THE CAPPÉLAÈRE CASE: THE WATER TASTED FUNNY | Enquêtes criminelles | W9

Cannes, April 7 2015. Gabriel Marino gets a call from his 85-year-old neighbour, Suzanne Bailly. But she’s not her usual self: she feels ill, rambles in her speech… Gabriel goes round to her home at once and finds the old lady in a rapidly deteriorating state. While waiting for the emergency services he takes a glass of mineral water. And, a few minutes later, he too is stricken with giddiness and almost collapses. The two friends are taken to hospital. Test are carried out and the verdict is clear: they were poisoned with atropine. In the friendly old lady’s kitchen, investigators discover a bottle of water. Analysis reveals the presence of a high level of the poison. Who would want to poison the retiree? At first sight, nobody, because she was well-liked in the block. However, suspicion falls upon one man: Olivier Cappélaère, 45. Suzanne had sold him her apartment as a life annuity: he will only come into possession on the death of the old lady and, until then, he is paying nearly 1000 Euros per month, a considerable sum for this salesman who is experiancing financial problems. Did he deliberately poison the old lady to get his hands on her apartment? Described as a sympathetic and caring person, Olivier Cappélaère seems to be above suspicion. Only, just two years previously, the suspect made the acquaintance of Jacqueline Imbert, another lonely woman, aged 92. She died suddenly after having bequeathed him all her property. A worrying coincidence…