Mamadou Diallo, who pleaded not guilty to the bloody murder of a postwoman in 2008 in Montreal-la-Cluse, was acquitted Monday by the Ain Assize Court “for the benefit of the doubt.”
After nearly five hours of deliberation, the 30-year-old was however sentenced to two years’ imprisonment – a sentence covered by his pre-trial detention – for the theft of a wad of banknotes which he recognized. Confused by his DNA nearly ten years after the facts, Mamadou Diallo claims to have gone to the scene of the murder but to have fled after discovering the victim’s body.
The body of Catherine Burgod, 41, was discovered on December 19, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. in the back room of the small post office in Montreal-la-Cluse, bathed in a pool of blood. 28 stab wounds were recorded on the body of this mother of two children, 5 months pregnant.
The villainous track was quickly followed by the investigators, a sum estimated at 2,490 euros having been stolen.
The president of the assize court declared to the address of the civil parties, heads lowered: “It’s the end of a judicial episode, it’s the end of the first instance”.
When the verdict was announced, Mamadou Diallo breathed a sigh of relief, before kissing the hands of his lawyer, Me Sylvie Noachovitch.
She hailed in front of journalists “a great victory for justice” and the “courage” of the jurors.