Frenchman convicted of killing wife confesses from prison

A Frenchman sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering his wife has confessed from his jail cell and is prepared to show investigators where he hid her body, his lawyer said Monday, a major turn in a case that gripped France for years.

Cédric Jubillar, 38, had maintained his innocence throughout his trial in the southern town of Albi, where he was convicted in October of murdering his wife, Delphine Jubillar. Delphine, a 33-year-old night nurse, disappeared in rural southern France in December 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic. Her body has never been found.

Pierre Debuisson, Jubillar’s lawyer, said at a news conference that his client recently sent a written confession admitting responsibility for Delphine’s death at the family home in Cagnac-les-Mines, in the Tarn department. The BBC reported that Debuisson said Jubillar told him: “I need to tell you the truth. It was me.”

Debuisson said Jubillar is ready to “cooperate fully with the judicial authorities” and tell investigators where the body is located after hiding it during the night of Dec. 15-16, 2020. The lawyer said Jubillar’s letter mentions a dispute between the couple but does not provide further details. According to the BBC, Debuisson said Jubillar told him he killed Delphine “after yet another marital row” and used his car that evening to move the body.

“It was the worst thing he did in his life,” Debuisson said, adding that his client “clearly regrets” his actions. It remains unclear how Delphine Jubillar was killed.

The confession comes just over two months before Jubillar’s appeal was scheduled to be heard in September. His legal team now believes the appeal cannot go ahead as planned because he will need to be questioned again and searches for Delphine’s remains will have to take place. Debuisson said Jubillar would provide further details when interrogated.

The case began early on Dec. 16, 2020, when Jubillar contacted police at about 4 a.m. local time to report that his wife had disappeared. The couple had two children, who were six years old and 18 months old at the time.

Investigators and local residents carried out extensive searches in the surrounding countryside. The BBC reported that potholers searched disused mineshafts in the area, but Delphine’s body was never recovered. Jubillar was placed under investigation and detained in mid-2021.

At trial, the defense argued that without a body, there was no certainty a crime had occurred. But a jury of six civilians and three magistrates found there was enough circumstantial evidence to convict him, despite the absence of DNA evidence linking him to the crime.

The trial heard that Delphine had asked for a divorce and was having an affair with a man she met online. The BBC reported that prosecutors alleged she told Cédric Jubillar about the affair on the evening she disappeared, leading to a fight and her death, probably by strangulation.

Malika Chmani, the lawyer for the couple’s two children, welcomed the confession.

“We are relieved for the children,” Chmani said. “Now it is important that he tells us where the body is. I believe that is what will happen — at any rate, that is what we hope for.”

Debuisson said he hoped the confession would allow the children to grieve and allow Delphine to receive a proper burial.