‘Justice has finally been done’: British ex-pat’s French ex-lover gets 30 years behind bars for her murder
Gardener Jean-Louis Cayrou caged just two days after he tried to commit suicide
A FRENCH gardener who killed his ex-pat British lover and then hid her body was tonight found guilty of murder and caged for 30 years.
Jean-Louis Cayrou, 54, will serve a minimum of 20 years, for the killing of Patricia Wilson.
The 58-year-old disappeared from her house in south-west France in August 2012 and was never found.
The verdict comes just days after Cayrou tried to commit suicide after telling his murder trial: "By Monday, perhaps I’ll be in the morgue too".
Cayrou slashed his own wrists on Saturday in his cell in Rodez, near Toulouse.
He survived, but was "badly shaken", and has now heard his verdict at the trial in the Aveyron Assizes.
The court heard how Mrs Wilson was last seen on the evening of August 17, 2012, when she was dropped off at her home in the village of Vabre-Tizac in the Aveyron region.
Cayrou said: "It's nothing but a web of lies", and last Friday insisted "I have the impression that no-one understands me.
"I don’t know if I’m going to get to the end of my trial. By Monday, perhaps I’ll be in the morgue too."
The killer added: "There’ll be no confession because I’m not guilty. The evidence against me? It doesn’t weigh much more than the snow which falls on the mountains of the Auvergne" [a mountainous region of central France nearby].
But prosecutors offered overwhelming evidence that the gardener killed Mrs Wilson after she decided to end a brief relationship with him, and that he then disposed of her body.
Alerted by neighbours five days after her disappearance, cops found large quantities of Ms Wilson's blood around the property and in Cayrou's car.
Donald Marcus, Wilson's former partner who has since moved back into the house in Vabre-Tizac, near Rodez, attended the opening of the trial, which lasted a week.
A computer at Mrs Wilson's picturesque home suggested that her last known action while still alive was to play a video of Aretha Franklin singing "Since You've Been Gone".
This was at 9.26pm on August 17, 2012, and two minutes later all electricity in the house was cut, and the laptop was switched off.
Mrs Wilson had just returned from a brief trip to England, after splitting up with Cayrou, whom she had employed to do odd jobs - mainly the gardening.
Detectives believe Cayrou was lying in wait, and bludgeoned Mrs Wilson to death before disposing of her body - which has never been found.
Alerted by near-neighbours five days later, forensic officers found Mrs Wilson's DNA on a number of items including gardening tools, and some of her underwear was stashed in the glove box.
Mrs Wilson, a former advertising executive from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, had moved to France with her partner, Donald Marcus, in 2008.
She returned to Britain in 2011 for health reasons, leading the couple to separate, and it is soon afterwards that Mrs Wilson had an affair with Cayrou.
Cayrou, who lived in a nearby town and had worked for a number of ex-pats in the area since 2005, is said to have been "badly affected" by the split.
A number of trips by Cayrou to the neighbouring Tarn region immediately after the killing raised suspicion against him, along with changes to his story during questioning.
Cayrou initially denied being at Mrs Wilson's house on August 17, then said he had been there and touched various objects, while denying any knowledge of the murder.
Mrs Wilson had also been bombarded with phone calls from Cayrou ahead of her disappearance, the last at 8:57 pm on the evening she disappeared.
Friends of the 58-year-old said she had reported Cayrou acting violently towards her and attempting to suffocate her.
Cayrou has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence but turned himself in to police on August 23, and was charged two days later.
He was initially held on remand, then released on bail with an electronic tag in August 2013, before being sent back to prison following a prosecution appeal.
Cayrou's lawyer, Jacques Levy, said his client had - "like all innocent people" - defended himself badly.
"There is no other suspect, but have they looked for one?" Mr Levy told the court.
But Maryse Pechevis, the barrister representing Mrs Wilson's mother and former partner Donald Marcus in a civil case, said: "There is really a lot of objective, corroborated evidence."
Ms Pechevis added: "The trial will not necessarily allow mourning to begin, but it will move things forward."
The court originally considered postponing the trial verdict following Cayrou's attempted suicide, but he is now behind bars.
Patricia's mum Jean Wilson, 84, said in a statement that she had lost her "best friend" and "confidante".
Following the murder verdict, she said: "I’m pleased that justice has finally been done and that Mr Cayrou has been found guilty of this horrific crime."
But, in a written statement, Mrs Wilson, 84, added: "This verdict is tinged with sadness as I will always have to live without the daughter who I loved from the bottom of my heart.
"When Patricia was so cruelly taken away from me I didn't just lose a daughter, but my best friend, my confidante and the person I would turn to when I was low.
"She was the perfect daughter and when she died it broke my heart. To lose a child is a devastating experience, but to lose a child in this manner, through an act of extreme violence is indescribable.
"When her life was snatched away in such a brutal way, a large part of my own was taken away forever. Losing her was the biggest sadness of my life and has left a gap that can never be filled.
"I think about her and the terrible circumstances of her death every day. All I am left with are the fond memories of my loving daughter and the wonderful times we spent together. I will never forget her."
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