Thirty years in prison were requested this Friday against a 70-year-old pensioner accused of the murder of his girlfriend, by the Assize Court of Yvelines. The body of the deceased was found dismembered and charred in a wood in 2017.

The attorney general portrayed in her closing arguments a man "methodical, very procedural, cynical, determined, opportunistic" who would have killed his companion "because she hindered his freedom".

Nearly two years to identify the victim

On August 31, 2017, pieces of burned bodies were discovered on a pedestrian path in Vernouillet, about forty kilometers west of Paris. It will take investigators nearly two years to identify them, in May 2019: the victim is a 67-year-old woman, reported missing by her companion on October 16, 2017.

On Wednesday, Philippe Marchand had said that on the day of the crime, his wife, with whom he had been in a relationship since late 2015, had "gone into a delirious phase" and would have tried to strangle him during a "scuffle". He says he then "grabbed her throat" in return. After a "moment of astonishment", the accused explained that he had used a knife and a saw to dismember the victim's body.

More than 28,000 euros debited from the victim's account

During her closing argument, defense lawyer Sylvie Sezikeye-Cayet called on the court to judge her client "in view of the facts and not in view of the 31 femicides that have been committed since the beginning of the year" 2023, according to a count by the collective Feminicides by companions or ex. According to her, the accused did not "intend" to kill the victim and was not "aware" of it at the time.

During the trial, the former taxi driver described his girlfriend as "kind" and "elegant" but also "very jealous" and suffering from "hysteriform disorders". The sexagenarian suffered from "depressive recurrences", according to an expert. A friend of the accused, who had been dating him "for sixty years", had described on the stand a man who had liked since his retirement "to change his wife, to have extramarital affairs".


After reporting the disappearance of his girlfriend, the accused had called the police several times to inquire about the outcome of the investigation. The pensioner would have used for more than a year his bank accounts, from which more than 28,000 euros were debited. The verdict is expected in the afternoon.

  • Ile
  • Paris
  • Femicide
  • Justice
  • Murder
  • Violence against women