Marc Cécillon

Background

Marc Cécillon was a former French rugby union player who captained the national side on five occasions. He represented France from 1988 to 1995, with 46 test caps. He played both number 8 and flanker and was known as the “Quiet Man of French rugby”.

Cécillon was born on 30 July 1959. He married Chantal when she was 17; Chantal was 44 years old at the time of her death. The couple had two daughters. Their daughters appeared as co-plaintiffs in the case.

Cécillon’s professional career ended the year before his trial, and his adjustment to ordinary life was discussed in public coverage. He worked as a salesman of artificial sports turf, and later had a season with the Fédérale 2 team Beaurepaire. After he retired from rugby, he was described as being prone to heavy drinking, bouts of violence, and jealous rages against his wife.

After his retirement from rugby in 2003, Cécillon told the court he fell into alcoholism while being “totally wrapped up in my own little bubble”. He described his state as being “like a nutshell” and said he used alcohol “to escape”. He also said he “exploded without knowing why”.

A friend, retired rugby player Jean-François Tordo, said Cécillon did not want to go to the end-of-season party and was burdened by being invited for drinks and parties, describing him as a “giant iceberg”. Tordo said he believed “there was love in what he did - in killing her, I mean” and said the outcome was the result of “an accumulation of years of unexpressed emotions”. Tordo also said he should have been more sensitive to the pain under the surface.

Tordo’s wife, Pascale, gave a different view, saying “He was a drunk. He drank, he screwed, and he always got away with it because he was Marc Cécillon.” She added: “That’s what 20 years of alcohol does to you - little by little it destroys you.” She said: “Marc could not cope with his life. When you kill your wife, you are killing your life”.

Bourgoin club chairman Pierre Martinet said that he had known Marc for 12 years. He said he often saw Cécillon with Chantal and “never noticed problems between them” and “never personally saw him drunk”. Martinet said Cécillon’s “recent lack of activity tended to incite him to drink.” Earlier in the year of the events, Martinet appointed Cécillon honorary manager of Bourgoin and put him in charge of selling corporate VIP suites at the club’s stadium. Martinet said the role aimed to keep him on the inside of the game, and that he finally left last year after a season with Fédérale 2 team Beaurepaire. Martinet said: “No one can save another man,” and also: “It is too easy to be wise after the event.”

The offence

Cécillon murdered his wife, Chantal, at a garden party. The court heard that he shot her with a Magnum revolver.

One account described that Cécillon shot his wife four times, in the arm, chest and head. Another account described that the prosecutor said he shot his wife five times at point-blank range. The prosecution narrative included that he pulled out a Magnum handgun after returning home and shot his wife in the presence of about 60 witnesses.

The court heard that Cécillon arrived at the party drunk, slapped the hostess, and was asked to leave. When his wife refused to leave with him, Cécillon went home and returned shortly afterwards, when he shot her.

Cécillon told the court he wanted his wife to come back with him and wanted “the two of us to leave together”. He said: “Why did I shoot? It is a question I shall ask myself all my life. I didn’t plan anything. I wish I could understand.” He previously said he only wanted to intimidate Chantal, not kill her.

During the trial, prosecutor Francoise Pavan-Dubois said Cécillon “had not acted on the spur of the moment but had planned to kill his wife.”

A teenage witness, Alexandre Beguy, saw Cécillon returning down the driveway to the family house through a window and saw him tuck a gun into his shorts. Alexandre ran to warn guests that Cécillon was armed and suggested that they move further into the garden. Cécillon then headed towards Chantal, who was sitting at a table with friends.

As guests tried to overpower him, Alexandre threw a breezeblock which hit Cécillon on the back but, according to witnesses, made no impression. Several guests managed to tackle Cécillon to the ground.

Gendarmes said that when they arrived, Cécillon had been tied to a chair with electrical cord and was asking for Chantal.

Investigation

French police arrested Cécillon in August 2004 for murdering his wife. A blood exam showed that Cécillon was drunk.

French police said Cécillon had been drinking heavily at the 2004 party in the southern village of Saint-Savin and had been asked to leave after he slapped a woman. Police said he returned with a revolver and shot his wife when she refused to follow him outside. Cécillon suffered a head injury when other partygoers overpowered him.

A gendarmerie lieutenant, Luc Vanaud, described that when Cécillon was told that at a party the previous night he had killed his 44-year-old wife, he refused to believe it, repeatedly saying he loved her and that she meant everything to him. Vanaud said Cécillon then crumbled and since then had been “monosyllabic”.

Arrest

Cécillon was arrested by French police in August 2004. He woke up “in a police cell” on the next morning and called for his wife, saying: “Chantal, Chantal”. When officers told him his wife was dead and that he had shot her the previous night, Cécillon said: “I want my wife.” The officers responded: “You can’t have her.” The officers said: “She is dead. You shot her last night.”

Trial

Venue and court proceedings

The case was heard in the southeastern city of Grenoble in relation to Cécillon’s statements to a French court. The court in Isère found him guilty of murder rather than the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Cécillon was described as 47 years old during his court appearance. He had admitted shooting his wife Chantal with a Magnum revolver in a drunken rage in August 2004 in front of some 60 party guests, while denying murder at the time.

During the trial, clemency was sought by his lawyers. His lawyers said it was a crime of passion committed under the influence of alcohol, and that the incident happened while the former captain described as “the calm man of rugby” was in the grip of depression sparked by his retirement as a top sportsman.

An emotional intervention in court involved Cécillon’s 26-year-old daughter, Angelique, who had not spoken to her father since the murder. She began sobbing and said: “I don’t think my father intended to kill my mother.” She then begged the jury to show clemency, telling them that she missed both her parents and that her father had already been punished enough.

During his statements, Cécillon told the court:

“I admit today that I fell into alcoholism whilst being totally wrapped up in my own little bubble. I exploded without knowing why,”
“I always loved my wife and I love her still,”
“I should have spoken up. Today, I realise this because of the 27 months I’ve spent in prison which have allowed me to think and work on myself,”
“I turned in on myself too much, I was like a nutshell. Perhaps I turned too much to alcohol. I used it to escape.”

He said he could face life in prison if found guilty when the verdict was announced.

The case received huge media coverage in France.

Prosecutor’s summing up

Prosecutor Francoise Pavan-Dubois said in her summing up:

“Crime of passion”

She said Cecillon had not acted on the spur of the moment but had planned to kill his wife. She said he shot his wife five times at point-blank range during a garden party in the town of Saint-Savin on 7 August 2004.

Sentencing

On 10 November 2006, Cécillon was found guilty of murdering his wife and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The sentence was five years longer than the prosecution had sought.

The November 2006 coverage described that he had “told a French court he still loved his wife, whom he shot dead during an alcohol-fuelled depression he sank into after his retirement from the game.” It also described that he admitted shooting his wife during the alcohol-fuelled depression and that he should have dealt with his psychological problems before they overwhelmed him.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

Cécillon was found guilty of murder rather than involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 10 November 2006.

Aftermath

After his sentencing and while he was in prison, Cécillon described that the 27 months he had spent in prison had allowed him “to think and work on myself.” Family members burst into tears when he described his inability to speak of his difficulties.

The case continued to be publicly discussed in France, including in rugby circles. A stand was named after Cécillon at a rugby stadium in Bourgoin. Club chairman Pierre Martinet said Cécillon appeared to have had trouble adapting to ordinary life, including after his professional career ended.