Dany Leprince, convicted of the murders of his brother, his sister-in-law and his two nieces in 1994 in Sarthe, recounts for the first time in a book “judicial harassmentthat he says he experienced and his hope to have his trial reviewed.
“Only those who have felt injustice deep within can understand my quest for truth.“Writes Dany Leprince, 65, in”They stole my life», to be published on November 16 (Flammarion). “After eighteen years in prison, I’m free, but it’s a decoy“, adds Dany Leprince, who lives in Lot-et-Garonne.
He proclaims his innocence
Sentenced to life imprisonment with a security period of 22 years in 1997 for the quadruple murder, he was released on parole in 2012. Since last year, he is no longer under judicial supervision and can now express themselves on this affair which is still highly publicized. On September 4, 1994, his younger brother Christian Leprince, his wife and two of their daughters, aged 7 and 10, were found stabbed to death in their house in Thorigné-sur-Dué. Their 2-year-old daughter is the only survivor.
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Two days later, Dany Leprince was arrested with four other members of his family, including his wife Martine. After forty-six hours in police custody, denounced by his wife and his eldest daughter, he confesses to the murder of his younger brother, without mentioning his sister-in-law and the two children. But, he quickly retracts and claims since his innocence.
“Evil Trap»
With this confessionextorted” and “released at the end of exhaustion I locked myself in a completely absurd version of the facts and I blame myself for having fallen into a diabolical trap“, he says in this book written with the journalist Bernard Nicolas. Throughout the chapters, he returns to the instruction “wobbly” and “orientedwhich led to his conviction.
No fingerprint or genetic belonging to him is discovered at the scene of the crimes, recalls Dany Leprince, who was divided at the time of the facts between the breeding activity of his wife and his job in a slaughterhouse. Only the declarations – contradictory – of his wife, from whom he is divorced, and of their eldest overwhelm him. He wonders about the role in the murders of Martine, whose versions fluctuate.
“A botched trial”
“Inert“At the statement of the verdict, Dany Leprince has”the impression of coming out of a botched trial“. “Life imprisonment goes well beyond the deprivation of liberty, it can be the negation of the individual“.
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At the time, it was not possible to appeal against a conviction at the assizes and his appeal in cassation was rejected. A first request for revision led in 2006 to new investigations.
Dany Leprince looks back on that day in June 2010, when the chair of the review board recognized “the weaknesses of the instruction fileand lists the facts that may warrant a second trial. Until then, he hadfaced only an aggressive, accusatory justice, which has never ceased to overwhelm (him)“.
“serious odds»
He was then released and his file sent to the Court of Revision, which rejected his request the following year. “I’m still standing cause I’m innocent“, he recalls. In March 2021, he filed a second motion for review. Two months later, a supplement of information is ordered and since “numerous acts of investigation are in progress“, assures his lawyer, Me Olivier Morice, without further details.
A dozen investigators are in charge of these investigations, “which shows the importance attached to the file“, Estimates Me Morice, who will receive a decision from the review board on the admissibility of his request in the first half of 2023.
“A legal epic”
At the same time, a judicial investigation has been open since 2014 from the Le Mans court after a complaint for murder and complicity in murder filed by the father of the Leprince sons.
“It is a legal epic because successful review procedures are extremely rare and are a kind of miracle, as justice is reluctant to accept to recognize its errors.“, underlines Mr. Morice. “Even if this fight seems endless“, Dany Leprince and his lawyer”remain convinced that this time the chances of success are serious “, he added.
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