It has been 5 years since Jonathann Daval murdered his wife, Alexa, and lied to the whole of France for months. Today, her mother, Martine Henry, has decided to tell her story through a poignant book, and expresses herself in the media.
Is the Sunday newspaper that Martine Henry, mother of Jonathann Daval, delivered this Sunday, November 13. The murderer’s mother decided to publish a book in order to tell his nightmare and to say more about her son, whom she does not qualify as a “freak”but as someone who has known an act “monstrous”. It is therefore this Thursday, November 17 that will appear his shocking book5 years after the tragedy, within a few weeks.
The bruised mother explained why she wanted to open up with an open heart: “Since the night of October 28 to 29, 2017, it’s as if everything was a waking nightmare. As if nothing belongs to me anymore. Alexia’s family has spoken and it’s quite normal. I want to speak in my turn. To show that reality is always more complicated”she said.
Martine Henry “He rubs shoulders with serial killers”
A little further on during the exchange with the Journal du Dimanche, Martine Henry talks about the conditions of her son’s detention and his daily life in prison: “It took us a long time to get a visiting permit. At first, Jonhattan spent four months without seeing anyone. ‘He lets himself die’ his lawyers told us. When we finally saw him again, in April 2018, He only weighed 30 kilos. After this first visit, the supervisors asked if we were planning to come back. We looked at them with round eyes. To this day, my husband and I go to see him every other weekend.”she confides before saying more about the habits taken by her son in prison: “Now he works and does a lot of sport. He is in Ensisheim prison (Bas-Rhin) where for example, he rubs shoulders with serial killers Guy George and Francis Heaulme. It seems incredible to me. But today I no longer have the same borders, there is the man and the act” she explains.
And when the journalist asks her if she “Thinking about his release from prison?”she replies: “It’s too early, we do not plan. Neither Jonathann, who never asked his lawyers what sentence he risked being sentenced to, nor me. One thing is certain, he will have to change region”she admits.
Martine Henry “I prevented him from telling the truth”
A little later in the interview, Martine Henry admits that she feels guilty, and even explains that she denied the obvious: “Looking back, I think I stopped him from telling the truth. After Alexia died and before Jonathann was incarceratedI came to have lunch with him almost every day. He watched TV, I read. He didn’t speak. When I asked him questions, he started crying. He tried to tell me, ‘I’m the husband, so the prime suspect, expect me to be taken into custody.’ I cut it, I replied that no, it was not possible“she explained.
The mother of the murderer then spoke about his feeling of guilt : “After such a tragedy, we see everything that has happened since childhood and we question ourselves. […] We’ll never know, I guess.”