Murder of Laurent Pasquali: passionate crime motive raised at Athanor trial
The lawyer for the Pasquali family advances the hypothesis of a passionate motive against Alain Maarek. The Athanor trial enters its tenth week in Paris.
Athanor trial: jealousy and debts at the heart of debates on the pilot's murder
According to lequipe.fr, the lawyer for pilot Laurent Pasquali's family, Sandrine Pégand, formulated a new hypothesis during hearings in the Athanor trial, being held in courtroom 201 of the Paris tribunal: Alain Maarek could have ordered the murder of Laurent Pasquali not out of financial interest, but out of jealousy. This lead adds to an already sprawling case, involving 22 accused persons and more than three months of hearings.
On Monday, three central figures occupied the courtroom. Dylan Bilheude, presented as accomplice and shooter by Sébastien Leroy — the one who acknowledged his presence at the probable place of the assassination — firmly denies any involvement. A few metres away, Alain Maarek, to whom Pasquali owed 100,000 euros, was taking notes in a large notebook. And Alain Leroy, Sébastien's father, appeared as a witness.
This father, a beekeeper and martial arts instructor, confirmed that he saw his son and his friend Dylan at his home on the evening of 29 November 2018. "Yes, I saw them both," he stated. "And it weighs on my life." His wife corroborated the facts, but with conflicting times. A defence lawyer dismissed this testimony: "In any case, it has no value," reminding that a parent does not take an oath at Assizes. "A father does not have to choose between his flesh and blood and wrongdoing," added Victor Zagury, defender of Bilheude.
Alain Leroy provided little concrete information about his son's activities. "My son spoke to me a bit about alleged missions," he said softly. "I didn't ask too many questions. Perhaps I wasn't curious enough." After five hours at the bar, he returned to the gallery, sitting by chance next to Bilheude's partner, who faces life imprisonment.
Maarek takes the stand: five hours of testimony
On Tuesday, Alain Maarek took the stand for five hours, eventually requesting an armchair. The judge ended the day, deeming that attention spans were exhausted. Maarek once again denied commissioning the murder: "I did not commission Laurent's murder. However, I feel morally responsible for having put Vaglio and his team in his path."
Frédéric Vaglio is presented as the organiser of the contract. Maarek maintains that he had merely mandated this former journalist of Dauphiné Libéré, reconverted to economic intelligence, to assess Pasquali's residual assets and recover the 100,000 euros loaned in 2011. The prosecutor questioned Maarek about a first resort to low-level individuals, in June 2014, to put pressure on the pilot: "You resorted to small-time thugs. Is this the tipping point?"
The two men were no longer friends at that time. Maarek spoke with irony about the way Pasquali mispronounced his name: "He said 'Pasquoili' when it's 'Paskali'. It sounded more Corsican. He had threatened to send Corsican friends."
The passionate motive hypothesis of the family's lawyer
It was Sandrine Pégand, lawyer for the Pasquali family, who introduced the most unexpected dimension to the debate. According to her, Alain Maarek could have commissioned the pilot's death not only to recover his debt, but also out of jealousy: Madame Maarek would not have been impervious to Laurent Pasquali's charm. Pégand summed up the supposed motive in these terms: "I had 100,000 euros stolen from me, I had my wife stolen from me."
Maarek rejected this hypothesis with disdain: "Our debate doesn't fly very high." On Wednesday, Nancy Maarek spoke in turn: "I was deeply wounded by having been accused of adultery."
This passionate hypothesis remains, at this stage, one of the lines of enquiry explored by the defence of the civil party. It does not constitute a conclusion of the investigation, and no direct evidence was advanced at the hearing to support it.
Judicial truth expected within six weeks
The trial, concerning the murder of Laurent Pasquali — a pilot who took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans — began more than three months ago. Twenty-two accused persons are appearing in this case, which mixes debts, occult networks and, now, a possible romantic rivalry. The decision is expected in approximately six weeks, at the end of hearings which the president of the court has had to frame on several occasions in the face of digressions by various parties.
Source: Google News LU FR