On October 11, 2021, Jean-Claude L. and Michel D., 66 and 73 years old, attempted to murder a fifty-year-old with whom they were playing pétanque because he was the new lover of the ex-partner of the ‘one of them. The two retirees were sentenced to prison terms by the Gironde Assize Court on Wednesday.
Le Figaro Bordeaux
“The story begins” were the first words spoken by Jean-Claude L., 66 years old, in front of the Gironde Assize Court. The retiree appeared alongside his accomplice, Michel D., 73, for the attempted murder of Gilles*, 55, an acquaintance from their pétanque club. The story of these three men, linked by a common passion shared in their club in Saint-Seurin, took a sordid turn on October 11, 2021 in Coutras. That day, Gilles was taking the Chemin des Petits Champs, a municipal road in the heart of the pastures, when he noticed that a car was following him without overtaking him.
A fall and several detonations later, Gilles is on the ground, bleeding and pierced with 4mm pellets, in principle intended to shoot deer. His backpack is riddled with 18 holes, he has wounds to his chest and lungs. His spleen, both kidneys, pancreas, shoulder blade, right hand, pelvis and left arm are also affected. Five pellets were found in his body by the doctors who operated on him. And it’s not an accident. In the car that fled after his fall, Michel D. and Jean-Claude L. have just committed a crime that they had been plotting for months, which they confessed to during the investigation and for which they were sentenced this Wednesday to 12 and 16 years of criminal imprisonment.
Disappointed love
The story therefore begins in January 2021 and is woven around a woman, named Manon*. Still married but separated from her husband since May 2020, the latter had an affair with Jean-Claude L., just after her marital breakdown, between June and October 2020. A love affair to which she will officially put an end “in February or March 2021” according to the investigation, because she had become Gilles’ lover in January of the same year. A change of partner that Jean-Claude L. could not stand. Very quickly, several members of the pétanque club and relatives of the two men – cited in the investigations – were able to testify that the latter wanted “but” son rival.
If he mentions “a stroke of madness” by admitting his crime to investigators, Jean-Claude L. nevertheless seems to have thought it through carefully. First, by establishing surveillance to find out the calendar, times and routes on which Gilles was traveling. Then, by trying to convince Michel D., traumatized by the rape of his 11-year-old daughter, that Gilles was “a pedophile” so that he agrees to kill him in his place. After refusing several times to murder Gilles with a knife, Michel D. ended up being convinced by the promise of Jean-Claude L. “to assume sole responsibility for the facts if this matter were clarified”.
“Mr. D. is someone who is very easily influenced and has low intelligence. He was completely manipulated by Mr. L.”believes Me Justine Normand. According to Gilles’ lawyer, Michel D. is only “the extension of the weapon” of Mr. L.. But he is a hunter, the rifle and the pellets are his and “despite everything, he could have said no”explains the lawyer to Figaro. Son client, “who had no desire for revenge”he said to himself “relieved” of this trial from which he especially expected to understand the motivations of his enemies.
*These first names have been changed.
