Jubillar case: Appeal trial postponed to 2027 after confession

Toulouse – 21 July 2026: In the case of nurse Delphine Aussaguel, who has been missing since December 2020, the appeal trial against her husband Cédric Jubillar, which had been scheduled for September, has been postponed until the first half of 2027. The decision was made on Tuesday following a meeting of all parties to the proceedings at the Toulouse courthouse. The latest progress in the investigation is to be thoroughly examined before a new trial is held.

The development was prompted by statements that the now 38-year-old is said to have repeated before judicial authorities on 15 July. According to information from the proceedings, Jubillar admitted that he was responsible for his wife’s death. He is said to have described grabbing her by the neck and strangling her during an argument. The details of this account are now part of further investigations and must be legally assessed.

Delphine Aussaguel disappeared during the night of 16 December 2020 from the home she shared with her husband in Cagnac-les-Mines, in the Tarn department. There had been no trace of her for five and a half years. Cédric Jubillar was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Albi in October 2025 for the murder of his wife; because he appealed, the verdict is not yet final.

Following his confession, Jubillar led investigators to a field near Mailhoc in mid-July, around ten kilometres from the couple’s former home. Gendarmes found bone fragments there. The Institut de recherche criminelle de la gendarmerie nationale confirmed through DNA analyses that the human remains could be attributed to Delphine Aussaguel. The discovery ends the long uncertainty over her whereabouts, but not the unresolved questions in the case.

The investigation is expected to determine whether the remains found can provide information about the cause of death and what further evidence can be secured at the site. A reconstruction, as well as additional psychiatric and psychological expert assessments, are also being considered. The appeal hearing had originally been scheduled to begin on 21 September 2026 before the Haute-Garonne Assize Court in Toulouse.

The Court of Appeal justified the postponement on the grounds of the procedural steps still required, the need for an orderly investigation and the principle of adversarial proceedings. For the relatives, this means further months of waiting. Their representatives also stressed that the new evidence must be carefully examined so that the hearing can take place on the most complete factual basis possible.

Jubillar remains in custody. At the appeal hearing, he will continue to stand accused of killing his wife. How the new statements and the DNA-confirmed findings will affect the legal assessment remains unclear. The decision rests with the court; until a final verdict is delivered, the presumption of innocence applies.