DNA Evidence Prompts Push for Retrial in Infamous Omar Raddad Murder Case

New developments in the Omar Raddad case. His lawyer will file a request for a retrial of the 1994 trial this Thursday following further analyzes by Laurent Breniaux, a private expert near the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal on two inscriptions: "Omar m’a tuer", written distinctly on the door of the wine cellar, and "Omar m’a t", on the door of the boiler room, near the body of Ghislaine Marchal, reports Le Monde. The report of these analyzes, delivered in 2019, reveals the presence of about thirty traces of a complete male DNA not belonging to Omar Raddad and found in one of the inscriptions.

According to the lawyer of the accused, the specialist in genetic analyzes has hypothesized a "direct or indirect primary transfer at the time of the facts" to explain the presence of the traces. The author of the message would have deposited the DNA. A comparison with the DNA of Ghislaine Marchal’s relatives proved negative. "The investigations of the Nice public prosecutor’s office are still ongoing, but I have decided with my client Omar Raddad to file a request for a retrial. It will be filed this Thursday, June 24, the date which marks the death of Ghislaine Marchal," said Sylvie Noachovitch, the lawyer of the former Moroccan gardener on France Inter. A request for a new trial based on new fingerprints found at the crime scene had been rejected in 2002 by the court of review.

Accused of the murder of Ghislaine Marchal, Omar Raddad had been sentenced in 1994 to 18 years in prison. Pardoned by former French President Jacques Chirac at the request of King Hassan II, he had been granted parole in 1998 after seven years in prison. Omar is free but still guilty, because a presidential pardon does not cancel a conviction. The law of June 20, 2014 which eases the conditions for reviewing a criminal trial gives hope. It made it possible to obtain "decisive" elements. Thanks to this law, new investigations have been carried out. While Sylvie Noachovitch is fighting to rehabilitate her client, the victim’s family continues to designate Omar Raddad as the sole perpetrator of the murder of the wealthy heiress.