The Besançon criminal court acquitted Jonathann Daval this Friday of charges of slanderous denunciation of his in-laws.
The prosecution had requested the release of the 40-year-old former computer scientist, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.
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Murder of Alexia: Jonathann Daval sentenced
It was undoubtedly the last meeting with justice for Jonathann Daval. This Friday, the 40-year-old former computer scientist convicted in 2020 for the murder of his wife Alexia, was acquitted by the Besançon criminal court in the case of slanderous denunciation between him and his in-laws.
“The denunciations did not have the aspect of spontaneity required by law”, judged in particular Judge Guillaume Law of Lauriston. The 40-year-old former computer scientist listened to the reading of the judgment by videoconference from Ensisheim prison (Haut-Rhin) where he is incarcerated.
The prosecution had requested the release of the man who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence. “Once again, my apologies. From now on you won’t hear from me again.”had promised Jonathann Daval to his ex-parents-in-law at the end of the hearing on this case, on April 10.
“A secret pact to cover up the affair”
During the investigation, Jonathann Davan initially admitted to being the author of the murder of his wife, before retracting and accusing his brother-in-law Grégory Gay of having strangled Alexia, while trying to control her during ‘an attack of hysteria. The family would then have passed “a secret pact to cover up the affair”he asserted.
“A lot of people told me: ‘It’s not possible, you couldn’t do it alone’. At one point, we want to please them, we say yes, I couldn’t do that alone, without thinking about the consequences… And in prison, what are we trying to do? To get by”, Jonathann Daval explained at the hearing.
Six months later, he finally admitted having lied and confessed again to the murder of his wife.
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“Close the Daval file definitively”
Following this, Jonathann Daval was sued for slanderous denunciation by Isabelle and Jean-Pierre Fouillot, Alexia’s parents, their daughter Stéphanie and her husband Grégory Gay.
While recognizing “rare immorality” of Jonathann Daval’s accusations against his in-laws, the public prosecutor of Besançon, Etienne Manteaux, estimated during the hearing that he was “time to definitively close this Daval file on one side or the other”.
“I request release, for the benefit of the doubt”, he said. “The law and case law recognize that an accused person can lie, even if it is morally very hard”he explained, assuring “measure all the suffering of this family who felt soiled”.
The main complainant, Grégory Gay, recalled the lump in his throat “the horror” experienced by the family: “We don’t realize the suffering and the difficulties we had to endure all this.”
Ms. Fouillot, for her part, mentioned her “pain of the loss of Alexia and of this ignominy”. “We lost Alexia, it’s already a tragedy in itself, and six months later we are told that we are accused of murder and that we are the murderers of our own daughter (…) It goes beyond the ‘understanding”she said.
