Colorado Man Convicted of Murdering Wife and Lover Outside Paris, Gets 30 Years in Prison

A French court on Friday sentenced a 30-year-old man to 30 years in prison for killing his ex-wife and the mother of his three children and her lover outside Paris in 2020.

Charles Diedrich, 50, was found guilty of shooting and killing his ex-partner and new love interest in the town of Santa-Maur-Des-Fosses in the southeastern suburbs of Paris in July 2020.

A court in the southeast Paris suburb of Credeil imposed a minimum basic sentence of 20 years and stripped her of her parental rights.

“You admitted the facts without showing remorse or questioning your actions,” the judge said.

“I cannot believe that by killing the mother of your three daughters, you are a good father,” the judge added. “I hope you understand that.”

“I do,” replied Dietrich, speaking in English.

Relatives of the Americans say he and his wife Aurelie are in a custody battle over their three daughters.

The Geneva Gazette, citing court documents, reported that witnesses told investigators that Dietrich believed his wife had ‘stolen’ their children after receiving basic income.

They live in France with their mother but spend the Christmas holidays with their father on the other side of the Atlantic.

His ex-wife and new lover were found naked, their bodies riddled with bullets and covered in blood in the woman’s bedroom. Investigators found 18 guns in the house, the Denver Gazette said.

Aurelie, 43, and Christophe, 42, had only been together for two weeks when they were shot.

Separated since 2015, Dietrich and his wife were in the process of divorcing.

AFP is not releasing the last names of his wife and husband at the time of his death to protect the privacy of their families.

Dietrich said in court that he was framed, and insisted on his innocence. He followed the proceedings of the case with the help of a translator.

Wig, gloves and mask

Earlier this week the judge asked him if he had enemies who could “plan to defame him for the murder of a couple in Santa-Maur-Des.”

“He was not in the CIA …,” the judge pointed out.

The resident of Colorado admitted that he returned to France during the crime for less than 48 hours without notifying his family or his daughters, who were with him in the US during the summer holidays.

Dietrich was arrested in August 2020 at his home in Briargate, about 12 miles outside of Colorado Springs, the Denver Gazette reported at the time.

Diedrich admitted to going to Aurelie’s place but denied breaking into her home.

Confronted with images of the bodies, he described the scene as “sad” and “disgusting” but “disgusting” but insisted he had nothing to do with it.

He accused the investigators of being arrested and said that there was other evidence that was shown to him by the police.

“The police think too much that the law should be followed by you, the suckers, not them,” the lawsuit said.

Earlier this week prosecutor Stephanie Gauthier had described the double murder as “an act of war following a war plan, an act of private war” with the aim of getting money for her daughters.

“He came to the conclusion that his goal – to meet his children – could only be achieved through the death of Aurelie,” said the prosecutor, and said: “The prosecutor said:” The prosecutor said, “the prosecutor said:” It was also found for the sake of his children – it could only be achieved through the death of Aurelie, “said the prosecutor that he “planned the way he worked.”

Investigators found many pieces of evidence that did not work.

Security camera footage near the woman’s home showed a person wearing a wig, gloves and a mask. The footage shows Diedrich returning to the hotel around 3:30 a.m. the next day, the Denver Gazette reported.

A few weeks after the murder, the police recovered a rifle frame from the River Marne.

A ballistics test determined the weapon was purchased in 2019 in Colorado, using information from Diedrich’s driver’s license.

The American man’s lawyer said his client may have been denied.

“In a way, not admitting that these facts show that something has been done to humanity,” said Yvan Bonet.