On the fifth day of his trial, Nordahl Lelandais mentioned an SMS that remained unanswered the night of the murder, which, according to him, would have decided the fate of the little girl.
“She would still be here.” Since January 31, Nordahl Lelandais has been tried by the Assize Court of Isère for the murder of Maëlys De AraujoAugust 27, 2017. On Friday February 4, while his girlfriend was being interviewed at the time of the events, the accused wanted to make a statement, reports The Parisian. The wedding nightduring which the eight-year-old girl was abducted, Nordahl Lelandais sent an SMS to his companion at 1:30 a.m. : “Hello, are you sleeping?” One text left unansweredwhich he considers to be a decisive element in his gesture. “If you had answered me, it would have changed everything”he assured his ex-girlfriend.
At the trial, the president of the assize court wanted more explanations, reports the daily. “If I had gone to see her that night, I would have left the wedding and the little one would still be there”explained the defendant. “So it depends on a response to an SMS… or it depends on you?”questioned the president before reformulating: “Do you have free will or not?” Again, the 38-year-old assured that if his girlfriend had answered, the evening would have gone in a completely different way. In this regard, Me Fabien Rajon considered “indecent to do blame this unfortunate ex-partner telling her that if she had replied to her SMS, little Maëlys would not have died”.
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Persistent doubts
During his trial, Nordahl Lelandais was tried for two sexual assaults on his little cousinsincluding his goddaughter, 4 and 6 years old, also having taken place in the summer of 2017. Facts discovered by the investigators during the examination of the telephone of the accused which contained the videos of the attacks. “I recognize the facts that I committed on my goddaughter, whom I love, whom I loved very muchdid he declare. I did it when she was sleeping because I can’t do it on a little girl who’s awake.” A statement that echoes his position, renewed on February 4, regarding the potential sexual assaults that Maëlys De Araujo could have suffered: “I know that the De Araujo family is wondering for Maëlys: the answer is no. I say it solemnly, I did not do it.”
Article written in collaboration with 6medias
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