Overview
- The Cour de cassation, sitting in its full assembly, ruled on January 16, 2026 that the case is prescribed, creating binding jurisprudence for similar files.
- The court found no insurmountable obstacle that would suspend limitation, noting that an offense was suspected from 1986 and investigations were possible despite the hidden body.
- The ruling ends all proceedings against Yves Chatain despite his 2022 admission and indications that led investigators to remains, meaning there will be no trial.
- Prosecutor Rémy Heitz had urged a jurisprudential evolution, warning that several of the 22 cold cases handled in Nanterre, about seven identified as vulnerable, could be affected.
- Relatives condemned the outcome as a “violent injustice,” while legal experts highlighted that murder prescribed in 10 years at the time, later extended to 20 in 2017 without reviving already time-barred crimes.