“Alexia was not a perfect being”: Jonathann Daval’s mother restores her truth about her stepdaughter

Having fascinated the French thanks to its many twists and turns, the Daval affair has become one of the symbols of feminicides. For the record, Jonathann Daval murdered his wife, Alexia Daval, in their house located in Gray, in the Haute-Saône department, in October 2017. The partially charred body of the young woman was later found on October 30, 2017, just two days after he was reported missing. After that, Jonathann Daval had publicly mourned the death of his wife alongside Pierre and Isabelle Fouillot, his parents-in-law. He had gone so far as to participate in a silent march in memory of his late companion.

Taken into custody by investigators Jonathan Daval accused his brother-in-law of committing the murder initially, as part of a family conspiracy. Alexia Daval’s husband finally confessed to murdering his wife, then attempted to set fire to his body. On November 21, 2020, Jonathann Daval was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment, with no additional security period. Still incarcerated, he can count on the support of his mother, Martine Henry. The latter defended her in a book which will be published on Thursday November 17, 2022. As part of the promotion of this book, she gave an interview to the JDD Sunday November 13, 2022.

Martine Henry on Alexia Daval: “She forbade Jonathann from coming to see me”

During this interview, Martine Henry wanted to re-establish her truth about her late daughter-in-law. “Alexia was human and not the perfect being her parents portrayed. For her, we weren’t good enough. She made us feel it. She forbade Jonathann to come and see me, he had to do it in secret. But when they got married, I was moved as I accompanied Jonathann to the altar, so handsome in his embroidered black suit, the one he put on for the funeral. He was her cuddly toy, she was his princess. The important thing was then that they were happy together“, she asserted.