British woman shot dead in France, partner confesses
The man claims to have accidentally shot her with a hunting rifle at their home in Charente
The man is reported to have killed his partner on Sunday, March 15. Photo for illustration purposes only. Google maps/robert paul van beets/Shutterstock
A British man living in Charente has turned himself in to the gendarmerie and stated he had accidentally shot dead his partner with a hunting rifle.
The man, who has not been named, was taken into custody on suspicion of spousal murder, Angoulême’s Public Prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday seen by The Connexion.
It confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into the murder of a spouse using a firearm.
The 47-year-old was due to appear before a judge on Wednesday, March 18, to face formal charges and possible pre-trial detention.
The incident happened at the couple’s home on the outskirts of Brillac, north-west of Limoges, a small village of some 600 people.
Gendarmes went to the property and found “a lifeless body” according to the Public Prosecutor’s statement.
A magistrate from the Angoulême prosecutor’s office attended the scene, along with a medical examiner from the Poitiers Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Initial findings of the investigation confirmed the victim was a 49-year-old British woman, who had been in a relationship with the man since June 2025.
“The on-site examination by the forensic pathologist confirmed the presence of two ballistic wounds in the victim’s upper body,” the statement said.
A hunting rifle was seized at the couple’s home.
The man turned himself into Confolens gendarmerie on Monday, March 16 and said he had killed his partner the evening before, on Sunday, March 15.
During questioning, he stated the shooting was accidental.
The man owns a construction company in the UK, local media report.
The victim’s body will now undergo an autopsy at the Poitiers Forensic Institute.
The couple were not known to police and there were no prior reports of domestic violence.
