IIt is unusual to see octogenarian women at the Assizes. If we met Claudine Baquey in the street, we could take her for a nice ordinary granny. Dapy, perfectly styled and manicured … Difficult to imagine it as a protagonist of a black novel worthy of Agatha Christie! And yet, the Gironde Assize Court considered him guilty of two crimes: poisoning against his niece by alliance, with the aim of touching death insurance, and sentenced it to fifteen years’ imprisonment.
But during the three days of trial, it was felt almost absent from everything that was said. Embedded in the chair where she appears free, she does not react to the allegations of the crimes she would have committed. As if she was totally foreign to what was playing.
Friday, July 4, when the last day of audience opened in Bordeaux, the widow of Cézac was occupied … to make crosswords! The sign of his insurance? “I am not calm, no,” she assured us during a brief exchange. “It’s been fourteen years that we say that I am a poisoner … My bag for the prison is made. »»
Multi -wrist
An anticipation which also betrays a certain experience: Claudine Baquey was sentenced 21 times (especially for scams) to a total of twenty-three years in prison. It is a regular of detention. But has the multi-recdivist delinquent transformed into a poisonous criminal? “A crook, yes, it’s true, I did that all my life. But poisoning, no, ”she swore.
On Thursday, the suspect recognized (after having denied fourteen years) that he had taken out nine death insurance instead of the victim. It happened a month before poisoning, and she was the only beneficiary of the 400,000 euros. A last minute admission that locked her in a dead end: if she wanted to reach the death insurance of her niece, is it because she wanted to kill her?
“Not all hypotheses have been envisaged, not all doors were opened”
Only the ultimate evidence was missing: the aldicarbe, the pesticide which was used for the two poisonings, was not found in the accused. But the crises took place each time in its presence, after a meal. On September 5, 2011, Agnès Lou ate a strange -tasting white cheese prepared by her aunt, then made ten days of resuscitation. When she left her hospital on September 14, Claudine Baquey gathered her at her house for her convalescence. She hands him a glass of water, and again four days on a coma.
“Given the concentration of the aldicarb in the blood and the severity of the symptoms, acute ingestion poisoning is more compatible than regular exposure,” decided the toxicologist. Argument allowing to breach the hypothesis implied by the defense: Agnès Lou would have fallen ill because of the food supplements which made him lose ten pounds in two months.
One of the elements raised for two hours of argument aimed at requesting the acquittal. Me Andéol Brachanet, for example, tried to point out the few imperfections of the investigation: “Not all the hypotheses were envisaged, not all doors were opened. The accused’s lawyer also denounced “a file polluted by the fantasy of the poisoner fueled by the media”.
As for Me Julien Plouton, he warned of the risk of a “miscarriage of judicial” if his client was condemned, after “an investigation based on hypotheses”.
Perpetuity in play
On the public prosecutor’s side, the general lawyer Marianne Poinot created a little surprise. While the maximum penalty incurred is life imprisonment, she preferred an “understandable” sentence, given the age of the accused: from twelve to fifteen years’ imprisonment.
A quantum confirmed by the court. After three and a half hours of deliberation, the six jurors and the three judges pronounced a fifteen -year sentence. As during the whole trial, Claudine Baquey did not cade. Holding the bar of her two hands, she did not display any expression.
Unlike me Plouton, disappointed: “It is a heavy sentence and devoid of humanity, of which I do not understand the meaning. We therefore intend to appeal immediately. »»
Agnès Lou, listening to the verdict, melted in tears: “After fourteen years, justice did her job. I am finally recognized as a victim. But the survivor, now aged 47, apprehends a new trial: “She has the right to defend herself, but given her character, she will never admit. Even on her deathbed … “
Agnès left the courthouse surrounded by his family. Unlike Claudine Baquey, alone during the whole hearing because he fled by her family …
