Quadruple murders in Sarthe in 1994: testimony of the only survivor, ex-wife suspect… what we know about the accused's defense

Did justice make the wrong murderer 30 years ago, when it imprisoned Danny Leprince? On September 4, 1994, his brother, his wife and two of their daughters aged 7 and 10 were massacred with knives in their house in Thorigné-sur-Dué (Sarthe). The only survivor, the youngest of the family, aged 2. Suspicion falls on Danny Leprince. Less than a week later, the suspect admitted in police custody to having killed his brother, but immediately recanted. However, his wife Martine Compain – from whom he has since divorced – and his eldest daughter Célia then accused him of the quadruple murder, precipitating his sentence to life imprisonment in 1997. Released in 2012, he has continued to proclaim his innocence.

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Death of an octogenarian couple in Sarthe: indictments, investigation, testimonies… what we know about this double assassination

After the rejection of his cassation appeal in 1999, then a first request for review in 2011, the defendant initiated new review proceedings in March 2021. His lawyers, Me Olivier Morice and Missiva Chermak-Felonneau, filed a motion to have his conviction overturned. On December 12, the investigating committee of the Court of Revision examined this request behind closed doors. Verdict: Danny Leprince will know on January 23 whether or not his request will be transmitted to the Court of Review.

Testimony of the only survivor of the massacre

Danny Leprince's lawyers presented to the investigating committee around twenty “new facts and elements unknown to the court, likely to establish his innocence or give rise to doubt about his guilt”. Among these elements are notably the personality of Martine Compain, “trained in the use of butcher knives”, her “multiple reversals”, her “morbid jealousy” towards her sister-in-law and her links with a major of gendarmerie. Another element of the file, the “false declarations” of Célia or the retracted confessions of Mr. Leprince. The defense also relies on a letter sent to the investigating committee by Solène, now 32 years old, revealing that she had “serious doubts as to the guilt” of her uncle, “in view of the numerous inconsistencies” in the file.

“It is the honor of the judicial institution to recognize its errors, to be able to ensure that a man is exonerated if he is not the author of the facts,” reacted his lawyer Olivier Morice, who defends it with Missiva Chermak-Felonneau, specifying that they had been “heard with great attention” by the magistrates.