"Lorvellec, Bernard, 55 years old, gendarme in Toulouse, 31 years of service, including 20 in judicial service," he introduced himself at the bar of the criminal court in Albi, southern France, on Wednesday, September 24. Lorvellec was the lead investigator in the case of Cédric Jubillar, accused of murdering his wife. Seen from behind, he had the build of a rugby player, his neck shaved high beneath a striking cap of dark hair. From the front, he looked like a gendarme straight out of a 19th-century engraving, with a pointed white beard and matching handlebar mustache. The prosecution expected him to be the impeccable mason building the case against the defendant. The defense intended to confront him with a long list of missteps. Seven hours later in the courtroom, there was no clear winner or loser.
When Lorvellec began his testimony, everyone still had in mind the mixed impression left the previous day by the two young gendarmes who were the first to arrive at the Jubillar home on the morning of December 16, 2020, and the shortcomings noted in their observations. "What is not done immediately is lost," Lorvellec commented soberly. He was assigned to the case the next day, left his brigade in Toulouse and settled for months with his team at the gendarmerie in Cagnac-les-Mines, southern France.
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