the essential
In 2007, Henri Rozes was found stabbed in his home near Toulouse. For thirteen years, mystery hovered over this violent death, until the unexpected confession of his neighbor Patrick Canie. He will be judged on appeal on December 18 and 19, 2024 in Montauban.
On May 7, 2007, Henri Rozes, a hemiplegic man following a stroke, was found dead at his home in Plaisance-du-Touch, near Toulouse. His body bears the marks of five stab wounds. The crime scene is intriguing: no sign of a break-in or conclusive biological clue is noted. For more than a decade, this case remained unsolved.
The first suspicions, however, fall on Patrick Canie, the neighbor and friend of the victim, known for his unstable behavior and recurring arguments with Henri Rozes. Canie disputes his involvement and investigators are unable to establish a direct link between him and the murder. Lack of solid material evidence.
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“I wanted to ease my conscience…”
Dramatic twist in August 2020: Patrick Canie comes out of silence. Then aged 55, he spontaneously presented himself to the gendarmerie and admitted to being the author of the crime, “I wanted to ease my conscience” he explained. He claims that an argument over their respective states of health would have triggered a murderous impulse.
According to his account, he even premeditated the act, going to his neighbor's house with a knife before stabbing him several times. “I couldn't stand his mockery” confided the former employee of the Plaisance zoo. Canie details the circumstances with astonishing precision, although some inconsistencies emerge. For example, he claims to have broken the blade of the knife in the victim's body, which the expert opinions contradict.
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Sentenced to 20 years at first instance
Psychiatric experts portray Canie as a fragile and alcoholic personality, subject to violent impulses, but conclude that he was fully aware of his actions at the time of the events. Despite some inconsistencies in his story, his confession is consistent with several material elements, reinforcing initial suspicions. On March 7, 2023, Patrick Canie was referred to the Assize Court for the murder of his neighbor Henri Rozes. This complex case, combining late confessions and fragmentary clues, raises crucial questions about justice, time and memory. Canie will be sentenced to 20 years in prison, but a new trial must take place. This time, it is the Montauban criminal court which will retry the fifty-year-old from Wednesday.
DDM – DDM – NATHALIE SAINT-AFFRE
For his lawyer, Mr. Nicolas Raynaud de Lage, “a man who had the intelligence to appear before the authorities, moreover so many years after the facts, deserves to be heard by the courts, much better than that.” has been the case until now.” Verdict expected on December 19.
