HAS failing to know why their son, brother, friend died, the relatives of Florent Morin, killed at the age of 32 with 16 angry stab wounds, on May 12, 2020 in his studio in Bordeaux, now know how many years in prison are due. calculate the penalty for the perpetrator of the murder. Tony Bakula was sentenced this Friday, October 11, 2024 to twenty years of criminal imprisonment by the Gironde Assize Court.
This homeless person, member of the Ultras, indignant, diligent and violent during the yellow vest demonstrations had met the victim in a hospital environment. They quickly hit it off. Experts speak of a mirror effect. The crime makes even less sense. “The accused is doing well because the premeditation could have been retained,” scolds Me Pierre-André Vergé, the lawyer for the civil parties.
“This is not a detailed crime, it is the act of a calculator and this makes the suffering of the civil parties even greater. And if he can kill without reason, that’s a worry for the future.” The day before, the mother of the deceased came with warmth and elegance to say “the beautiful person” that her son was and to describe the “amputation” that his death represents.
Tony Bakula “maintains the gray areas”, with “sticky explanations”, calling into question the honor of the victim treated as a “fascist” then a “pedophile”.
Twenty-five years required
“There is an indisputable reality: he is indeed the author of the 16 stabbings,” summarizes the attorney general, Martin Viver-Darviot. “Not an isolated blow, but something repeated, targeted.” But what interests the magistrate is the intention which animated the accused at the time of the facts.
But Tony Bakula “maintains the gray areas”, with “sticky explanations”, initially calling into question the honor of the victim treated as a “fascist” then as a “pedophile” with whom he would have settled his account, and not hesitating to take a photo of his inert victim and send it. Without remaining deaf to the positive elements of his biography, the attorney general requires twenty-five years of criminal imprisonment.
“His career, the fact that he does not deny having killed is to be put in the famous scales of justice”, argues Me Mathieu Raffy, one of the defense lawyers, who gives his client back his humanity. The lawyer does not deny Florent Morin the status of victim. “But the court cannot only provide justice for victims. He also had a record, a problem with alcohol, was marginal.”
“When you start out in life like that, it’s complicated for the rest.” Me Impérial, defense lawyer.
That evening, thrown out, recalled, again ordered after an argument to “join the homeless, Tony Bakula feels the abandonment too much. And at 1:30 a.m., it’s the flash of absolute violence that blinds us all, including him when he talks about a blackout.” “A man is the fruit of a journey, of a story that cannot be put aside,” argues Me Benedicte Imperial.
Tony Bakula is born with a hare lip which disgusts his father. Alcoholic and violent towards his mother, the latter commits suicide. Without ever wanting to treat her son’s hyperactivity. “When you start in life like that, it’s complicated for the future,” says the lawyer. And this was only the beginning of the vicious circle of family rejection leading to his visceral need to belong to a group, to the point of inventing a son suffering from leukemia, a daughter who died in an accident and a stillborn twin. “All this to count for someone”, asks Me Imperial who perceives “the kid who is still there in Tony”. She also sees in referee training, followed in detention, a first step towards the integration of the rules of the collective.
