Dunkirk: what we know about the academic and local elected official who confessed to the murder of her spouse

Lionel Gougelot (in Dunkirk) with AFP / Photo credits: LAURE BOYER / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 08:09, September 22, 2023

Justine Jotham, born in 1986, confessed during her custody that began Wednesday and is still ongoing, according to a source close to the investigation. The prosecutor's office told AFP on Thursday that the custody of the defendant would be extended, the hearings being "not completed". "In order to preserve the ongoing investigations and (...) guarantee the respect of the presumption of innocence, the Dunkirk prosecutor's office will communicate, for its part, at the end of the police custody measure, "said the prosecutor of the Republic Charlotte Huet.

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Teacher at the University of the Littoral Opal Coast

Doctor and lecturer in literature, the thirty-year-old is among the research professors of the University of the Littoral Côte d'Opale, where the deceased, Patrice Charlemagne, 51, also taught. Elected in 2020 on the list of the mayor of Dunkirk, Patrice Vergriete - now Minister of Housing - she is also a children's author and led a cultural association promoting reading.

She had alerted police at 4 a.m. on Monday saying the couple had been woken up by burglars and that she had left the scene with her 20-month-old daughter, while the man remained in the pavilion. The fifty-year-old was found in a room on the first floor of the marital home in Rosendaël (North), a neighborhood on the outskirts of Dunkirk, hit by several stab wounds.

Two bloodied knives, a pair of gloves, a flashlight and a laptop were seized near the home, according to a police source. An investigation for voluntary homicide had been opened Monday, entrusted to the judicial police, the track of the burglary being then "under exploration", according to the prosecutor.

But Wednesday, the wife was placed in custody, "after examination of testimonies, statements, technical and scientific findings" to "confront her version of the facts with the elements collected in the investigation," said Charlotte Huet. She was confronted with several suspicious material elements, according to another source close to the investigation. There was in particular "a gash on his left hand that corresponded to that of a glove found on the spot" and "the analysis of smartphones that suggested tensions in the couple", as well as "inconsistencies in the account of the facts", said this source to AFP.

"No one can speak ill of Justine, she was a radiant person"

Always smiling, Justine Jotham spread her daily life on social networks. The photos of her 20-month-old daughter, her works of children's literature and her involvement in the cultural action and political life of Dunkirk. The teacher projected with her husband the image of an ideal couple.

Her friend Jacqueline Gaban, organizer of the Dunkirk Book Fair, admits to being flabbergasted by her gesture. "No one can speak ill of Justine, she was a radiant, solar person. They had everything to be happy, they were known and recognized in their profession, and it was in all the associations, where books were mentioned, and children's books and books in general. She is a very pleasant woman, available, for us, it will be a great miss to no longer have her by our side, "she testifies to the microphone of Europe 1.

At the Université du Littoral, her students evoke a serious and attentive teacher. No one here understands the gesture of this woman who stabbed her husband twenty times while making believe a burglary gone wrong.

Rain of tributes on social networks

The death of her husband, very invested in local life, had provoked a rain of tributes on social networks, and messages of condolences to his wife. "Our city was affected last night by a terrible tragedy that cost the life of a Dunkirk man. I want to express my deep emotion and my shock, "had reacted Monday on Facebook Patrice Vergriete, presenting his "most sincere condolences" to the relatives of the victim.

"It surprised us all, like all of Dunkirk," reacted to the announcement of his confession Guillaume Vittu, director of the mayor's cabinet. "We didn't meet much, she was a deputy city councillor," he told AFP.