On September 26, 2020, between Villefontaine and Roche (Isère), there is no doubt: “Ludovic Bertin set out on this path with the intention of finding prey to rape,” assures Attorney General Françoise Benezech in her indictment, Thursday December 5, 2024, before the Isère Assize Court, on the ninth day of the trial of the young man, now 29 years old.
Accused of the murder preceded by the attempted rape of Victorine Dartois, 18, on this day in 2020, he has always maintained that when he encountered the young girl, a stampede would have taken place, which would have led to insults on the part of Victorine Dartois towards him. He would then have been furious and would have strangled the walker returning from a shopping trip.
Also read. Murder of Victorine Dartois: the trial opens before the Isère Assize Court
“It’s nonsense,” considers the representative of the public prosecutor, while the civil parties, through the voice of their lawyer Me Kelly Monteiro, had just earlier in the day described the victim as “fearful” et “fleeing men”. She was discovered two days after her death, her body lying in a stream, arms and legs crossed, stripped of her pants. For Françoise Benezech, the pants taken off are here the material element of the attempted rape. “It’s obvious, it’s common sense. Victorine Dartois' resistance is proven by the DNA found on Ludovic Bertin's jacket and by the position of her body. » She adds: “the attempted rape is therefore constituted here”.
“It’s hard to believe it”
Also prosecuted for the rape of another young woman aged 19 at the time of the events, in Saint-Laurent-de-Mure (Rhône), on the night of September 8 to 9, 2018, Ludovic Bertin has always denied the absence consent of the complainant, despite writings found stating the contrary. “As an expert told us, consent obtained by strangulation is hard to believe,” launches the representative of the public prosecutor, further recalling Ludovic Bertin's inability to qualify as a rapist: “We are touching the untouchable, it is psychologically impossible for him to be a rapist.” Recalling the testimony of Ludovic Bertin's ex-wife, recounting on Tuesday the numerous violence of which she was allegedly the victim, Françoise Benezech adds: “He has a particular conception of women. She is for him neither more nor less than a sexual object.”
In response, the Advocate General asked the court and the jurors to pronounce a sentence of life imprisonment against Ludovic Bertin, accompanied by a security sentence of 25 years (which is legally impossible, the maximum here being a security sentence of 22 years). She also required registration in the File of perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses, as well as the withdrawal of parental authority. Ludovic Bertin must, according to her, be considered as a “psychopath”.
In the statements of Ludovic Bertin's ex-wife, “Is there something that can be verified? » asked Mr. Arnaud Adelise in defense during his pleadings. No, he believes, “There is not one element that would corroborate his words.” For Ludovic Bertin, “there is no dispute, no debate on the commission of the murder”, he is responsible for it, says his lawyer. But in this matter, “if Mr. Bertin does not confess to his friend (who will denounce him next, editor’s note), This file does not exist. He then regrets that “Mr. Bertin, we never want to believe him.” “You can hate this man. You can also tell yourself that the way he grew up and the way he operated played a role. »
Verdict this Friday.
