Gwladys Laffitte, edited by Gauthier Delomez 05:00, February 16, 2022
The 12th day of the trial in the Maëlys case saw the main defendant, Nordahl Lelandais, return to one of the central elements of the murder of the little girl.
On Tuesday, the ex-soldier said he had not "voluntarily" killed and kidnapped the girl, contrary to what he admitted on Friday.
Nordahl Lelandais blows hot and cold in the trial of the Maëlys case.
During the 12th day of trial, Tuesday, the main defendant backtracked after the half-confessions he had made on Friday.
The former dog handler said he killed and kidnapped "voluntarily" little Maëlys, 8 years old.
Tuesday however, invited to explain himself again, Nordahl Lelandais affirmed that this kidnapping was involuntary.
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A Nordahl Lelandais feverish for the first time
The ex-soldier did not expect to be questioned again by the president.
Faced with insistent questions, Nordahl Lelandais appeared feverish for the first time since the start of the trial.
"Why did you kidnap Maëlys?" Attacks the president of the Assize Court of Grenoble, in Isère.
"I did not understand the legal term of kidnapping, that is to say, taking a child away from her parents," replied the accused.
The president continues with two new questions: "Why are you taking her? Is it to kill her?"
And Nordahl Lelandais to respond, stammering: "No not at all, I'm not taking her in the car to kill her."
The president insists on knowing the motivations of the former soldier.
Long sighs from the civil parties
After a long silence, Nordahl Lelandais specifies: "She got into my car, to go see my dogs, I did not remove it voluntarily."
Long sighs run through the benches of the civil parties.
Finally, the accused still sticks to his initial version, he has not advanced.
Even if he ends up saying yes, he kicks with the intention of killing the little girl, Nordahl Lelandais repeats that he saw Corporal Noyer in Maëlys, while all morning a psychiatrist demonstrated that this hallucination was a fabrication.
A devastating sequence for the defense.
His lawyer sank into his chair as this impossible dialogue progressed.
It was probably Nordahl Lelandais' last chance to tell the truth.