Fans of pain au chocolat know him and his bakery in the 15th arrondissement of Paris well. And for good reason, it won the prize for best pain au chocolat in Greater Paris in 2016. We learned this November 26, 2024, that Frédéric Pichard is dead.
The famous baker is said to have eaten more than 200 antidepressant and antipsychotic tabletsas our colleagues from Le Parisien report. It was his wife who got it found unconscious in his bedin their second home in Janville-en-Beauce (Eure-et-Loir).
Did the baker commit suicide to escape justice?
At 59 years old, it would have been suicide, but he left no letter of explanation. Neither for this gesture, nor for the rape case in which he was involved. Indeed, Frédéric Pichard had been indicted for rape after accusations from his former daughter-in-law, his son's wife. A certain Talia H. The latter claims that she suffered his rapes for 15 years, starting when he was 18.
Now aged 37, the young woman described Frédéric Pichard as being a manipulator. In her complaint, she explains that her abuse began in 2005. She also accuses her ex-husband, named Geoffrey, of abusive behavior.
The case has been going on for years, as our colleagues report, since its investigation has been carried out for 4 years “in slow motion”. However, three days before the suicide of renowned Parisian baker Frédéric Pichard, the alleged victim had finally obtained his indictment. The defendant would have been devastated, according to his wife.
A dark rape case that took a long time
Finally, he will not be tried for the facts with which he is accused, namely rape by a person in authority. Indeed, the criminal proceedings are now closed, with his death. Which means we will probably never know if this suicide was an admission of guilt.
For his part, the case is far from over for the alleged victim. In addition to this complaint against her former father-in-law, she also filed a liability action against the State. She criticizes the justice system for having taken too long to react, to convict Frédéric Pichard and obtain compensation.
