The countdown is on. This Wednesday, the Court of Cassation begins the examination of the appeal brought by Willy Bardon and his lawyers, who demand that the verdict of the Assize Court of the North which sentenced him on July 1, 2021 in the Élodie case be annulled. Kulik. An atrocious crime for which he has always denied his involvement.
The 24-year-old young woman had died one winter evening in 2002, in terrible conditions: after leaving the road, she had been kidnapped – as evidenced by the soundtrack of her desperate call for firefighters, on which we hear several men. She was then found 6 km away, raped, burned, her body abandoned on a dirt road near a pile of manure.
Ten years later, the DNA found on a condom had given a name… Too late, however: Grégory Wiart had died in the meantime. But by investigating the young man’s entourage, the gendarmes had become convinced that one of his friends, Willy Bardon, was with him that evening. Centerpiece of the accusation: the soundtrack of the call for firefighters, on which we would distinguish the voice of this former plumber.
PODCAST. Murder of Élodie Kulik: a recording, a verdict, and still gray areas
At the center of the debates during the trials which were held, in Amiens at the end of 2020 then in Douai, this piece of evidence was finally retained as proof of his guilt. With an identical sentence, thirty years in prison, but courts of assizes which had gone each time further than the requisitions. The Advocates General had indeed demanded partial acquittals, recognizing that nothing could incriminate Willy Bardon for the rape and murder – a crime scene separate from that of the kidnapping.
This is one of the major problems raised by Willy Bardon’s lawyers in the memorandum they submitted last April to the highest court of the French judiciary: the motivation of the verdict, mandatory, would not solve anything this logical impasse. They consider in particular too vague the formula of the Court of Assizes of the North according to which the crime “forms an inseparable whole” to justify the condemnation of Willy Bardon for all the facts: kidnapping, forcible confinement, rape and murder. More generally, the defense had noted several breaches of procedure that occurred during the hearing, believing that he had not received a fair trial.
Pure formalism in appearance, but with very concrete consequences if the Court of Cassation were to annul the verdict. If he says he is ready for a new trial, at 72, Jacky Kulik, father of Élodie, aspires to put an end to this fight, which has become the fight of his life. In the event of rejection, it is on the contrary an immense hope which would be extinguished for Willy Bardon, who had already tried to commit suicide by swallowing a pesticide when the first verdict was pronounced, in Amiens. The decision of the Court of Cassation should be known within four to six weeks.