• Soheil Sabet, 21, was sentenced to thirteen years in prison by the Haute-Savoie Assize Court.
  • He was charged with "robbery with violence resulting in death" and "harming the integrity of a corpse".
  • In 2019, the body of Marlène Gournay, a French escort girl living in Geneva (Switzerland) was found in a burnt suitcase buried near Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie.

Marlène Gournay, 34, was a French escort girl who worked in Geneva. In 2019, his body was found burned in a suitcase buried in a forest near Thonon-les-Bains. Thursday, the Assize Court of Haute-Savoie sentenced one of the accused to thirteen years in prison for "robbery with violence resulting in death" and "attack on the integrity of a corpse". The 21-year-old faced life imprisonment. The attorney general had requested, Wednesday, a sentence of twenty years in prison.

On the night of September 9 to 10, 2019, the thirty-year-old was assaulted at her Geneva home where she legally welcomed her customers. Two men have been implicated in this case, but only Soheil Sabet was tried this week in Annecy. The other, Sonil Caboussat, 42, will later be in Switzerland.

"An easy plan with 50,000 euros to win"

During the hearing, Soheil Sabet said he was influenced by the forty-year-old, who had previously served a prison sentence with his older brother. "He had put me at ease by telling me about my brother," said the accused who, during the investigation, appeared involved in the sale of narcotics.

"I agreed to follow Sonil Caboussat, only because from what he had told me, it was an easy plan, with 50,000 euros to win," said Soheil Sabet, claiming to have been overwhelmed by the situation and the unwanted death of Marlène Gournay.

Both accused accuse each other

Heard as a witness by videoconference from Geneva, Sonil Caboussat, described as an "evil genius" by Richard Zelmati, Soheil Sabet's lawyer, is known to the Swiss authorities. In particular, he is accused of procuring and armed robbery. At the trial, a French investigator said he believed more in the version of Soheil Sabet, who had in hearing "a real tone of truth" according to him, while the two accused have not ceased to accuse each other.



To the man who presented himself as Marlène Gournay's companion, Soheil Sabet apologized. "I understand, I understand you," replied the man, a Swiss teacher. With him, were present, on the side of civil parties, two cousins of the victim, whom the latter had designated as her only heirs three months before her death.

"Marlène Gournay lived generally alone, she died alone and it was close that there was no one to represent her at this hearing," said lawyer Marjorie Berruex, for the civil parties.

  • Justice
  • Annecy
  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
  • Rhône-Alpes
  • Prison
  • Switzerland
  • Geneva
  • Assize Court