Hervé Even was a young carpenter who made coffins. He loved his job, lived happily in this corner of Moselle where he was born and had a perfect love affair with his wife Michèle. But in early spring 1991, this universe is collapsingThe carpenter finds himself accused of the brutal murder of his wife.
He denies it, but from then on suspicion will never stop sticking to his skin. The investigators, then little by little his in-laws, will point the finger at him as a possible culprit. “In this case, they were never offered other alternatives. We never explored other avenues“, indicates Kévin Grethen, journalist and guest of The time of the crime.
A simple alarm clock, placed on a nightstand, will then find itself at the center of the affair. The husband’s legal fate will thus be suspended from this large and small hand which gives the time of the crime.
It’s an accusation by elimination.
Kévin Grethen, journalist at “Ouest France”
The only witness is Gertrude Kremer, the tenant upstairs who says she was woken up by a loud noise at 6:05 a.m., she looked at her alarm clock in the bedroom. At that time, the victim was alone at home. Her husband had left for work a good half hour ago. With his brother-in-law, he clocked in at the carpentry at 5:53 a.m. sharp.
The husband therefore hasa very solid alibi even if the gendarmes will have doubts. They focus in particular on the Even couple, not so perfect despite assurances. Hervé had difficulty supporting Michèle’s authoritarianism. For investigators, there is no other suspectonly the husband could have committed the crime in a fit of rage, and Gertrude Kremer was undoubtedly wrong about the time of the fight and confused the little needle with the big needle.
Hervé Even is finally acquitted. It is a simple awakening that will finally decide whether he is guilty or not. “That is really the determining factor. Without this exculpatory element, I think that Hervé Even would have been convicted despite the thin elements. There were no elements except that we didn’t see who else it could be. It’s an accusation by elimination,” said Kévin Grethen.
The truth in this case has never been established and for Judge Gilbert Thiel, guest of The time of the crime, it seems unlikely that we will ever achieve this. “Things seem quite compromised. We know very well that the passage of time is the mortal enemy of procedures,” he explains.
The guests of the show
– Kévin Grethen, journalist at West France and author of the book Unsolved cases published by the daily editions. He followed the case to The Lorraine Republican.
– Judge Gilbert Thiel, former magistrate and investigating judge in Nancy. At the time he was the deputy general at the Metz Court of Appeal. He wrote Serial killers made in France published by Robert Laffont.
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