France: Suspect drinks pesticide in a suicide attempt after his conviction

A suspect in a decades-old rape and murder case in France swallowed pesticide in a bid to commit suicide following his conviction. Willy Bardon was charged with the murder of Elodie Kulik back in 2002. The rape and murder case had garnered a lot of attention in France.

Willy Bardon attempted suicide

It is believed that Willy Bardon ingested pesticide seconds after he was sentenced to 30 years in jail. Bardon was then rushed to the hospital where the doctors were able to stabilise him. According to statements by Alexandre de Bosschere who is the lead investigator in the case, Bardon swallowed the pesticides seconds after the verdict. The lead prosecutor also told a news agency that he had no idea how Bardon managed to hide the pesticide in the courtroom with him. After his unsuccessful suicide attempt at the courtroom, Bardon was placed under armed guard. Willy Bardon is 45 years old and he was convicted in the Court of Assizes of the Somme.

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Willy was on trial for kidnapping, raping, and then strangling a bank employee Elodie Kulik who was 24 at the time. Before succumbing to her injuries, Elodie had managed to call emergency services and the recording from that call was a key piece of evidence for the prosecution. Latest DNA testing technology allowed police to gather new evidence even years after the crime and identify another suspect called Gregory Wiart who died in 2003.

Throughout the length of the trial, Bardon insisted that he was innocent and even confronted the victim's parent claiming that he was not even at the scene of the crime. Jacky Kulik after hearing the verdict said that he felt immense relief but he was also saddened by Bardon's suicide attempt. He later added that he can now go to his daughter (Elodie Kulik) and his late wife's (Rosemary Kulik) grave and say that his job is done.

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(With agency inputs)