I was watching the news on TV when they announced that the Courjaults had confessed. So I rushed to my favourite newspaper’s web site, and there it is:
After being held in custody since Tuesday evening at the Tours police station, Véronique Courjault has finally confessed on Wednesday to being the mother of the two children found dead last July at her home in Seoul, and she has exonerated her husband of all responsibility. Mrs Courjault admitted to the charges held against her, she assumes responsibility and says she acted alone, has announced her lawyer, Marc Morin, without elaborating on the nature of the charges. My client has recognized having been pregnant, but she has not said whether she had killed the children or not, he added.
Police sources mentionned that she managed to hide her pregnancy from her husband, as he was often away from home on business trips, and gave birth at home. This confession follows the publication of DNA tests showing the couple were the parents of the two newborns found dead in their freezer.
For the moment the prosecution hasn’t filed any charges against her. Held in police custody at Tours precinct since Tuesday evening, Mrs Courjault’s custody has been extended for an extra 24 hours. ["garde à vue" in France is somewhat akin to being held as material witness in the US – when the coppers don't have enough – yet! – against a suspect; they need a warrant signed by a prosecutor, and usually it is only valid for 24 hours]
Wednesday morning, the police searched their [French] residence, in the presence of Jean-Louis Courjault. They seized a computer.
An “exceptional” story, “hard to believe”
Today, Tours’ prosecutor, Philippe Varin, said this was an “exceptional” story, and “hard to believe”. Until now, the couple had always rejected the South Korean police’s allegations, according to which they the parents of the dead babies, and denied they had killed them.
On July 23, during a trip back to Seoul, Jean-Louis Courjault had alerted the local police, explaining he had discovered in his freezer the bodies of two newborn babies, wrapped in towels and plastic bags.
The couple had first played the conspiracy card. At the end of August, an investigation had been opened in France, and new DNA tests had been ordered.
There are not many details yet, but I am sure the newshounds will know more in a few hours. The mention of an “exceptional story, and hard to believe” seems to show that the Missus/the couple has been trying to explain their deed with more stories coming from the same “conspiracy-againt-my-employer” stock.
Addenda
- A few hours ago, Mistah C. had commented about the publication of the DNA tests: Doesn’t change a thing. We are not the parents of these babies. Aye aye, Sir. He also said he was shocked to learn of the results through the press. Ah well, I read somewhere that sometimes the CIA learns stuff watching CNN, he’s not alone in this plight…
- According to this Yahoo news bit, both spouses are still in custody, which shows that Tours’ finest hasn’t yet decided what to make of Mrs. C’s clearing her hubby’s name. After all, the 9 and 11-year old kids need someone to raise them, right?
- Still according to this article, the couple would be judged in France – as France doesn’t make it a habit to extradite its citizens. However, I posted a while ago a summary of a case where a French citizen *was* extradited – and the alleged perp is in jail in Bruges for 16 long ones. So who knows..?
Update
As soon as the confession was made public, Geneviève Courjault, Jean-Louis’ mother, told AFP she didn’t believe in her daughter in law’s guilt. This is not plausible. She confessed out of exhaustion. She was a wreck, and they made her say whatever they wanted her to, she declared.According to her, her daughter in law could not have hidden two pregnancies, or a pregnancy with twins, and the DNA tests are parodies of tests that have stayed more than a month in the hands of the Koreans.
In a France Info radio station interview on Thursday morning, Philippe Courjault, Véronique’s brother in law, too was of the opinion that she confessed to a crime she didn’t commit. In the physical state she was, I understand she confessed, he said, adding but it will soon be clear how absurd all this is.
19 Comments
DDA, sure you don’t want to get a job translating the news at 4 in the morning?
one wordsky:
B.L.E.C.H.
Besides, your 4 am is my 1pm
Well, that didn’t take long to clear up at all! Just a few months to have your own country’s DNA tests confirm what had already been established.
