“I stayed there, watching her sink”: at the Gard conference, the terrible story of this father who drowned his daughter in the Rhône

Heavy atmosphere at the Gard Assize Court, chaired by Christian Pasta FREE NOON – François Barrère

L'avocat général Sié et Me Anne Delachapelle, partie civile avec Me Marc Geiger. MIDI LIBRE – François Barrère

Sergio Gil-Gonzales, 42, is  retried on appeal in Nîmes, after being sentenced to life imprisonment, with 22 years of security, for the murder of his daughter Sarah, 11 years old, on July 18, 2020 in Avignon.

"My daughter was happy to play with her stones. I called her to join me, I looked at her, she looked at me. We remained silent for a moment, I asked him to hold out his hands, it happened very quickly."In the room of the Gard Assize Court, this Friday March 15, a man delivers one of the worst stories that one can hear, between these walls which have yet absorbed so many criminal echoes, for decades.

The sinister morning of July 18, 2020

His name is Sergio Gil-Gonzalès, he is Spanish, and from the opening of his appeal trial, he retraces in detail, at the request of the president,' nbsp;this sinister morning of July 18, 2020, which earned him a sentence of life imprisonment, accompanied by 22 years of security, on March 23, 2023 before the Vaucluse Assize Court.

"I tied his hands and feet. She didn't understand what was happening. She looked at me, she didn't even speakcontinues this bearded forty-year-old with big glasses, who frequently glances towards the bench where Hélène, Sarah's mother, has tears in her eyes permanently.

One of the last photos of Sarah, then aged 11. FREE NOON – Reyes Family

Bloody face and four broken teeth

These two are first cousins, and fell in love in Spain when they were 16. At 20, they lived in Madrid, then she left him to settle in Les Angles, in the Gard, near Avignon, because he was drinking and he beat her. What follows is nothing but blows, breakups and reconciliations. She regained consciousness one day in her bathroom, with a bloody face and four broken teeth. She does not file a complaint. Sarah was born in 2008, with a slight mental disability. Sergio continues to drink and hit, Hélène cashes in, and remains employed in a large DIY store. In 2018, she broke up definitively: he returned to Spain, where he seemed to wean himself off alcohol, with the help of his father.

Also read:Sarah, 11 years old, thrown into the Rhône by her father and drowned: "ignominy calls for no clemency"

He returns to resume common life

"But he continues to call her every day as s& ;rsquo;they were still as a couple" says the commissioner of the Avignon PJ who led the investigation. "On July 5, 2020, he returned to Les Angles with the firm intention of resuming life together, and she refused to welcome him. But she allows him to see Sarah again, on July 5 and 11, and as planned on the 18th, since he was to return to Spain on the 21st."< /p>

Hélène comes with Sarah to pick him up in the morning at his hotel in Rochefort-du-Gard, then drops them off at the Angles shopping center. Sergio forces Sarah to give her mother a second kiss. "You never know if there is a bomb on the bus". And then the father and the child go to hell.

"It all started with a beautiful morning"

"It all started with a beautiful morning. She was happy to stop by during the day with me, she was sitting by the window, singing while sipping a Pepsi-Cola. They get off the bus at 10:42 , on the Daladier bridge, near Ile Piot, in the center of the Rhône, where the cameras film them one last time. "We headed towards the Rhône, we reached this place to which we had already been", a bank hidden from view, at the foot of a staircase. Sergio sends new text messages to Hélène, so that she accepts his return home. 

"She refused. Under the influence of alcohol, emotion and the fact that I was no longer myself, I was seized by a sort of ;rsquo;uncalculated act. I tied his hands and feet. She didn't understand what was happening. She was looking at me. She didn't even speak he continued in dead silence.

"I gave her a kiss and left her in the water"

"We turned around. We headed towards the water. I took her in my arms, I entered the water with her and being very careful, and with a lot of respect for her, I gave her a kiss and I I left it in the water. I came out. She sank. She resurfaced. I was in shock, and I stood there watching it sink, little by little, little by little, until it disappeared.

But what is true in this story, every detail of which pierces the heart of Hélène, who experiences this second trial as a new torture? The forensic doctor noted "the strong restraint" of the tie which surrounded the child's hands. Did she remain silent, as he claims, during this scene which resembles a sacrifice ? Did she cry out in pain, call for help before drowning ? & ;nbsp;

"At the time, I wasn't myself, but I'm here to let the truth be known made" assures the accused, who has changed his version several times. Verdict Tuesday.

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