A French court on Friday sentenced an American man to 30 years in prison for killing his estranged wife and mother of his three children and her lover outside Paris in 2020.
Charles Dietrich, 50, was found guilty of shooting dead his former partner and her new love interest in the town of Saint-Maur-des-Fosses in the southeastern suburbs of Paris in July 2020.
The court in the southeastern Paris suburb of Creteil imposed a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and stripped Dietrich of his parental rights.
“You coldly contested the facts without expressing any regret or questioning your actions,” the judge said.
“I do not believe that by killing the mother of your three daughters, you are being a good father,” the judge added. “I hope you understand that.”
“I do,” Dietrich replied, speaking in English.
The American man’s relatives said he and his wife Aurelie were in conflict over the custody of their three daughters.
The Denver Gazette, citing court documents, reported that witnesses told investigators that Dietrich believed his wife had “stolen” their children after she received primary custody.
They lived in France with their mother but spent Christmas and summer holidays with their father across the Atlantic.
His estranged wife and her new lover were found naked, their bodies riddled with bullets and covered in blood in the woman’s bedroom. Investigators found 18 gun casings inside the house, the Denver Gazette reported.
Aurelie, 43, and Christophe, 42, had known each other for only two weeks when they were shot dead.
Separated since 2015, Dietrich and his wife had been in the process of divorcing.
AFP is not disclosing the last names of his wife and the man she was with at the time of her death to protect the privacy of their families.
Dietrich claimed in court he had been framed, insisting on his innocence. He followed the proceedings with the help of an interpreter.
Wig, gloves and mask
Earlier this week the judge asked him whether he had enemies who could “plot to frame him for the murder of a couple in Saint-Maur-des-Fosses.”
“He wasn’t in the CIA…,” the judge pointed out.
The Colorado resident admitted to returning to France at the time of the crime for less than 48 hours without informing his family or daughters, who were with him in the U.S. for the summer holidays.
Dietrich was arrested in August 2020 at his home in Briargate, which is about 12 miles outside Colorado Springs, the Denver Gazette reported at the time.
Dietrich admitted to having gone to Aurelie’s place but denied having broken into her home.
Confronted with photos of the bodies, he described the scene as “savage” and “disgusting” but insisted he had nothing to do with it.
He accused investigators of being biased and claimed that some evidence had been falsified by the police.
“The police very much think that the law must be followed by you, the suckers, and not by them,” he said in court.
Earlier this week prosecutor Stephanie Gauthier had described the double murder as “an act of war following a battle plan, an act of private war” with the aim of regaining custody of his daughters.
“He came to the conclusion that his goal — being reunited with his children — could only be achieved through Aurelie’s death,” the prosecutor said, adding that he had “methodically planned his actions.”
Investigators uncovered numerous pieces of incriminating evidence.
Security camera footage near the woman’s home showed a person wearing a wig, gloves, and a mask. Footage showed Dietrich returning to a hotel about 3:30 a.m. the next day, the Denver Gazette reported.
Several weeks after the murder, police recovered the frame of a gun from the Marne River.
Ballistics tests determined that the weapon had been purchased in 2019 in Colorado, using information from Dietrich’s driving license.
The American man’s lawyer said his client might have been in denial.
“In a way, not acknowledging these facts shows that there is a shred of humanity,” said Yvan Bonet.
