Two women were sentenced on Friday by the Seine-Maritime Assize Court to 22 and 20 years in prison, respectively, for killing and dismembering the partner of one of them near Rouen (western France) in 2018.
Céline Vasselin, a 36-year-old beautician, was again sentenced to the maximum sentence for the murder of her partner: 22 years, similar to the first trial in November 2022.
Jessica Adam, 40, a client turned “friend,” had her sentence increased by 20 years, compared to 17 years in the first instance.
“I ask you to slightly increase the sentences to highlight the extreme seriousness of the facts and to maintain the hierarchy established in the first trial,” said Attorney General François Coudert on Friday, calling for 23 and 20 years in prison respectively.
It was the prosecution that appealed the first convictions.
Céline Vasselin’s lawyer, Me Sandra Gosselin, estimated on Friday evening that her client had received “a fair sentence in view of the case and the concept of influence peddling”.
The two women have been back before a criminal court since Monday because they drugged, killed with a knife and then dismembered the victim Sliman Amara, with whom Céline Vasselin had had a son three years earlier.
A third woman, accused of failing to prevent the crime, was again acquitted on appeal. The Attorney General had requested a five-year suspended prison sentence against him.
Céline Vasselin had claimed that her partner had subjected her to physical and psychological violence to explain her decision to kill him.
“There is no doubt that physical and sexual violence occurred. The question of influence arises. I prefer the term “toxic relationship,” admitted the Attorney General, but believed that Céline Vasselin “had ways out.”
The attorney general described two women “messing with each other to form a hellish duo,” reminiscent of “a diabolical pact struck by chance during a hair removal session.”
But for Me Gosselin, influence is actually “the only explanation in this case.” “In June 2018, Slimane took a knife, pointed it at her throat and threatened to kill her. She sees herself dying in the presence of her son (…) Nothing remains of this event but this crazy criminal project. “One of them has to go,” she pleaded.
In defense of Jessica Adam, Me Vincent Beux-Prère told of his client’s “terrible childhood”, who was “raised by a sadistic and pedophile stepfather and abandoned by her mother at 15”.
“She assumes it. “She fell into the trap of a delusional project that she never wanted,” he said “sensitively” and asked the jury for leniency to “return her to her children as quickly as possible.”