Raphaël Goiset, former head of the National Front then figurehead of the "yellow vests" in the Toulouse region, was tried this week at the Court of Assizes of Haute-Garonne for an attempted homicide committed in the forest of Bouconnne in September 2019. The victim, William S., now disabled for life, had been shot three 357 Magnum bullets in the stomach, arm and shoulder.
Raphaël Goiset had left him for dead, but he had miraculously survived by crawling to the road, before being rescued by a motorist and then by the authorities.
The case would have taken place against the backdrop of cocaine trafficking.
Raphaël Goiset, 32 years old at the time of the events, would have asked William S. to serve as a bodyguard during a transaction.
Then, on the grounds of wanting to recover a debt of 960 euros, would have shot him at close range.
At the heart of the issues in the trial, premeditation: Raphaël Goiset, on cocaine at the time of the events, did he simply want to scare his "client" before the shots were fired too quickly, with a weapon that he mastered badly?
Or is the man a manipulator who has set a real death trap for his victim?
Premeditation ruled out
Raphaël Goiset had recognized the shots as soon as he was arrested, but never the ambush.
At the end of his trial on Wednesday, the jurors seem to have given him reason on this point, since according to our colleagues from France Bleu, the man was found guilty of attempted murder and no longer of assassination.
Raphaël Goiset is still sentenced to eighteen years in prison, as required by the Advocate General.
He has ten days to appeal.
Toulouse
Toulouse: A former FN activist and "yellow vest" tried for an incredible assassination attempt
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