Suspecting that his wife was cheating on him, he killed her with a pickaxe, leaving his three children orphaned.
“I did not intend to kill her, Mr. President,” declared this father before the three magistrates of the criminal chamber at the Court of Appeal of El Jadida, speaking of his wife while expressing his regret for having violated her to the point that she gave up the ghost. On the other hand, he had declared to the elements of the royal gendarmerie of Chtouka which falls within the province of El Jadida when they arrested him, just after committing his crime, that he wanted to liquidate it and that he regrets his act.
It has been more than two and a half months since this father committed his crime, at his home, in the douar Ouled Daoud Sahel located in the rural commune Chtouka which is located about forty kilometers north of the town of El Jadida. On Wednesday October 16, 2024, this father of three children rushed to the Chtouka gendarmes to tell them the bad news: “I killed my wife, but I regret having done it”. They immediately mobilized and arrived at the crime scene. Upon entering the house, they noticed in the living room the body of a woman standing on an armchair, her head smashed. Blood stained the four corners of the living room. What did he kill her with? A pickaxe, he replied to the investigators who were carrying out the usual report before giving instructions to evacuate the corpse to the morgue of the provincial hospital in El Jadida in order to be subjected to a medical autopsy.
Subjected to interrogation, he confessed to his crime while specifying to the sleuths of the royal gendarmerie that he armed himself with a pickaxe with the intention of ending the life of his wife who was standing on the chair. Without speaking to him, he gave him a first blow to the head before giving him a second and then a third. After which, he threw his bladed weapon on the ground and left his house to go to the gendarmes. But for what motive did he kill her? He told investigators that he suspected her of cheating on him without having any proof.
None of his three children were present at the home during the crime. And yet, they refused to become a civil party while specifying to the Court that their father suffered from psychological disorders.
After hearing the last words of the accused where he once again expressed his regret for having killed his wife and orphaned his three children, the Court gave the floor to the representative of the public prosecutor who requested a sentence relating to the seriousness of the act committed by the accused. As for his defense lawyer, he requested that he benefit from mitigating circumstances.
Verdict: Found guilty of murder under the provisions of article 392 of the penal code, the Court sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Morocco
