Frenchman in missing-body case gets 30 years for murdering wife

A Frenchman whose wife disappeared during the Covid-19 pandemic and whose body was never found was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday for murdering her, in a case that has gripped France.

Cedric Jubillar, a 38-year-old painter and plasterer, had said he had done "absolutely nothing" to his wife, Delphine, whose body has never been found since she went missing in rural southern France in December 2020.

The sentence matched the prosecutors' request for the man, who has been in detention since 2021. Jubillar's lawyers said he would appeal. 

As the verdict was announced, Delphine's family and loved ones embraced. Some started crying and one of her uncles collapsed.

"We're all in shock after four years of legal proceedings," said lawyer Philippe Pressecq.

"The jurors rose to the occasion over these four weeks," he added. "It's because they followed the case closely and understood it well that they reached a decision that cannot be disputed." 

A jury in the southern town of Albi found that Jubillar was guilty of murdering his wife after she asked for a divorce while having an affair with another man. 

Investigating magistrates concluded that a pair of Delphine's broken glasses, along with testimony from the couple's son and screams heard by neighbours, indicate that an argument led to her death.

Jubillar denied these claims.

Last week, his mother and two ex-girlfriends gave damaging testimony.

Nadine Jubillar, 54, said her son had threatened to kill his wife and hide her body where "no one will ever find her" just weeks before she disappeared, words that at the time she dismissed as said in anger.

Jennifer, an ex-girlfriend, said that when she had visited Cedric Jubillar in prison he had confessed to strangling Delphine in the couple's home.

Severine, another of Jubillar's former partners, said he had told her he buried his wife's body in a burned-down farm. He passed that off as a joke.

A sniffer dog handler told the trial last month his investigation showed Delphine, a nurse, had left the house then returned before her disappearance, but had not stepped out again afterwards.

A body has no odour an hour after a person's death, the handler added, implying someone might have moved her remains after that time.

In 2023, 96 women were killed by their partners or ex-partners in France, according to official figures. That is equivalent to a woman murdered every 3.8 days.