Husband admits killing wife in France's notorious no-body murder case

A French man convicted of murdering his wife despite the absence of a body or confession has now admitted responsibility for her death, in a dramatic reversal ahead of his appeal trial.

Cédric Jubillar, 38, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in October 2025 for the murder of his wife Delphine, who disappeared from the couple's home in Cagnac-les-Mines (Tarn) in December 2020. Her body has never been found.

His conviction rested on circumstantial evidence and the French legal principle of intime conviction, under which judges and jurors decide whether they are personally convinced of a defendant's guilt after hearing all the evidence.

Jubillar had always maintained his innocence and appealed against the verdict. His appeal trial is due to begin in Toulouse on September 21.

Confession to lawyers

Jubillar acknowledged responsibility for his wife's death during a series of meetings with his new lawyers, Maîtres Pierre and Guy Debuisson, local newspaper La Dépêche du Midi reported on Monday (July 6).

"As our meetings progressed, he admitted his involvement in the case, with a sense of relief," Pierre Debuisson told the newspaper.

"He then gave me a detailed handwritten statement containing an admission of guilt."

Jubillar is now expected to explain the circumstances of Delphine's death directly to the courts, his lawyers say.

They add that he is also prepared to indicate where her body can be found so she can be given a burial, although French judicial authorities have not as yet announced any new searches.

The lawyers - who are father and son - said the admission followed months of meetings with their client after they took over his defence earlier this year.

The reported confession could alter the course of the appeal proceedings and may lead to further investigative steps before the trial opens in September.

Lack of evidence

Delphine Jubillar, a 33-year-old nurse and mother of two, disappeared during the night of December 15-16, 2020.

Despite extensive searches, investigators never found a crime scene, forensic evidence establishing how she died or her body.

Prosecutors nevertheless argued that Jubillar killed his wife after their marriage broke down and she planned to leave him for another man.

The case became one of France's most closely followed criminal investigations because of the lack of direct evidence and attracted widespread public attention.

The latest development comes several months after a civil court stripped Jubillar of parental authority over the couple's two children following his conviction.

Under French law, a parent convicted of killing the other parent will normally lose parental authority unless a court decides otherwise.

French prosecutors have not publicly commented on the reported confession and it remains unclear whether the appeal hearing scheduled for September will proceed as planned.