“The hardest part is done, Jean-Michel”: how his lawyer made the former boxer confess to the atrocious murder of Evelyne

Me Anthony Caniez, à gauche, en défense de l'accusé, avec Me Josy-Jean Bousquet. MIDI LIBRE – François Barrère

L'avocat général a requis la réclusion criminelle à perpétuité contre Jean-Michel Moulun, qui a décapité à Agde le 23 octobre 2021 une retraitée de 77 ans. Verdict mercredi 11 décembre.

The lawyer turns his back on the court and the public and stands on Tuesday, December 10, facing Jean-Michel Moulun who stares at him for a long time, arms crossed, colossal, motionless, in the dock of the Hérault Assize Court. “There won't be another opportunity, Jean-Michel” said Mr. Anthony Caniez softly. “The hardest part has already been done.”

The Hérault Assize Courtroom holds its breath. Since morning, everyone has felt that the bunker in which the accused has been locked up for three years may be cracking.

He had been denying the atrocious crime for three years

A former professional boxer and short-lived Front National candidate in the municipal elections in Hautmont (North) in 2014, Jean-Michel Moulun denies having beheaded Evelyne, 77, on October 13, 2021. The retired schoolteacher had employed him and his wife for a long time in her villa in Agde, as a gardener and housekeeper, before firing them after noting thefts of money and jewelry in 2020.

No one since has managed to crack his armor. Except perhaps Marie-Chantal Bonnet-Cathala, the psychologist who studied his case at length.

Ambiguous sentences in front of the psychologist

“We formed a bond with Mr. Moulun. I went to see him three times for two hours, that counts.” At their third meeting, he lets out ambiguous sentences. “If I admit that I did it… If someone asks me why you did it, I won't be able to explain.”

The psychologist: “I came out of the third interview very badly. He was very bad, I could see that he was reliving the scene without wanting to tell me about it.”

Me Caniez questions his client:“Wasn't that a half-hearted confession ?”

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“I don't really know, maybe. I can't remember doing it.”

He abandons his improbable version of events

President Guissart takes the opportunity to mourn his abracadabra version of a gang that allegedly forced him to act under threat. “Those black men in the SUV didn't exist, in reality ?” “Yes. You could say that.”

With the accused's wife, Me Caniez continues to pull on his thread that is so fragile, so tenuous. “Wwhatever happened on October 13, you will still be by his side ?” Coralie: “Jean-Michel, I will be there, your children will be there, no one will let you down.”

The colossus is in tears, the president suspends.

A bread knife taken from the kitchen

At 2 p.m., each one sets off again, with their own weapons. The president. “There are only two actors left, you and Evelyne. What can you tell us ?” The accused: “I ended up here, I don't know why, I helped her bring in her shopping, I don't know how it happened.” The knife ? “It comes from the kitchen. I don't know at this point what's going through my mind.” “You killed her ?” “Yes, but I don't remember!”

Civil party, Mr. Langlois unsuccessfully takes the field of religion, Jean-Michel Moulun claiming to be very religious. Attorney General George Gutierrez attacks, raising his voice and stamping his foot. “You've been talking nonsense for three years!” Jean-Michel Moulun is in the box as in the ring: he takes it, without giving in.

“You didn't like what she told you ?”

Then Mr. Caniez gets up and reconnects with emotion. “I felt sorry for you this morning, for the first time since I've known you.” The other is in tears. “Evelyne spoke to you and you didn't like what she said?”

So in a weak voice, the colossus confesses. “She got angry and I told her, it wasn't Coralie who stole the money. She insisted, yes, yes, she's a thief! I lost it. She was sure of herself, arrogant. I took a bread knife from the kitchen, I advanced on her, she took it in her hand, I pulled the knife out. She fell backwards, she turned on her hands and that's when I did it” he said, miming the throat-slitting, from behind. “You have to be crazy. You have to be disturbed. I have a stomach ache from having done that.”

“These confessions don't change anything!”

“Today, he comes to sully her memory again, saying that she was arrogant. As if it wasn't enough to have displayed her head like a hunting trophy on the living room table” deplores Me Nathalie Langlois.

“His confessions don't change anything” continues the attorney general, who requests life imprisonment. “It's a very harsh sentence, but it's not an ordinary crime. He acted like a monster by committing a monstrous act.” Defense pleadings and verdict this Wednesday, December 11.

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