A 1994 quadruple homicide revisited: sentence of 69-year-old detainee quashed
After nearly two decades behind bars for a family massacre in Sarthe, a man in his sixties will be retried. The supreme court has invalidated his sentence.
A 1994 quadruple homicide revisited: sentence of 69-year-old detainee quashed
A supreme court has invalidated this morning the sentence handed down against Dany Leprince, a man in his sixties who has been imprisoned for nearly two decades. He must now reappear before an assize court for a family massacre dating back to 1994, in the Sarthe department.
At the time, four members of the same family had been slaughtered with a butchery instrument. The man, who worked in an agribusiness factory, had been suspected of having eliminated his own brother out of jealousy, along with the latter's wife and two of their descendants. The media had then given him a nickname linked to his profession and his region. Partial confessions had led to his life imprisonment.
Today, serious doubts weigh on his culpability. The magistrate heading the review jurisdiction, Nicolas Bonnal, indicated that certain pieces of evidence that had been used to declare him guilty have now been weakened by information that was not known at the time of the first trial.
Two foundational testimonies are now being contested: that of the two-year-old granddaughter who had survived the tragedy, and the accusations made by the defendant's former partner. However, her counsel emphasised that invalidating a conviction does not mean recognising innocence.
The lawyer for the principal interested party, Mr Olivier Morice, believes that the entire accusatory edifice is collapsing. The defendant, who hopes for a definitive acquittal, has affirmed his willingness to bring the truth to light at the next hearing.
Source: franceinfo
Source: France Info