They met in the spring of 2017 at Capri, a PMU bar on Avenue de Clichy (Paris 17th). Adel R. and Imatha E. have been on trial since Monday for the murder of Lucie, a 58-year-old woman found dead at home on May 5, 2019, in her small two-room apartment in Garges-lès-Gonesse searched from top to bottom, strangled and victim of blows to the head. His death dated back to April 2 after being the victims of two previous burglaries.
Quickly, suspicion fell on Adel R., described by the investigation as her gigolo, a 42-year-old man whom she maintained over the days in chic stores and hotels. The link was then established with his co-defendant, a friend from PMU, Imatha E., 41, with a heavy criminal record, who lives off horse racing and concealment. Both, questioned this Thursday on the facts by the Assize Court of Val-d’Oise, denied this Thursday the charges against them, while suggesting that the other did the trick.
A villainous motive?
“I have nothing to do! Imatha E. told the audience that she had no idea about Lucie’s death. “I didn’t do anything about her. I didn’t know what she looked like, where she lived. I have nothing to do with any burglary! He explains that he makes enough money betting on horses: “I wasn’t going to kill anyone for that. »
But it was not easy for him to contest the charges against him: the bottle of Ajax which bears his DNA, found near the body, and his telephone which limits the day of the facts near the victim’s home to Garges but also the day of the burglary of March 5.
Until then, his version was to have come twenty or thirty times to see friends in the city, opposite the station. Which, already, did not fit with the demarcation of his phone. This Thursday afternoon, he now says he came to this town in Val-d’Oise to deal with a case of concealment on March 5, the day of a burglary, March 9 and April 2, the day of death.
Absolute bad luck
Another novelty, after having assured that he had taken the RER D that day, he now admits to having come by car. But anyway, “fifty minutes is too short to search the apartment and kill the lady,” he says. “These are lies all along”, summarizes the president of the assize court, Marc Trévidic, after “this scoop” that the accused has just delivered.
As for his DNA found on a bottle of Ajax discovered at the foot of the bed, near the body, he delivers an explanation that would hold absolute bad luck. He would have accompanied Adel to go shopping rue Brochant, in Paris, would have seized the bottle in the Super U which would have ended up in Garges, perhaps passing through Adel’s home, in Orly (Val-de-Marne) … This astonishing course of the bottle is delivered by the accused only when he is confronted with this incriminating element before the examining magistrate.
Revenge against Lucia also mentioned
This repeat offender with a heavy criminal record is not content to defend himself. He repeated at the hearing the barely veiled accusations against his pal from PMU. According to him, Adel asked him if he could find him a weapon, recruit people “to get revenge” on Lucie, who would give too much money to too many people. “He said he wanted to do something crazy. He wanted to hurt her. »
“You are loading it to the maximum …” underlines the president of the assize court. ” I confirm that. I can’t say more for him,” he replies. The accused also denies having received any information concerning the victim’s address. However, during a confrontation, notes the lawyer for the civil party, Me Caty Richard, he speaks of the “Portuguese guardian” of Lucie’s building, located rue de la Paix.
A version in complete contradiction with that of Adel, the companion of the victim, his gigolo, who claims on the contrary to have given the name and address of his friend during a conversation about transport to go in Garges, suggesting he may have done the hit.
Adel, seducer of mature women
At the beginning of his questioning on the facts, Adel was also put in difficulty when it came to explaining why he continued to use the bank card left to him by the victim, while being extremely worried about him when she does not give any more news, multiplying the telephone calls, in particular to the hospitals. “She wasn’t rolling in gold: didn’t that bother you? asks the president. He eludes. On Wednesday, he declared: “I take responsibility for my actions. If I was interested in money, I would have said so. “His interrogation on the merits continued in the evening this Thursday.
“I swear to you that I am the victim in the case”, he assures. He then appeared less like a cynical gigolo than like a somewhat lost seducer of mature women. “I don’t have a plan. I go out, I am on the street. They will ask me for my papers. I don’t know how I’m going to do it. If I go back to Algeria, I am lost. I have nobody. I no longer have contact with my family. I have been here for twenty-two years. Regularization, I no longer believe in it. Since I’ve been in France, I no longer have a heart. »
