In a gruesome case from southern France, an American man, originally from Brooklyn and currently based in Indonesia, has admitted that he stabbed his wife to death and then dismembered her body. However, the murder accused claims he acted in self-defence when an argument between him and his wife turned violent.
The person involved, Billy Kruger, is a French American man who teaches diving in Jakarta. He and his wife were vacationing on the Mediterranean coast of France, in the commune of Peyriac-de-Mer, near Narbonne, and stayed at their vacation home. The wife, Laure Bardina-Kruger, was French herself. The couple used to visit their vacation home regularly.
Discovery of the crime
The victim's father lived nearby and was expecting his daughter and son-in-law to visit him before leaving. However, when he couldn't contact them, he became worried and informed the police. When the officials arrived at the vacation home of the Krugers, they found the pair missing. On further investigation, the torn-apart body of Bardina-Kruger was discovered in a storm drain.
Billy Kruger was scheduled to take a flight from Toulouse back to Indonesia. The police, on discovering that he was getting on the flight, rushed to the airport and arrested him in the boarding zone on Friday. Kruger is now charged with aggravated murder and is held in custody. The trial in the case is likely to begin soon.
So far, the husband has only come forward with what the authorities describe as a 'vague' defence for how he acted. Even if he stabbed his wife in self-defence, his actions after the incident – dismembering the body, disposing it off into the storm drain, not informing authorities, and trying to leave the country, are enough to put him in serious trouble.
The deceased victim, Laure Bardina-Kruger, was also employed in Jakarta. She worked as a teacher of the French language in the Jakarta Intercultural School. The reason for the argument which, according to the accused, led to him mortally wounding his wife has not been revealed.
If the case of aggravated murder is established in the court, the accused could be sentenced to life-imprisonment. The case is currently being handled by prosecutor Marie-Agnes Joly.
