Francis Vandy was tried before the assizes. He is guilty of murder and assassination, on Constantin Tomescu and Gabriel Ghelmegeanu, aged 48 and 45.
On August 28, 2019, in the evening, he surprised the two men on his land, fishing in his pond, in Forchies-la-Marche. They argued, he drew his handgun, a shot went off: Constantin Tomescu collapsed, killed instantly by a bullet to the forehead. He then put a bullet in the head of Gabriel Ghelmegeanu. Police found the bodies, hidden in a bush, the following day. The weapon has never been found: but this former commissioner, described as a “modern day cowboy” where a real arsenal was found, had declared his service weapon missing when he retired. It is suspected that it was this weapon that was used to kill the two victims, even if Francis Vandy fiercely denied.
The jury ruled that the first shot, killing Constantin Tomescu, was “instinctive”, in the heat of the moment, and therefore murder. On the other hand, the second to kill Gabriel Ghelmegeanu was premeditated: the few seconds necessary for the former commissioner to say to himself that the witness had to be eliminated to avoid trouble were enough to convince the jury that this was an assassination.
Francis Vandy, 72, received a 25-year prison sentence.