Frenchman jailed over killing champagne boss father

Champagne being poured "beer-like way," by tilting the glass and gently sliding the Champagne down its inside wall into the flute, Thursday Aug. 12, 2010 in Paris (Associated Press photo/Jacques Brinon)

A French court Thursday sentenced a man to 25 years in jail for killing his father, in a murder linked to the family’s champagne business.

Jean-Luc Vadin, 57, was found shot dead in his home in the northeastern village of Cumieres in 2022, in what appeared to be a break-in.

His son Yann Vadin, now 36, initially denied murdering his father, then said he had killed him by accident and made the crime scene look like someone had broken in.

The defendant said he was overwhelmed by the pressure of being the ninth generation to take over the Vadin-Plateau champagne business.

He claimed he had arrived at the family home very early one morning with a gun to kill himself, but saw his father and shot in his direction, then reloaded and shot him again to “end his suffering”.

He then went home and turned up at work at 8 am (0700 GMT), the investigation showed.

Prosecutors argued he killed his father after siphoning 8,000 to 40,000 euros (US$9,000 to US$46,000) per month from the family business account to spend, including on horses and holidays.

They argued it was a premeditated murder after he stole money from the company, as shown in his attempt to stage the crime scene.

But the son’s lawyer, Nairi Zadourian, said her client had been depressed and suicidal, after “exhausting himself physically and morally without having really chosen” his career.