Ludovic Bertin must deliver this Wednesday, before the Isère Assize Court, his version of the facts concerning the murder of Victorine Dartois in September 2020. The testimonies heard since the opening of the hearing make it possible to retrace the hours which took place. preceded the death of the 18-year-old student.
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One call, two messages and silence. Victorine Dartois has just missed the bus that was to take her home when she walks, in the early evening, on the pedestrian path bordering the Stade de la Prairie in Villefontaine (Isère) on September 26, 2020. “I tell him it’s dangerous. This is our last communication”said Lisa, a friend of the young woman with whom she had spent the afternoon at the mall.
Victorine Dartois, who had just entered BTS communications, met up with two high school friends that day. THE “little trio” lunch in a fast food restaurant and head towards the Village des Marques at midday. CCTV images show Victorine, dressed in a pink sweater, strolling through the aisles of the shopping mall. The three friends stop to eat a pancake around 3 p.m. before leaving three hours later.
The 18-year-old student leaves with two friends towards the bus station but misses her bus. So she walks home. The journey should take 20 minutes. It was 6:46 p.m. when she left the bus station alone, refusing to be accompanied. In the same video surveillance image, a jogger appears, wearing a gray hooded jacket, heading in the opposite direction to that of the victim.
“She didn’t suspect anything”supposes his friend Lisa. Investigators will later determine that it is Ludovic Bertin, tried until December 6 before the Isère Assize Court for the murder of Victorine Dartois preceded by an attempted rape.
Their path would have crossed at the exit of a tunnel passing under a departmental road, on the edge of the Prairie stadium. The young woman calls her sister to warn her of her delay, telling her that she is arriving at the stadium. She was to join her best friend Salomé a few hours later to whom she also sent a message.
“We talked a little about how she was doing. She asked me if we still met in the evening. I told her that it was fine, that we kept each other informed and I didn’t hear from him again. “remembers Salomé. No one will hear from Victorine after 6:59 p.m.
At the same time, a few dozen meters from the scene of the tragedy, a football match is being played on the lawn of the Stade de la Prairie. Benjamin*, former close friend of Ludovic Bertin, is one of the players. “At a time when there are people like that, I wonder how he did it”asks the 29-year-old witness.
The young woman’s body was discovered, with her pants removed, in the bed of a stream, 36 hours after her disappearance. The accused admitted to investigators that he had killed Victorine Dartois after a stampede that allegedly turned bad while he was out jogging. A version that several of his relatives have cast doubt on, saying the accused was not very sporty at the time of the events.
“How does an individual like that who has a family, a child, who has everything, end up doing stuff like that?”insists Benjamin. This September 26, 2020, Ludovic Bertin, who had just started a small transport company, claims to have gone to work in the morning.
Then the young man joined Yohane, a long-time friend. They drink a beer or two and do cocaine. “He was normal, that’s the worst part”assures Yohane, adding that Ludovic Bertin consumed “a lot” of drugs at that time, as other witnesses had mentioned.
The accused leaves his friend around 3 p.m., promising to return later to help him with some work. “I had to go to the pharmacy, that’s why I left. My intention was to come back and give him a hand. But given what happened, I didn’t could”explains Ludovic Bertin.
His phone was turned off voluntarily between 6:36 p.m. and 7:31 p.m. on the evening of the incident. “I was harassed, I have already explained it. (…) I often cut off my phone, not just that day”indicated the accused who will deliver this Wednesday, before the Assize Court, his version of the facts on the murder of Victorine.
“It has had consequences on my entire life. I can no longer trust humans”describes Yohane, trembling at the bar, refusing even to look at Ludovic Bertin. “We can no longer live, we don’t know how he got there. He was dangerous in nature”believes Benjamin for his part.
* Borrowed first name.
