• The Troadec couple (Pascal and Brigitte) and their two children (Sébastien and Charlotte) were killed during the night of February 16 to 17, 2017 in Orvault.

    Their bodies were butchered.

  • Hubert Caouissin, 50, is tried for murders and attacking the integrity of corpses.

  • The trial of the Loire-Atlantique Assize Court is due to end on July 9.

The Troadec-Caouissin trial begins its second week before the Loire-Atlantique Assize Court in Nantes. With a highly anticipated moment this Monday: the interrogation of Hubert Caouissin, accused of having killed the Troadec family on February 16, 2017, on the course of the night of the quadruple murder. At the helm, the former coppersmith of the Brest arsenal, obsessed with the idea that his brother-in-law Pascal Troadec would have enriched himself by having stolen a family treasure, says he left his home in Finistère on February 16, 2017 at the end of the day, to reach Orvault, where the Troadecs lived.

He parks his vehicle two streets from the house then enters the property discreetly, dressed in a hooded jacket, a hat and gloves "so as not to leave any fingerprints".

He is also equipped with a stethoscope, a notepad, a pen and a camera.

“I hope to see their cars, he says spontaneously.

I also hope to be able to hear things.

I'm excited, can't keep still.

I'm waiting outside.

At one point, the laundry room door opens.

There I tell myself that I must go home.

I wanted to collect their keys and draw a picture of them.

"

An intense fight, one against four

He waits a long time in the garage and ends up “cutting off the power” and then walking into the house, around 3:45 am, despite his “fear”. “I'm chattering my teeth, I have palpitations. But I can't back down because the keys aren't far away. Suddenly I hear Brigitte say "but what is going on here?". I run away but I feel that I am being pursued. I hear Pascal shouting "I'm going to kill you". I get a hit, I instinctively dodge it. I seize the object, without knowing what it is, I give a blow in my turn. I guess Brigitte with an object in her hand, I give her a blow so that she lets go. "

The electricity is turned back on. A long fight ensued with the occupants in the different rooms of the house. “There is no key on the door to get out. I am stuck. I feel that I am lost, ”describes Hubert Caouissin. He then details the long minutes of struggle with a crowbar, the "falls to the ground", the "energy discharge", the "blood that comes out, impressive". Then silence. “I wandered around the garage a bit. I was thirsty. I went to drink in the kitchen. He goes to see the son, Sébastien, in his room. “I was worried about him. He was not in a normal position. I saw he was inert. I had a moment of panic. The situation was going crazy. Hubert Caouissin indicates that he then "listened to the breasts" of Charlotte, Brigitte and Pascal, aware that they were probably also dead.It is 5:45 a.m. “I was haggard. I went. I conducted. After that is the black hole. "

"I hit on the head, I shouldn't have"

Why did you bring a stethoscope?

the president of the Assize Court, Karine Laborde, is surprised.

“I was hoping to hear sounds.

You had to try.

Why did you cut off the power?

“I heard noise.

If I cut the power, it would make them react.

Then he corrects.

“No, it was to make them fall asleep.

"" It is not very logical all that ", retorts the magistrate.

Karine Laborde asks for details on the nature of the blows.

In particular because their description by Hubert Caouissin changed during the investigation and seems to have adapted to the results of the morpho-analyzes revealed later.

Why have you targeted Pascal Troadec's skull several times?

“I don't ask myself the question.

This is what comes the fastest.

Same question concerning Sébastien Troadec who, according to the accused, was injured and lying on his bed.

" To save time.

There were Pascal and Brigitte who was behind.

There was a lot of confusion.

"

Our file on the Troadec affair

The president of the court is more offensive: “Four people died and, you, you are hardly injured.

It was an accident ?

".

"I did not expect such a result," replied the accused.

I hit on the head, I shouldn't have.

I thought they were going to be knocked out.

»How to explain that no victim had time to call for help or to flee?

" I do not know.

It was cold.

Brigitte might not want to go out.

Or she must have thought that Pascal was going to gain the upper hand, ”suggests Hubert Caouissin.

The president of the court expresses her doubts

Karine Laborde then changes tone and expresses, for the first time since the start of the trial, her doubts about the proposed story. “Maybe it never happened like this. Are you sure you wouldn't hit them when they were sleeping? " " Yes ". " Are you sure ? "Yes", repeats the accused half-heartedly. “We have the feeling that you had come to the end at that time. One can imagine that you would have killed them to end your suffering. "" That's what you may think, but it's not. I had to go faster than them to get information, ”replies Hubert Caouissin. Did you intend to kill them? insists the magistrate. " Never ". None of them ? " No ".

At the end of the hearing, interrupted for lunch, the lawyer of the relatives of the victims, Cécile de Oliveira, estimated that the thesis defended since the departure by the civil parties had scored points on Monday morning.

“M.Caouissin remains on a version which is slightly modified but he faces a wall of absurdities.

The set of people who have a minimum of common sense and logic understand that it is not possible for a single person to face four people, including two extremely brave young adults, in a house without having come armed.

The questioning of the facts continues on Monday.

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Troadec affair: How Hubert Caouissin, "strange" and "talkative", confessed

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Troadec affair: At the helm, Hubert Caouissin recounts his "descent into hell", long before the quadruple murder

  • Assize Court

  • Troadec family

  • Nantes

  • Justice

  • Murder