The 46-year-old firefighter suspected of having strangled his 38-year-old partner on Thursday in Ifs (Calvados) was indicted and imprisoned, the Caen prosecutor's office told AFP on Sunday. Saturday, the prosecutor of Caen Amélie Cladière had required an indictment "for murder by spouse" before the presentation to the investigating judge.
Thursday, around 6am? emergency services and the police, called by a third party to rescue an inanimate woman at her home in Ifs, near Caen, discovered the victim "with a plastic bag on his head and a tie around his neck", had indicated the prosecution in a press release. Revived at first, she died in hospital during the day.
"Signs of significant violence"
Placed in police custody, the spouse explained "that a separation was in progress and that the spouses had quarreled", but denied any intention to kill. According to the prosecution, "the first medical findings reveal traces of significant violence, out of step with the minimum explanations of the suspected person".
Investigators did not find any complaints or previous handrails. But the ongoing separation "had generated several episodes of conflict and the victim would have recently told a friend that she thought after an argument that her husband could physically attack her," added the prosecution. The couple have two teenage children.
126 women killed by their partner in 2019
The case could bring the number of suspected femicides since the start of the year to at least 39, according to an AFP count. Last year, between January and July, some 70 deaths were recorded. In 2019, AFP identified at least 126 cases of women killed by their partner or ex-spouse, an average of one woman's death every three days.
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