Versailles – 03.07.2026: The assize chamber of the Yvelines on Friday sentenced 79-year-old Marie-Thérèse Garcia, frequently called “Ma Dalton” in media reports, to 25 years in prison. The court found it proven that in 1995 she abducted, deprived of liberty and killed her former sister-in-law Corinne Di Dio. The verdict comes more than three decades after the discovery of the body and marks the conclusion of a long-running judicial process.
Corinne Di Dio disappeared in the spring of 1995. At the end of June that same year, her dismembered body was recovered in a crate from the Seine. Despite extensive investigations, the case remained unsolved for a long time. Only later analyses of traces and a renewed assessment of witness statements led to charges against Garcia and another suspect. At trial the prosecution sought a 30-year sentence, pointing to the gravity of the offenses and the continuity of the incriminating evidence.
Co-defendant Antonio Marquez Gomez, who faced the same charges, was acquitted. His lawyers had emphasized doubts about the evidence and stressed the lack of a reliable link to the elements of the crime. After the acquittal Marquez Gomez left the courtroom visibly moved. The Attorney General may consider appeals within the statutory period.
Garcia’s defense pointed to her advanced age, health limitations and inconsistencies in statements. The chamber acknowledged these objections but assessed the cumulative body of evidence as sufficient for a conviction. In its public reasoning for the judgment, the court refrained, for reasons of victim and witness protection, from detailing individual pieces of evidence. The imposed prison sentence is below the maximum sought by the prosecution but, according to observers at the trial, reflects the seriousness of the events.
The trial in Versailles was followed by relatives, members of the press and observers from the judicial community. It drew attention to the challenges posed by cold cases: volumes of files, witnesses’ recollections after decades and the role of modern forensic techniques in the re-evaluation of traces. At the same time, the verdict shows that long-running investigations can lead to judicial decisions even after a significant lapse of time.
The verdict is not yet final. Garcia remains in custody; decisions on possible appeals will be taken in the coming days. For the victim’s family the ruling represents a formal closure in court, even though many questions about motive, the sequence of events and possible accomplices will continue to be discussed in public debate.
Sources
- Franceinfo
- Le Parisien
- Le Dauphiné