Essonne: 28 years' prison for domestic murder, accident claim rejected
A 50-year-old butcher has been sentenced to 28 years for killing his partner in 2023 in Grigny and concealing her body in a freezer. His accomplice received three years with a suspended sentence.
Essonne Assize Court: 28 years' imprisonment for domestic murder
Yacine A., aged 50, was found guilty on Thursday of aggravated murder by virtue of a marital relationship and sentenced to 28 years' imprisonment. According to lefigaro.fr, he killed his partner in 2023 in Grigny, then placed her body in the freezer at his home, wrapped in blankets.
The defendant maintained until the verdict that the weapon had discharged accidentally during a quarrel. He claimed on several occasions to be responsible for one shot, but not the second. The assize court rejected this defence. Found guilty of two shots fired at close range, the butcher will serve a minimum of 15 additional years—the sentence includes two-thirds parole eligibility.
Rachid A., a man in his sixties, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment of which 21 months are suspended for helping to conceal the crime. The court found that his psychological disorders had impaired his judgment and ordered medical monitoring. He will wear an electronic tag and benefit from a sentence adjustment.
The prosecutor had requested 30 years against the principal defendant, emphasising the "cold-blooded" manner in which the two men had acted. She described a classic pattern of domestic violence marked by alcohol, drugs and suicidal threats. "It is not love to use suicide as blackmail and shoot one's partner," she had told the court.
On Wednesday, the victim's eldest son testified, regretting the defendants' changing and contradictory accounts. He told the magistrates: "Those who are sentenced to life, that's us really, I will never see my mother again." Relatives wore white t-shirts bearing the victim's portrait.
The family's lawyer, Me Solène Debarre, indicated to AFP that the civil parties were satisfied with the verdict. "Justice has been done and that is what they were calling for," she said.
The son of Yacine A. is to be tried by the juvenile court for altering the crime scene with the aim of obstructing the revelation of truth.
According to Interior Ministry data, 111 women were killed by their spouse or ex-spouse in 2025 in France, representing a 4 per cent increase year-on-year.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)