The 65-year-old man is accused of committing violence leading to the death of another man in 2022.
In the city center of Cahors, a building was the scene of a bloody tragedy. The events took place on rue Fondue Basse on December 17, 2022. Around 8 a.m., one of the residents of the building came across the body of a 52-year-old man slumped in the stairwell on the ground floor. He died about ten hours ago. Traces of blood stain the floor and walls and lead to an apartment on the first floor. That of Patrick P. Since this Wednesday, October 9, this sixty-year-old has been on trial before the Lot departmental criminal court for violence with the use of a weapon leading to death without intention of causing it. He faces 20 years of criminal imprisonment.
Placed in pre-trial detention for almost two years, Patrick P. still denies being the cause of the death. “It’s the stairs, the killer!” » he exclaims. No one witnessed the drama which took place behind closed doors of the building. Questioned by the police, Patrick P. explained that the victim, Laurent B., had come to visit him to ask for money. An amount which would vary depending on the versions and those who tell them, between 10 and 50 euros. According to the accused, the tone rose between the two men, Laurent B. punched him and Patrick P. responded in the same way before hitting him on the head with a cane and throwing him on the manu militari level. He assures that at that moment, the last moment he would have seen him alive, Laurent B. was not bleeding. The only downside, and not the least important: the traces of blood discovered on the stairs continue into the apartment, where the disorder suggests that a struggle took place there. Investigators found blood on several objects, notably on the famous cane but also on a large stone, on an ax blade, on a radiator and on the soles of shoes. In addition, the forensic doctors are categorical: these supposed blows or a simple fall down the stairs are not enough to explain the extent of the injuries. In fact, the victim had numerous lesions, particularly on the face, scalp, neck and vertebrae. It was the loss of blood from his wounds combined with the fracture of several sides leading to respiratory distress that caused the death of Laurent B.
The affair sadly smells of alcohol. During police custody, the accused had 0.76 mg of alcohol per liter of exhaled air. As for the victim, the forensic doctor noted during the autopsy 1.84 g of alcohol per liter of blood in his body, as well as traces of THC, a sign of recent cannabis consumption. In the opinion of all witnesses, the two men suffered from a real addiction and had even increased their alcohol consumption recently. Living in the same neighborhood, they had known each other for several years. Laurent B. was originally from Pradines and had spent his entire life in Cahors. Desocialized, he lived with little income and regularly asked his parents for financial aid. Those close to him who came to testify at the bar agree that he was a “nice” person. His mother became a civil party. Dressed all in black, she appears devastated by the loss of her son. “It’s true that he had an alcohol addiction, but he was never mean. He was a calm person, who loved life. I’m sure he let himself be led away, he was easily influenced,” she confides between sobs. “He was humble, faithful in friendship, helpful, fundamentally non-violent. I never saw him fight,” adds a childhood friend. The vision delivered by Laurent B.’s partner is a little different. If she confirms that he “had a heart”, she nevertheless recounts having already seen him become violent under the influence of an alcoholic state “when someone did not agree with him”. Furthermore, according to her, Laurent B. considered Patrick P. his closest friend.
In the box, the accused wears a large checkered jacket which covers his massive frame. His close-cropped hair and full beard are salt-and-pepper colored. When the court displays a photo of him taken by the police the day after the events, shaggy hair still brown and a black eye, it is difficult to recognize him. Former soldier, former drug addict, former prisoner, this father of two children, including a daughter who died in a car accident ten years ago, seems to have had several lives. Barely out of adolescence, he joined the army “to see something else”, then moved on to different jobs and places of life according to his romantic relationships. “He is a pleasant companion. We have been together since 2003,” emphasizes his current partner. Before the court, she was forced to admit the large quantity of alcohol ingested every day by her partner: “We drank two liters of wine per day, with meals. It had intensified recently.” When asked about this excessive consumption, the accused sees nothing wrong with it. “I like wine. I mostly drink at the table. If I am upset, I will tend to push my consumption. It’s a kind of spleen,” he explains in court. And to add philosophically: “And then, what’s the point of living half to live five or ten years longer. You might as well live doing what you love. Either way, we live to die.” One of his long-time friends describes him as “someone interesting, deep, frank, with the character of a warrior”. Those close to him claim to have never seen him be violent. However, his record has six mentions, including one for stabbing a man in a bar in the 1990s.
Did he make similar actions against Laurent B. to the point of causing his death? This is what the criminal court will have to decide this Thursday, October 10 during this second and final day of the trial.
