“Fifty-four stab wounds are extraordinary. Previously, he had never hit anyone,” noted the accused’s lawyer, Mr. Marc Preumont. According to the latter, the forty-year-old “completely came out of himself” that evening. The lawyer stressed that his client had mutilated himself after the incident, inflicting stab wounds on his thighs. “To the investigating magistrate who questioned him on his hospital bed, Daniel Gilles immediately admitted to having carried out these stabbings, without being able to explain the exact process.”
According to the psychiatric expertise, “Daniel Gilles’ capacity for discernment was seriously impaired – but not abolished – at the time of the facts”, due to his consumption of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine, recalled the council of the accused. “Mr. Gilles is mentally responsible for his actions,” acknowledged the council.
However, “my client does not have a past as a violent man,” continued the lawyer. “What he did in 2022, he did it under influence, and not in cold blood, in a thoughtful manner,” argued Me Preumont. “I understand the family’s need for logical explanations. But there is an element of irrationality in this trial: the accused is incapable of providing all the explanations.”
The jurors then retired to deliberate on the guilt of Daniel Gilles.
