the Federal Court. The latter therefore admitted his appeal: he considers that the appeal judges were arbitrary.

The highest court in the country therefore considers that the process leading the accused to late in presenting a new version, that of the sexual game having gone wrong, was not assessed with sufficient rigor. In particular, the justification for the initial lie, namely the “great modesty” of the notable, should have been the subject of more in-depth examination.

The Federal Court also ruled that the Geneva courts had not taken into account all the evidence (seminal fluid, taking sleeping pills, etc.) making it possible to date the last sexual intercourse of the spouses. However, the element is crucial: assuming that they did not make love on the night of death, the theory of erotic asphyxia collapses.

Furthermore, the Court of Appeal did not sufficiently consider the supposed lack of reaction of the deceased while she was suffocating, nor the passage of the feather in her bronchi, which according to the experts should have caused a strong cough – and therefore alert her husband.

The Federal Court also notes that the Geneva judges did not rule on a certain number of injuries suffered by the spouses, in particular bruises on the woman’s arms and wrists. He adds that the Cantonal Court will also have to, again, explore the question of motive. Until now, it has never been established, although the love that united the couple has largely been established, which has contributed to thickening the mystery around this extraordinary case, in which everything is at stake. redo.