the accused committed suicide on the morning of his trial at the assizes

On the morning of his trial, Patrick Corrivaud decided to escape justice and not face the gaze of the civil party. The gendarmes discovered the sixty-year-old, dying, at his home in Gizeux (Indre-et-Loire), Thursday November 28, 2024, when he had just attempted his life with a firearm. He did not survive his injuries.

The 66-year-old accused was to be tried before the Indre-et-Loire Assize Court to answer for the rapes committed against his stepdaughter between 1991 and 1999 in Coteaux-sur-Loire. He faced up to twenty years of criminal imprisonment.

Under judicial supervision for several years, Patrick Corrivaud was to appear free at his trial. But when the proceedings were scheduled to open at 9 a.m., the accused was nowhere to be found.

“Justice will never be done”

Without news from his client, M^e Anne Rabaey had expressed her concern to the court. President Aude Cristau then issued an arrest warrant, sending the gendarmes to his home.

The worst scenario was confirmed at the end of the morning, plunging the civil parties' counsel (1) into a mixture of astonishment and anger: “He will never be convicted. Justice will never be done. » The Advocate General, Joël Patard, requested the extinction of the public action: a “inevitable consequence”.

When the death of the accused was announced, the victim was accompanied by a psychologist from the France Victimes 37 association as well as the feminist collective against rape (CFCV), before being taken care of by the firefighters. firefighters. “ He decided to punish me today, she concluded, deeply angry. Everything goes out, everything disappears. »

(1) The Feminist Collective Against Rape (CFCV), represented by M^e Sophie Soubiran also became a civil party and accompanied the victim throughout the hearing.