Husband of murdered French jogger emerges as prime suspect
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Daval (centre) makes an appearance with his wife's parents in November 2017.
PHOTO: AFP
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BESANCON, France (AFP) - A French IT worker suspected of killing his jogger wife, setting fire to her body and hiding it in a wood looked set to be charged with her murder on Tuesday (Jan 30), his lawyer said.
Alexia Daval's grisly murder caused shock in the eastern town of Gray-la-Ville in October, with nearly 10,000 people turning out for a silent march in her memory.
The charred body of the 29-year-old bank employee was found in a wood near her home. Her husband Jonathann, 34, who reported her missing, said at the time that his wife had gone out running on a Saturday morning and never came back.
In the days after her death, he cut a distraught figure, appearing in tears at a press conference with her parents and leading one of the running outings organised across the country in her memory.
Investigators said she was beaten and probably strangled before her killer set fire to her body and hid it under tree branches a few kilometres from her usual jogging route.
On Monday, her husband emerged as the prime suspect.
After interviewing more than 200 people in three months, police arrested him and searched the couple's home.
His lawyer Ornella Spatafora told reporters it was "nearly certain" he would be charged with her murder later on Tuesday.
Daval has denied any hand in his wife's death but his other lawyer Randall Schwerdorffer said that new evidence had raised "real questions" about his version of events and that it was "not a coincidence that Jonathann is under suspicion".
Police sources said a neighbour had reported hearing a car leaving the couple's home on the night before Alexia was reported missing - a fact backed up by a tracking device on his work car.
Traces of tyres matching those of his car were also discovered close to where Alexia's body was found, Schwerdorffer said. Jonathann Daval said he spent that night at home.
Le Point news weekly reported meanwhile that a cloth found on her body was a sheet taken from the couple's home.
Daval, initially questioned as a witness, had told police he argued with his wife on the day before her disappearance, which he said explained the scratches and bite marks on her hands.
Several sources told AFP the couple were experiencing marital problems.
