her husband denies killing her and accuses her brother-in-law

The computer scientist, aged 34, auditioned at his request last Wednesday by the examining magistrate in charge of the case in Besancon, returned to his confession during his custody in January, three months after the death of his wife, a 29-year-old bank employee

Her body was discovered, partly burned down, in a wood near Gray-la-Ville, where the couple lived. The autopsy revealed that the young woman had been the victim of violence, beatings and was strangled.

In front of the examining magistrate last Wednesday, Jonathann Daval accused his brother-in-law, Gregory Gay, of having strangled the victim trying to control her during a hysteria crisis at the home of the young woman's parents, on the night of October 27 to 28, 2017. The Daval dined there with Alexia's sister, Stephanie, and of her husband, Gregory Gay.

"Jonathann Daval denies being the author of the homicide facts that he is accused of Alexia," said Wednesday afternoon his lawyer Randall Schwerdorffer, without further details.

"I confirm that the line of defense (of his client, Ed) has changed," told AFP Schwerdorffer.

According to East Republican, Jonathann Daval told the week last to the magistrate that "the whole family will have he sealed a secret pact to smother the affair. "

Alexia's parents, sister and brother-in-law were summoned Wednesday morning by the examining magistrate in charge of the case, for" a hearing clbadic of civil party ", according to their lawyer, Me Jean-Marc Florand, who accompanied them.

" I formally deny the accusations of Jonathann Daval, "said BFMTV Grégory Gay on leaving the office of the investigating judge . "It's a real nightmare," responded the mother of the victim, Isabelle Fouillot.

Contrary to reports of a press conference by the prosecutor of Besançon, Edwige Roux-Morizot, the prosecutor said that no communication was foreseen

– "The investigation corroborates the confessions"? –
                    
                

Jonathann Daval had reported the disappearance of his wife on October 28, worried not to see her return from a jog. For three months, he had presented himself as a grieving widower, unable to hold back his tears during a white march in tribute to the young woman who had gathered between 8,000 and 10,000 people at the beginning of November in Gray.

After three months of investigation, the material elements had led the gendarmes of the Besançon Research Section on the track of the husband: a neighbor had heard a car go out, the night of the murder, the home of the couple, what the tracing device was equipped with the professional utility of the computer scientist. Traces of tires that could match the vehicle had been found close to the body and a piece of cloth that could come from sheets belonging to the Daval had been found on the body.

Placed in custody on January 30, he claimed that he did not "want" to kill his wife, but that they had come to blows and that he had strangled Alexia while trying to "control" her. The couple was experiencing "severe tension" because of their difficulties in having a child.

He had, however, contended that he had set fire to his wife's body.

"Death was given voluntarily and not accidentally », Had pointed the prosecutor of the Republic of Besançon, Edwige Roux-Morizot.

According to a source close to the file, at this stage of the investigation the material elements corroborate the first version of the suspect and do not allow to suspect a possible complicity.

In the press, the lawyer of the civil party had confided these last weeks his doubts about the confession of the suspect. He noted "inconsistencies" between his version, the material elements and the results of the autopsy.

"The main thing is missing: the chronology of the facts, the motive of the crime, its mode of operation, the front and the 'after', Mr Florand had told the Republican East, believing that it was 'far from objective truth'.

Charged with "murder on a spouse", Jonathann Daval was sentenced to life imprisonment. Placed in pre-trial detention, he was incarcerated in the psychiatric unit of Dijon prison, because of his psychological and physical fragility.