The Grenoble Assize Court continues on Tuesday to decipher the personality of Nordahl Lelandais, tried for the murder in 2017 of the young Maëlys, by retracing his chaotic journey after a youth yet “without major difficulty”.
Friends and former companions, as well as his brother, are called to testify to continue the examination of the personality of the accused during this trial placed at the heart of media attention.
On Monday, the debates opened with a personality investigator, Adeline Sendra, who detailed at length the course of the 38-year-old accused, marked by failures both professionally and emotionally.
However, “there is no breaking point but rather a constant in his professional and sentimental journey, with a very + supportive + family bubble”, she noted, not noting “no major difficulty during childhood and adolescence”.
“It is not an understatement to say that it is not a hard work”, admitted for his part the lawyer of the accused, Me Alain Jakubowicz.
The investigator clarified that the thirty-year-old is “someone who does not support authority, angry, but violence is not something that emerges” from the testimonies of those around him according to her.
Maëlys, eight years old, disappeared on the night of August 26 to 27, 2017 during a wedding party in the village hall of Pont-de-Beauvoisin (Isère).
Quickly suspected, Nordahl Lelandais was confused in February 2018 by the discovery of a bloodstain in the trunk of his car. He then admitted to having killed her “unintentionally”, then led the investigators to the remains of the victim.
At the helm, his mother Christiane Lelandais remembered her son as a “wise”, “sweet and kind” child, who “loved nature”, “fishing”, “walks in the woods”.
At the time of the events, over the period 2016-2017, the 73-year-old retiree explained that she had been completely taken over by her husband’s serious illness and had not observed any change in her son’s behavior.
She also questioned “these stories of drugs, alcohol, which led him into this delirium”.
The septuagenarian said since the facts “rejected from everywhere, insulted from everywhere”. “I have no right to live, I have no right to smile, I have no right to do anything,” she continued.
– “I still love my brother” –
Her half-sister also portrayed a smooth young man with whom she has a great “complicity”. When she learns of the acts of which Nordahl is accused, “we are in denial and incomprehension, after we deal with it, he says he is sorry”.
Uncomfortable and on the defensive, she ended up losing her temper in front of a civil party lawyer: “I don’t trivialize my brother’s actions, it horrifies me but we’ve been in it for five years . But I still love my brother.”
For Maëlys’ mother’s lawyer, Me Fabien Rajon, the testimonies of the two women were “placed under the sign of denial”. “We were told about drugs as an explanation, I think it’s a very fragmented explanation,” he told reporters.
At the opening of the debates, Nordahl Lelandais, slightly bearded, his graying hair cut short, wanted to “present (his) apologies” to the girl’s family.
“I did kill Maëlys, I didn’t want to kill him, I will explain the facts during the hearing,” he said from the box, suppressing sobs.
“We were entitled to a tear from Nordahl Lelandais, we were entitled to an apology, but it was very clearly not worth much”, then launched Mr. Rajon.
“Very clearly, we are not counting on Nordahl Lelandais, we are counting on a file which is 23,000 pages, on an instruction which established the personality and the dangerousness of this individual”, he continued.
Nordahl Lelandais will also be tried for sexual assault against two little cousins aged five and six at the time, as well as for possession and recording of child pornography images.
Already sentenced in Chambéry in May 2021 to 20 years in prison for the murder of young soldier Arthur Noyer, Nordahl Lelandais had not appealed.
The accused faces life imprisonment. The verdict is expected around February 18.