The victim, aged 65, was found “killed with a bladed weapon” this Wednesday at his home in Marmagne in Saône-et-Loire, the Chalon-sur-Saône public prosecutor's office told AFP.
The spouse, aged 70, “inflicted blows on himself, also with a bladed weapon”. He was hospitalized in serious condition.
“The thesis of femicide is retained but it is not 100% confirmed, just like the probable tentative de suicide“, added the prosecution.
“Not a drama of financial and agricultural origin”
The couple, who have two children, are at the head of several farms which seem to work well, explained to AFP Didier Laubérat, mayor of Marmagne, a town of around 1,300 inhabitants, near Le Creusot.
“This is not a tragedy of financial and agricultural origin”he estimated.
From a source close to the case, it is specified that the spouse suffered from mental illness for many years.
The investigation was entrusted to the Autun gendarmerie. No judicial information had yet been launched Thursday morning.
On average, a feminicide occurs every three days in France. The Ministry of Justice counted 94 femicides in 2023, compared to 118 in 2022.