What is it that the prosecutor, Monsieur Varin, says is an “exceptional,” “hard to believe” story—Madame Courjault’s confession, or details that haven’t been released, or does he think the confession doesn’t tell the whole story? More, we demand more, dammit!
From the original article, I gather that it’s Mrs. Courjault’s story – ie why she did it, how come her hubby never noticed anything, etc – that’s “fantastic”, I think the proper adjective would be…
Fantastic, as in a product of fantasy?
yeppers
Ah, I see you’ve expanded the original translation, so the line I was asking about is now explained. Merci beaucoup.
De nada.
dda, your translation of the first paragraph is a bit off.
“After being under guarded surveillance for a few hours at the Tours police station, Véronique Courjault has finally confessed on Wednesday to being the mother of the two children found dead in July at her home in Seoul, and she has exonerated her husband of all responsibility. “Mrs. Courjault has recognized evidence placed against her, she assumes responsibility and says she acted alone,” has announced her lawyer Marc Morin, without elaborating on the nature of the evidence. “My client has recognized having been pregnant,” but “she has not said if she had killed the children or not,” he added.”
SomeGuy thanks for correcting my English. The “After being under guarded surveillance for a few hours at the Tours police station, ” is litteral, but actually is a bit misleading. Reading the article we learn that she’s been held in custody at the precinct since Tuesday evening, and confessed on Wednesday morning. More than just a few hours, then. The rest of your trad seems to be a better match than mine, I’ll try to rewrite it now, piggy-backing on yours.
Thanks.
There seems to be a word that dda translated as “charges,” but Someguy translated as “evidence.” I took a brief look at the original article, but as I stopped studying French some 22 years ago (oh my God! 22 years ago!? 세월이 빨리 훌러가죠!), I couldn’t quickly determine the word or expression that the two of you were translating differently. Anyhow, “charges” and “evidence” are of course two completely different animals.
Sorry, 세월이 빨리 흘러가죠: time flies so quickly!
The word used in French is “les faits” aka facts, things she’s done [les faits qui lui sont reprochés], which is why I prefered charges – although technically she isn’t charged with anything yet [although that'll come pretty soon]. But there’s no talk of evidence – just of deeds and suspicions. I am neither a perp nor a lawyer, so my understanding of the law is limited, at best, in any language, but I think ‘evidence’ would have gotten my ass kicked in translation classes 20 years ago
Of course, one could argue that the facts she is under suspicion of having done are reflected in the evidence that was probaly waved at her by the cops and the ADA, which caused her to drop the denial sing-song and confess. Still, there’s no mention of ‘evidence’ anywhere
But if anyone has a better translation for ‘the facts she is under suspicion of having done’ I’ll take it…
Is “les faits” a French legal concept? I vaguely recall reading that the protagonist of Camus’ L’Etranger was charged (?) with “facts” at some point prior to his trial. (Reading that novel is something else that I am stunned to suddenly realize I did two entire decades ago….)
“Les faits” as in “les faits du crime”, incorporates facts and evidence concerning the crime. Actually, translating that sentence isn’t so simple. It says ‘les faits qui lui sont reproches’…literally ‘facts (or actions) that she has been reproched of doing’. I thought ‘evidence placed against her’ was a little bit less awkward than ’she has accepted responsibility for the things she has been reproched’, eventhough ‘reproche’ (with an accute accent) the sentence makes no reference to evidence. By the way, had she been charged, the article would have spoken of ‘les accusations portées contre elle’.
“eventhough ‘reproche’ (with an accute accent) and the rest of the sentence make…”
Hard to believe it took the husband close to three years to notice two babies frozen dead in the freezer.
And didn’t the dude know his wife had a hysterectomy? Did he go to the hospital? Did he speak to the doctors about her problem? How were the dead babies moved to the new apartment last year? What was the freezer like at the last place? Or is that their freezer?
French Frozen Freezer Babies…couple of more good twists and it’s the story of the year.
French Frozen Freezer Babies on sale at Trader Joe’s for $2.99 a bag.
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