• Elodie Kulik, 24, was raped and strangled on the night of January 10 to 11, 2002. Her body, partly charred, was discovered on a vacant lot in Tertry (Somme).

  • Judged at the end of 2019 for these facts, Willy Bardon was sentenced to thirty years of criminal imprisonment.

    When the verdict was announced, he tried to end his life by swallowing poison.

  • Aged 47, he appeared before the Douai Court of Appeal from Monday.

    He faces life imprisonment.

Back to the assizes for Willy Bardon.

Sentenced at first instance to 30 years in prison for the rape and murder of Elodie Kulik in 2002 in the Somme, he is on appeal from Monday, but in Douai this time.

It must be said that the first trial, at the end of 2019 in Amiens, took place in a tense atmosphere, the murder of the young banker having deeply marked the inhabitants of the region, who came in large numbers to support Jacky, the father of the victim.

“It's a change of scenery, regrets Me Gabriel Dumenil, who defends Willy Bardon alongside Marc Bailly and Stéphane Daquo.

The Court of Cassation agreed to disorient the case but, in a kind of snub to the defense, in a court just as close to the scene of the facts.

It might make you smile if it wasn't a serious business.

"

Incarcerated last May

Another difference with the first trial. Willy Bardon, 47, will not appear free. While he had been placed under judicial control pending this new judicial appointment, he was imprisoned again last May for having violated his judicial control by coming into contact with a witness. "His return to detention was a hard blow but he remains very combative," continues Me Dumenil. His client intends to “express himself much more” than during the first trial. “He will bring a certain number of elements that will, I hope, and with our help, win the conviction of the court to demonstrate his innocence. "

Willy Bardon has always claimed that he did not rape and strangle Élodie Kulik.

That it was not he who set his body on fire on a vacant lot.

That it is not his voice that we hear on the recording of the call made to the firefighters by the victim a few minutes before his death.

A 26-second recording at the heart of the trial

Elodie's body was found in Tertry on January 11, 2002, at the end of a dirt road.

At the crime scene, investigators from the Amiens research section took some clues, including a condom.

The semen found inside allowed scientific experts to establish the author's DNA profile.

But no trace of him in the Fnaeg, the national DNA file.

For nearly ten years, the investigations stalled. In 2011, he was finally identified. But too late. Grégory Wiart died in 2003 at the age of 25. The investigators will then direct their investigations towards the knowledge of the young man. In January 2013, seven of his relatives were taken into police custody. Among them, several recognize the voice of Willy Bardon on the recording of the call for help made by the victim, the evening of the facts.

But the experts who analyzed the tape never managed to formally identify Willy Bardon's voice. This recording is, however, the only material element linking the accused to the murder of the young woman. During his first trial in Amiens, the accused, loudmouthed, had a hard time concealing his misogyny, he whom some relatives describe as "a big disgusting" who has "no respect for chicks" and who " jump on anything that moves ”to“ empty his balls ”.

But his lawyers have repeatedly reminded that his DNA was not found at the crime scene and that his phone was not limited to the area on the night of the facts.

At the announcement of the verdict, he had tried to end his life in the box of the accused by very quickly swallowing the contents of a bottle, under the eyes of a dumbfounded public.

The appeal trial is scheduled to last three and a half weeks.

Justice

Elodie Kulik case: A terrifying 26-second call at the center of Willy Bardon's trial

Justice

Elodie Kulik case: Sentenced to thirty years in prison, Willy Bardon tries to end his life in the box

  • Amiens

  • Douai

  • Elodie Kulik

  • Trial

  • Murder

  • Justice

  • Picardy

  • Rape