Murder accused Omar Hedi (36) said he had no recollection of killing his wife by stabbing her 29 times, when questioned by the presiding judge at his trial in the Namur Assise Court, which opened on Monday.
Hedi is accused of stabbing Mariana Gouverneur (25) to death on 18 April 2021 at around 11:00 pm in Rochefort. The events took place in the apartment where the couple and their five children lived, on Rue de France.
The accused had left Tunisia for Belgium in 2015. He met Mariana Gouverneur, 10 years his junior, in the Athus area.
Selling drugs to other migrants in a squat
“I was selling drugs and messing around with Arabs and Africans, in a squat," the accused explained. "I met Mariana on the drug scene, and she was doing cocaine, heroin and cannabis. I tried to keep her away from it, even though I was selling it before I had the children.”
He spent nine months in custody for selling drugs, while Mariana was pregnant with their second child. The couple married in April 2019 and settled in La Roche-en-Ardenne before moving to Rochefort.
“In February 2021, the problems started, she was making video conference calls with men at night, she was falling back into drugs," Hedi testified. "She no longer cared about our family life, did nothing for the children. I suspected she was cheating on me.” Hedi said he then inquired about a divorce and consulted his lawyer.
Suspicions of infidelity
In late March and early April, Mariana spent two weekends with her parents. “She was seeing other men, partying and taking drugs,” the accused claimed
The presiding magistrate then asked about the fateful weekend of 17-18 April 2021. “On the 17th she said she was going out with friends, I felt she was lying," the accused recalled. "On the 18th, she said she wanted to go away for a week and wanted me to look after the kids.”
At the stroke of 10.30 p.m., a neighbour reported hearing an argument. A call was made to the emergency services at around 11.00 pm. “I reproached her for leaving me alone with the children," Hedi explained. "She was talking on the phone, wearing headphones and ignoring me, as if to taunt me. I became increasingly upset. I grabbed the knife, told her she was making a fool of me, disgusting me, lying to me. She was turning her back on me, not listening to me.”
'I don't remember the 29 stab wounds'
Without perceptible emotion, the accused continued: “I entered the room with a red-handled knife taken from the kitchen, I don’t remember anything. She told me I was going to kill her, but I don’t remember hearing her scream. Then I was shocked. I don’t remember the 29 stab wounds.
"I wanted to die and turn the knife on myself, but she stopped me, so the children wouldn’t be orphans. She called her mother and I told her I’d killed Mariana because of her. Just before, they were talking about me on the phone in the bathroom, about our situation.”
Suddently, the accused said 'I'd like to apologise'
"She called a friend with whom I suspected she was having an affair," he continued. "I went out to the fire station to get help and called a neighbour for help. I then ran into a neighbour and told her I’d killed my wife.”
The accused says he would like to apologise
The accused claimed to be certain that none of the children witnessed the scene. “In a rage, I banged my head on the doors,” he added.
While forensic examiners found defensive lesions on the victim’s hands, Omar Hedi said he had no recollection of Mariana defending herself.
“I’m very sorry, I’d like to apologize to the family. I speak by mail and videoconference with my children, I explain my situation to them, I share my regrets,” the accused said.
The attorney for the children’s ad hoc guardian pointed out that, in a letter, Hedi said he “did not kill their mother on purpose.”
The trial was set to continue on Monday afternoon with the presentation of the investigators’ work.
