The Court of Cassation will review Willy Bardon‘s appeal on Nov 30, 2022. Bardon is appealing his 2019 guilty verdict in the 2002 rape-murder of Elodie Kulik.
On July 1, 2021 the North Assize Court of Appeal in Douai, France, confirmed the 2019 verdict of the lower court that sentenced Willy Bardon to 30 years in prison.
Bardon was accused, convicted, and sentenced for the 2002 kidnapping, confinement, rape, and murder of Elodie Kulik.
UPDATE: appeal denied, see here.
One of the conflicting points was that the lower court found Barton guilty of Elodie’s murder and not just the abduction and rape.
Bardon claims that he is innocent. He was arrested in 2013.
Before she died, Elodie called France’s emergency services. A 26 second tape was played in court and is key evidence. Six witnesses testified during the initial trial that they recognized the voice of Willy Bardon on that tape. The other suspect, Gregory Wiart, passed away in 2003. His DNA was found at the crime scene.
If the Appeal’s Court agrees with the defense, Bardon faces a retrial. He will not be released. If the Appeal’s Court confirms the verdict, the defense plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
One of the legal issues to review is that the defense claims the Kulik recording can only be used to substantiate the abduction but not the rape-murder. In other words, the defense claims that one need not have led to another. In 2021, North Assize Court of Appeal in Douai, France ruled it did.
More about the Elodie Kulik case is here.