On the signs displayed in the lobby of the Ajaccio courthouse, the term “stupidity,” often used by Antonin Bru to describe the murder of Kimberly Extremera, killed on October 14, 2022 in Ajaccio and for which he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, has been crossed out. In its place, women’s rights organizations have written in red, “femicide.”
The terminology is disputed by the defense. “We are not dealing with a case of control found in cases of domestic violence, experts say we are dealing with a classic case of ‘conjugopathie.’ The suffering felt concerns both partners and is self-sustained by the couple itself,” argued Me Marie-Hélène Casanova Servas.
At 2 p.m. on the day of the verdict, before she rose to speak on behalf of Antonin Bru, followed by her colleague Me Antoine Vinier-Orsetti, a group holding signs and photos of Kimberly greeted the public at the entrance of the Ajaccio court. “When you enter the courthouse and see photos of the victim, beautiful, funny, a ray of sunshine, it’s something special. I want to say that the only ones who have the right to come with these photos are these three,” Me Vinier-Orsetti affirmed, pointing to the bench where Kimberly’s father, mother, and brother have been sitting for a week.
“But the supporters, including anonymous ones, do not agree with this statement. ‘Kimberly, you had the courage to leave him, he killed you,’ is also written on a piece of brown cardboard. Signs hung on the gates of the courthouse from the first day of the trial.
There are also highly symbolic supporters who have had the strength to enter the courtroom. First, two mothers. Two mothers who had already sat in the seats of the civil parties for the murders of their respective daughters: Joanna Tavera and Savannah Torrenti. The two mothers, in a common, discreet mourning, have sat side by side almost every day. They were already present at the trial of Bruno Garcia-Cruciani, the murderer of Julie Douib, killed on March 3, 2019, sentenced twice to life imprisonment. Representatives of women’s rights organizations, with badges around their necks or pinned to their clothing, have also taken turns at the bar asserting the origin, according to them, of the crime.
