Convicted French murderer in new trial over 8-year-old's killing
A former French soldier already imprisoned over the brutal beating death of a fellow serviceman appeared in court Monday on charges of kidnapping and murdering an eight-year-old girl -- a killing he has admitted was a "mistake".
Nordahl Lelandais, 38, confessed to killing Maelys De Araujo in August 2017 after she disappeared from a wedding near the Alpine town of Chambery, eastern France, in a case that shook the country.
Police searched for months for the girl before arresting Lelandais, who was also a guest at the wedding.
He denied any involvement until investigators found traces of her blood in his car, when he finally led them to her remains in February 2018, though he has insisted her death was accidental.
"I want to offer my apologies, I did indeed cause her death but I didn't want to, I will explain during the trial," a sobbing Lelandais told the court.
He had asked permission to remove his mask and address the girl's family directly, which the presiding judge denied.
The girl's family is hoping to finally learn the truth when Lelandais takes the stand for questioning starting Wednesday, in a trial that has garnered massive media attention with some 250 reporters accredited.
"I am hoping that he will stay in prison as long as possible," the girl's father, Joachim De Araujo, told journalists as he entered the courthouse with his wife and daughter, who both carried portraits of Maelys.
Lelandais, a former military dog handler, is facing up to life in prison if convicted.
He is also standing trial on charges of sexual assaulting two of his cousins in summer 2017, girls aged five and six at the time, and for recording child pornography.
The verdicts are expected to be announced around February 18.
Lelandais is already serving a 20-year prison sentence, handed down in May 2021, for the killing of Corporal Arthur Noyer in the early hours of April 12, 2017. He had picked up Noyer, 23, as he hitchhiked after leaving a nightclub in Chambery.
