The lifeless body of Alexia Daval was found on October 30, 2017 in a wood in Haute-Saône. After appearing in tears several times in the days following the tragedy, Jonathann Daval, her husband, finally confessed to having killed her. Since then, his dual personality has been intriguing.
“She was my first supporter, my oxygen, the force that pushed me to surpass myself during my physical challenges”had declared Jonathan Daval at the end of a white march organized on November 5, 2017, in honor of his wife Alexia. The 29-year-old had been found dead, October 30, in a wood near Gray-la-Ville, in Haute-Saône. In tears, the former computer scientist then seemed devastated. However, a few weeks later, on January 30, 2018, he confessed to killing his girlfriend, “by accident”.
It’s not the first time that the culprit of a crime appears devastated before confessing. To understand these ambiguous behaviors, West France had interviewed Serge Bornstein, a neuropsychiatrist accustomed to intervening in trials. “It’s a classic criminological duplicity“he told our colleagues from the regional daily. “It is not uncommon to see murderers who are close to the victim adopt an attitude which aims to fool the investigators. It’s a way to protect yourself.” Serge Bornstein had also explained that these criminals built themselves a character and invented a well-honed story so as not to be suspected.
Tears due to “emotional overstrain”
As for the tears, they would be the consequence of a “emotional surge”. They can therefore sink for different reasons. “They cry because they can realize the monstrosity of their actions, because they themselves are affected by the drama… Sometimes they cry over their fate”had specified the neuropsychiatrist.
During the trial of Jonathann Daval, in November 2020, psychological experts had also drawn up the psychological portrait of the young man. One of them, Tony Arpin, had mentioned the “chameleon personality” of the thirty year old. “Two personalities coexist in Jonathann Daval, without ever meeting. A person he gives to show, as it should, who works, loves his wife, buys a house, wants a child… And is juxtaposed with another character, more aggressive , more dominating”the psychologist had told the court, as reported France Inter. He further detailed that the suspect lived only through the eyes of others.
Jonathann Daval presented as an immature and manipulative man
Alexia Daval’s ex-husband is also presented as an immature man. “You have to consider him as a child, he has a child’s mentality”, had also judged Tony Arpin. In addition to his childish side, it emerged that the former computer scientist was a manipulator. A conclusion shared by Tony Arpin and his colleague Joffrey Carpentier. The latter even spoke of a “propensity for criminological dangerousness” and one “omnipotence of his secret”.
Psychiatrist Jean Canterino, however, disagreed with these findings. At the hearing, he mentioned obsessive compulsive disorder (TOC) that Jonathann Daval developed at the age of 12, when his father died. “It’s something very deep. It’s a mental pathology. The obsessional cannot distill his aggressiveness. He represses everything. He accumulates everything. Until it overflows. And it’s often very surprising, because they are calm, pleasant people, who we see explode”, had indicated the psychiatrist. New OCDs have also appeared since he has been in prison, such as checking whether the door to his cell is properly closed. As a reminder, Jonathann Daval was sentenced to twenty-five years’ imprisonment.