Last decisive day at the Tarn-et-Garonne Assize Court in Montauban: on trial for the murder of his wife in Lamothe-Capdeville in 2023, Sébastien Bettencourt will hear the pleas, the prosecution, and the defense give it their all this Monday. The jurors will have to decide between the heaviest criminal charge and the theory of an act committed in an altered state. The verdict is expected on Monday, April 13, 2026.
This Monday, April 13, 2026, the trial of Sébastien Bettencourt has just resumed for its final day before the Assize Court of Tarn-et-Garonne, in Montauban.
At 41 years old, the man is being tried for the murder of his wife, Isabelle, accused of acts of torture and cruelty committed on March 13, 2023 in Lamothe-Capdeville. He has been in custody for three years.
The pleas of the civil parties
After three days of hearings marked by experts, investigators, and the heartbreaking testimony of the couple’s daughter, the morning begins with the pleas of the civil parties, presented by Lawyers Fabien Arakélian, Marion Gourdet, and Valérie Durand. The lawyers of Isabelle’s relatives intend to remind of the extreme violence of the facts, the shock of the siblings, and the lasting impact left by that March night that shattered five children.
The public prosecutor expected to seek life imprisonment
Following this, the public prosecutor Bruno Sauvage is expected to present his requisitions, outlining the timeline of the tragedy and arguing for the qualification of murder accompanied by acts of torture and cruelty, one of the harshest under the penal code.
Later in the afternoon, the defense will have the floor. Lawyer Morgane Morin will deliver her plea, the final attempt to convince the court that her client was not fully aware of his actions. On Friday, the lawyer had emphasized to the psychiatrists and neurologists a central element of her strategy: the possibility of a “sexsomnia” episode, a rare sleep disorder similar to sleepwalking, during which a person can engage in sexual acts without being aware or remembering. According to her, Bettencourt – who reportedly experienced sleepwalking episodes in adolescence – could have acted in an altered state.
At the defense’s request, President Marie Leclair has included in the five questions posed to the jurors two essential points concerning criminal irresponsibility or impaired judgment. If either of these hypotheses were accepted, it could potentially prevent the accused from receiving a life sentence.
Once these speeches are completed, the jurors will retire to the deliberation room. The verdict is expected by the end of the day, in a packed Olympe de Gouges courtroom where families, relatives, and the public are holding their breath.
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