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Court Hands 23-Year Sentence to Man in 2019 Killing Over Friend’s Suicide

Judges concluded the attack was motivated by grief over the victim’s son’s 2015 suicide after reviewing evidence of premeditation.

Overview

  • The Cour d’assises des Landes in Mont-de-Marsan rendered its verdict on June 18 after a three-day trial.
  • Samuel Matias Batista was sentenced to 23 years of criminal detention, below the 25-year term requested by prosecutor Marc Mariée.
  • Prosecutors presented evidence of premeditation, citing messages Batista sent declaring he had “someone to kill” and the procurement of a knife.
  • The defense argued Batista acted on an emotional need to confront Guy Lecomte over his friend Danaël’s suicide.
  • Witnesses detailed how Batista stabbed Lecomte 32 times in Commensacq in September 2019.