“I had a discussion with Antoine Pietri because he thinks we are going to take away his land.” This confidence of Patrick Julien, victim of this case, is reported, this Tuesday, January 21, by a witness on the stand, member of the municipal council of Soccia.
On the second day of the trial of Antoine Pietri, former shepherd, accused of the assassination of Patrick Julien, on November 4, 2017 in Soccia, with three shots, including one to the head, the Assize Court of Appeal of Haute-Corse looked into the motive for the crime and the schedule of the 34-year-old goat breeder.
Elected official of the village, manager of a construction company, the victim was also president of the pastoral land association (AFP).
According to the prosecution, it was this last cap which provoked the assassination. Investigators establish that Antoine Pietri considered that the land on which Patrick Julien carried out work, on behalf of two farmers, had been promised to him by the town hall. “I knew that a week before the events, Patrick Julien had had an altercation on this subject with Antoine Pietri, adds the witness. He wasn't going to lose his ground. Antoine Pietri didn't seem to want to understand.”
“If I don’t come back down, it’s because he turned me on”
Another witness, a pig farmer in the village, also reports a verbal altercation “quite rough” between Patrick Julien and Antoine Pietri, recounted by the first: “he claimed the land even though it wasn’t his.” Another witness, close to the victim, highlights a sentence pronounced by the victim, before the events: “if I don’t come back down, it’s because he turned me on”, speaking of Antoine Pietri.
My Anna-Maria Sollacaro, Dominique Paolini and Paul Sollacaro, defense counsel, cast doubt on this version and suspect, on the contrary, a 71-year-old pig breeder, of having recovered the victim's land after his death. Enough to give a more important role to this witness in this case: “it is you who benefits from crime”, says Me Anna-Maria Sollacaro. The septuagenarian protests.
-The prosecution also establishes the presence of the shepherd at the crime scene through various technical findings, including his DNA, found on cases taken nearby. In his defense, Antoine Pietri, indicates that he used to shoot in the air to attract his goats to that place. The accused's change of version about his schedule and his desire to hide the clothing worn on the day of the incident are also part of the evidence against him.
“We did not assassinate a business leader but we assassinated my friend”
However, no witness taking the stand saw Antoine Pietri at the crime scene. Even if many saw him in different places on the day of the tragedy. The testimonies also describe the atmosphere in this village of around a hundred inhabitants after the assassination. Between rumors which designate Antoine Pietri as the murderer and trauma in the face of the facts: “We did not assassinate a business leader but a courageous man, says a friend. Not an elected official or president of AFP but a sincere man. We did not assassinate Patrick Julien but we assassinated my friend. With this AFP, he got himself into a sack of shit. This caused tensions with the breeders.”
To acquit the accused during the first trial in Ajaccio, the jurors retained doubt around the “Ballistic and genetic evidence.” Two other important ingredients which will be debated in this case where the accused faces life imprisonment.
