At the Assize Court of Savoy,
She stepped forward to the stand before turning to the accused to look him straight in the eye.
And elegantly pour out all his pain, his anger.
The fourth day of the trial of Nordahl Lelandais, tried for the murder of Corporal Arthur Noyer before the Assizes de la Savoie, was marked by the powerful testimony of Cécile Noyer, the mother of the victim.
A mother who came to cry out her pain with the greatest dignity.
Eight months passed between the disappearance of her son and the discovery of his body.
“These 8 months have been hell,” she says, trying to control her sobs.
In the box of the accused, Nordahl Lelandais looks at her but bends his back.
She calls him "Monsieur" then recovers.
"No not sir," she corrects.
When you say you had a bad night after killing Arthur, I'm going to tell you a nightmare.
"
"You stole his life, you stole his last wishes"
Between two long silences, Cécile describes this traumatic memory: “I dreamed that Arthur was calling me. I could hear it. He was like, 'Mom, come save me. I'm cold, I don't know where I am. '' I woke up, looked at my phone… There was no call from Arthur. It’s terrible. I couldn't go back to sleep, I cried all night. "
Today, the corporal's relatives are waiting for answers but not those that the accused has delivered. In the ranks of the civil parties, no one believes in the thesis of accidental death. “When you kill by accident, you have a minimum of guilt. You killed him, threw his body in a ravine, and continued to live as if nothing had happened. The next day you went to the movies. On Thursday at 7 am, you had a sexual appointment and in the evening, you were partying in a nightclub, ”continues Cécile Noyer in the direction of a Nordahl Lelandais without reaction. And drive the point home: “You stole his life, you stole his last wishes. Arthur, aware that he could die on a mission, wanted to donate his body to science before being cremated. "Even that, you stole him", supports the witness.
"Every morning, I kiss you on the photo I have of you"
Her husband also has a hard time speaking without crying.
“When I feel the idea of making my son a buffoon…” warns Didier Noyer without succeeding in concluding his sentence.
The man wished to make peace with the Lelandais family.
He was the first to find the accused's mother.
“When I heard you speak the other day, I told myself that our sons are the same: athletes, beautiful boys surrounded by lots of friends.
Your son's friends could have been Arthur's ”, analyzes the corporal's father.
Eyes misty, he gently addresses Nordahl's mother and sister in the front row: “With all due respect, both [our boys] started with the bright side of strength except that 'some have fallen to the dark side, your son.
Mine stayed on the bright side.
"
Compared to Darth Vader, Lelandais does not flinch as if stunned.
Cécile Noyer called on him to “take responsibility for his actions”.
“Your mother and sister have apologized but they are not responsible.
It is you and you alone who are.
"
Monique, 73, the corporal's grandmother comes forward in turn in front of the jurors, holding a letter in her hand.
She addresses the court to evoke the memory of her "little Arthur", that beloved grandson who reveled in his "butter noodles".
"You've been gone four years," she sighs.
Since then, she has "lost sleep", "the holidays don't matter anymore".
Every morning, she observes the same ritual: "I kiss the photo I have of you," she confesses modestly before defying in turn the gaze of Nordahl Lelandais.
“Tell us the truth,” she urges him firmly.
The accused nods.
He will have one last opportunity to do so this Friday morning.
Justice
Arthur Noyer affair: Between smiles and last hand kiss, relatives remember the gentleman corporal
Justice
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