A “disciple” of the Monster of Avignon, accused of rape alongside him, has begun to give evidence.
Jean Pierre Marechal, 63, is said to have drugged his own wife after receiving advice from Dominque Pelicot, who was with him in the witness box.
Pelicot, 73, is accused of raping his wife Gisele, who waived her right to anonymity, and arranging for at least 50 other men to abuse her while she was drugged.
Marechal, dressed in a beige shirt, stood next to Pelicot, who had arrived at the Avignon court in a wheelchair and sat listening intently as his co-defendant spoke.
In the sordid case that has attracted worldwide attention, Marechal, considered “a good husband and father”, is accused of raping his own wife and offering her to Pelicot.
He is not accused of raping Gisele.
A picture of Pelicot in court with his co-defendants in Avignon, France, on September 17.
Gisele Pelicot, accompanied by her lawyer Stéphane Babonneau, arrives in the courtroom on September 18
Dominique Pélicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over a 10-year period
In his shocking testimony earlier this week, Pelicot admitted he was a rapist, adding: “just like the other 50 men” in the courtroom.
She also said he had abused Gisele for a decade out of “boredom” after retiring from his job as an electrician.
Marechal drugged his wife, 53, at least a dozen times between 2015 and 2020 after meeting Pelicot on a now-closed sex website called Coco.gg
While she was sleeping, both men raped her before she woke up to see a man with a flashlight running out of the bedroom.
Marechal reportedly told his wife that Pelicot wanted to “see her in her underwear” and she later told investigators she had no idea she had been drugged.
Police were able to track down Marechal after examining computer equipment they had seized from Pelicot’s home when he was arrested in late 2020.
Marechal, a retired truck driver and father of five, admitted the crimes and, unlike Gisele, his wife supported her husband and did not divorce him “for the sake of the children.”
Like Pelicot, Marechal attributed his actions to sexual abuse he suffered as a child, including from his own father, who forced him to perform sexual acts on him.
Marechal said: ‘My mother tried to protect us, but she drank every day, all the time. We watched her die of cirrhosis of the liver.
A picture of Pelicot in court in Avignon, France, on September 17
Gisele Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian arrives with her mother Gisele Pelicot at the Avignon court on Tuesday.
Gisele Pelicot (2-R), her daughter Caroline Darian (R) and their lawyers Stephane Babonneau (2-L) and Antoine Camus (L) walk into criminal court on September 17.
Ms. Pelicot arrives on Tuesday for the trial that has shocked the country and raised new awareness about sexual violence.
‘She knew she was going to die, she prepared us for it. Even afterwards, I didn’t blame my father, I always thought it was normal.
“Today I know that it was atrocious. Like what I did to my wife.”
Marechal continued: ‘I regret my actions, I love my wife, I’m in prison, I deserve it, but I will do my best to improve.
“I was a rapist, a criminal, I committed criminal acts.”
She added: ‘I have attended sessions on domestic violence, we owe respect to women, a woman deserves respect.’
Marechal told the court he began watching violent pornography in 2013 after his mother’s death and “reliving the attacks” committed against her.
Asked who came up with the idea of attacking his own wife, Marechal replied: “I’m not going to deny it, but I’m not going to blame him (Pelicot) for everything. I didn’t deny it.”
Marechal also told the court that he and his wife had a normal sex life, but that it had “calmed down with age.”
He added: “We got along very well. My wife was at home with the children, I was working. Before I committed these despicable acts, I never forced myself on her, but we had no problems as a couple.”
The assault took place in the southern French town of Mazan and was only discovered after the man was caught pulling down women’s skirts in a local supermarket, prompting officers to search his home.
Gisele Pelicot (center), flanked by her lawyers, receives flowers from a member of the public during her ex-husband’s rape trial, at the Avignon criminal court on September 17.
Beatrice Zavarro (right), Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer, speaks to reporters on Tuesday
Marechal told the court that Pelicot had visited his home “about a dozen times” with tranquilizers to give to his wife, but that they had only worked “four or five times.”
Underlining Pelicot’s evil role, he added: “Without him, I would never have taken this step, he was reassuring and imposing.”
But he denied raping Pelioct’s wife Gisele, saying: “No, I couldn’t, I couldn’t rape anyone other than my wife, but he shared videos of her with me.”
Asked about Marechal’s testimony, Pelicot told the court that “what he said is true” and added: “What worried me was that the kids would catch me and they almost did once when they came back earlier than expected from a nightclub.”
The court then heard a series of text messages exchanged between Pelicot and Marechal that underlined their warm relationship.
In a series of letters sent after Marechal’s wife woke up, Pelicot warned her: “If the police question you, you don’t know me,” adding a laughing emoji.
Marechal replied: “We will try again in three months,” but Pelicot warned: “No, it is too dangerous.”
As he spoke, Gisele, who has attended court every day since the trial began, listened from the opposite side with her daughter at her side.
Several of Pelicot and Marechal’s co-defendants were also in court and all arrived wearing masks, caps and hoodies to avoid being identified.
The crimes are said to have occurred over a decade-long period beginning in 2011 in the village of Mazan, where the Pelicots lived.
Prosecutors expect the trial to last until December and if convicted, Pelicot could face up to 20 years in prison.
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