The Paris Court of Appeal examined, Thursday January 23, the appeal brought by the lawyers of Loïk Le Priol and Romain Bouvier. Sent before the Assize Court for the assassination of Federico Martin Aramburú, therefore a premeditated murder, the two shooters deny having thought through their action. Their defense hopes to obtain requalification. The judges have until February 13 to decide. The murder carries life imprisonment for the accused.
On March 19, 2022, on Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris, Romain Bouvier shot the rugby player first, before fleeing. The former Biarritz Olympique player was hit by two bullets. Alerted by the detonations, Loïk Le Priol rushes in in turn. At the end of the fight, Federico Martin Aramburú was killed by four additional bullets.
Self-defense
For the investigating judges, these successive meetings relate to “a common criminal design, a concerted and indivisible action”. The defense believes, on the contrary, that these are two distinct scenes. Everyone would have acted alone. He can only be blamed for what he did. The lawyers are requesting, at a minimum, a reclassification as willful violence with a weapon for Romain Bouvier, and assault and battery resulting in death for Loïk Le Priol. They also plead self-defense. So the charges were dropped.
-These arguments elude the start of the altercation between Federico Martin Aramburú and his killers. Nine minutes earlier, the tone rose on the terrace of a brasserie. The staff breaks up a first fight. Witnesses hear Loïk Le Priol say “I’m going to kill him” or “I’m going to find you”. Lawyers for the Argentinian’s family and Shaun Hegarty, present at his side on the evening of the incident, contest the division of the crime scene. All the shots take place in forty-five seconds. Romain Bouvier and Loïk Le Priol empty their magazines. The latter claims to have started with two “warning shots”. The investigation shows that he squeezes the trigger six times in four seconds.
Morocco
