Human remains have been found in the hunt for a woman who vanished six years ago after her husband confessed from his jail cell to killing her and hiding her body.
In a case that has gripped France since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cedric Jubillar, 38, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in October for murdering Delphine Jubillar, 33.
Her body was never found and Jubillar had always maintained his innocence, including during the trial.
But in a dramatic U-turn earlier this month ahead of his appeal trial, Jubillar confessed to his involvement for the first time.
He also pledged to lead investigators to where he concealed his wife’s body, according to his legal team.
This led to an intense two-day search on agricultural land in Mailhoc, Tarn, southern France last week – some 10km from the couple’s former home.
Human remains were found there and they have now been confirmed to belong to Delphine after DNA analysis, said Toulouse prosecutor Nicolas Jacquet.
The victim’s body was likely scattered accidentally during agricultural work.
Cédric Jubillar, 38, was convicted of murdering his wife who disappeared in 2020. He has now confessed from his jail cell to killing her
Pierre Debuisson, one of the new lawyers representing Cedric Jubillar, told the media that after five years of denying his involvement in the crime, Jubillar has admitted to murdering his wife
Jubillar was convicted on the basis of a string of corroborating evidence despite the lack of a body or any DNA evidence linking him to the crime, making the case one of the most puzzling in modern French legal history.
The trial heard that Delphine, who was a nurse, had asked for a divorce and had wanted to start a new life with another man.
The couple had two children whose lawyers hope can now find some closure after their father’s confession.
Commentators have suggested Cedric Jubillar is looking to change his strategy ahead of his appeal trial by admitting to killing Delphine but portraying it as an accident during a domestic dispute, in the hope of being given a lesser sentence.
Earlier this month, Cedric’s lawyer, Pierre Debuisson, told a news conference that his client was ready to ‘cooperate fully with the judicial authorities’ and tell investigators where the body is located after hiding the corpse on the night of December 15 to 16, 2020.
He expressed hope that Jubillar’s move will allow their two young children to ‘grieve and give Delphine a proper burial’, adding his client ‘clearly regrets’ his actions. ‘It was the worst thing he did in his life,’ the lawyer added.
However it remains unclear how Delphine Jubillar was killed.
Cedric’s legal team now believe it is impossible that the appeal trial can take place as scheduled in September, as their client will need to be re-interrogated and searches for the body take place.
Delphine went missing in rural southern France at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic but her body was never found
A team of divers of the French Gendarmerie inspect the L’Endrevie body of water in Blaye-les-Mines, southern France on December 22, 2020, as they search for Delphine Jubillar
Debuisson said Jubillar would give further details when interrogated.
Jurors came to the conclusion that Jubillar murdered Delphine in a fit of rage after she asked for a divorce while having an affair with another man, despite some earlier claims made in court that he was the victim of overenthusiastic investigators.
‘We are relieved for the children,’ said Malika Chmani, lawyer for the two young children.
‘Now it is important that he tell us where the body is. I believe that is what will happen – at any rate, that is what we hope for,’ she added.
On the morning of her disappearance, Jubillar called the police at 4am claiming she had gone out to walk their dogs and had never returned. But nobody saw her leave, and no evidence ever supported that claim.
A massive manhunt ensued with over 1000 people searching the vast countryside while divers checked nearby rivers for any evidence of what might have happened to Delphine.
Chief prosecutor Pierre Aurignac said in his closing plea at the trial: ‘To defend the idea of Mr Jubillar’s innocence requires dismissing four experts, silencing 19 witnesses and killing the sniffer dog.’
The jury were told by prosecutors that although there was ‘no body and no blood’, there was ‘no plausible alternative either’.
‘No matter how you look at this case, you come to the same conclusion – guilt,’ said Mr Aurignac.
Emmanuelle Franck, Jubillar’s lawyer, told jurors, per the Daily Telegraph: ‘We have created a criminal to explain a crime.
‘This is a castle of sand. When you cannot prove, you imagine. When you cannot find, you invent.’
The most damning evidence of Jubillar’s crime came from the testimony from his relatives, including his mother, Nadine.
She told the court she regretted not taking her son seriously when he said: ‘I’m fed up, she annoys me, I’m going to kill her, I’m going to bury her, no one will find her.’
A letter written by the couple’s son read aloud to the court accused Jubillar of mistreating both his mother and himself.
He described being beaten, humiliated and belittled, and said he believed his father ‘did something bad’ to his mother.
The child also revealed that he had witnessed the couple arguing the night of her disappearance and they discussed their separation.
In his final sentence in court Jubillar simply said: ‘I have done absolutely nothing to Delphine.’
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