The thirty-year-old man, who was detained by police on Thursday in the stabbing murder investigation of a retired judge at his home in Quimper, was charged with intentional homicide and jailed, the city prosecutor’s office announced on Friday.
The body of Éric Sévère-Jlivet, 61, former attorney general at the Rennes Court of Appeal, was found on Sunday at his home in Quimper.
A 33-year-old man living south of Finistère was hospitalized under duress on Saturday “after introducing himself to one of his acquaintances in a highly agitated state” and was taken into police custody on Thursday, according to a press release from Quimper prosecutor Cécile Flamet.
Stabbing after a fight
During the trial, “the person concerned explained that he had met the victim several months earlier and had come to her house on the night of the incident. The absence of signs of burglary seemed to indicate that he entered with the consent of the owner of the place,” said the prosecutor.
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Later that evening, “a dispute between them resulted in a fight, during which the defendant stabbed the former judge several times.”
The suspect admitted he was acting in self-defense. He explained that he then left the house, fleeing using the victim’s vehicle, after confiscating various items belonging to the former judge. “However, he then returned to the scene and left his vehicle on the sidewalk,” added the prosecutor.
“In the current state of the investigation, there does not appear to be any connection between the acts committed and the past professional activities” of Éric Sévère-Jlivet, prosecutors said.
Previous convictions
The defendant, without professional activity, has been convicted several times, mainly for property crimes.
On 12 November, he appeared before the Quimper criminal court on charges of theft and damage and was sentenced to six months’ suspended prison sentence, including specifically a duty of care.
Éric Sévère-Jlivet has been retired since 1 January 2025. He served as investigative judge in Cayenne, responsible for training at the national school of judges, vice president of the court in Papeete, substitute general at the public prosecutor’s office in Paris, then advocate general at the court of appeals of Rennes.
The crime of murder is punishable by 30 years in prison.
