Lawyers desert man accused of wife's murder

The lawyers of a man accused of ordering his wife’s murder have abandoned the defence of their client because of suspicions that he suborned a witness. Jean-Michel Bissonnet is charged with commissioning his gardener to murder his wife in March 2008.

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The gardener, Meziane Belkacem, has confessed to having shot Bernadette Bissonnet twice in the back, but said Jean-Michel Bissonnet had paid him 30,000 euros to do so. The 57-year-old pharmacist was found dead by her husband at the couple’s home in Castelnau-les-Lez, in southern France.

“What I did is no good,” Belkacem, who has a mental age of eight, told the court. “I was taken over by the devil.”

Documents were shown to the court that showed Bissonnet had arranged for one of the witnesses to testify that another suspect in the case, the Viscount Amaury d’Harcourt, had ordered the murder.

The 85-year-old d’Harcourt is accused of helping to dispose of the murder weapon to help Bissonnet, who is an old friend

“We warned M Bissonnet of the potential pitfalls while in custody,” said one his lawyers, Georges Catala. “But he succumbed to them. He didn’t listen to us. We cannot mount a defence if it is not a complete defence, and we cannot defend someone if that means compromising our conscience.”

Bissonnet admitted to the court Friday that he had attempted to suborn a witness, but continued to plead not guilty to complicity in the murder. According to Bissonnet, d'Harcourt ordered the killing because he was unable to repay a 15,000-euro loan and Bernadette had refused to lend him any more money.

He said he had tried to suborn the witness "out of naïveté and despair”.

“From the bottom of my heart, I never, never, never wanted the death of Bernadette," he added. "I am going mad.”

The court session was suspended Friday morning after Bissonnet’s lawyers withdrew from the case.

More than 100 witnesses are expected to testify in the case this month.

Bissonnet's former father-in-law is persuaded of his innocence, while the victim's brother is convinced of his guilt and has brought a civil suit against Bissonnet on top of the criminal proceeding.

The trial continues.