Risqué Management: The Murder of Edouard Stern

In the spring of 2008, Jacques Gasser, a psychiatrist the prosecutors appointed, stated after interviewing and observing C�cile that there was little evidence that C�cile killed Edouard in a "state of passion."

"C�cile Brossard never lost her capacity to know that her actions were wrong," Gasser wrote. "Her ability to determine that was, at the most, slightly diminished."

Gasser acknowledged that C�cile did show signs of having a borderline personality with narcissistic tendencies. However, central to the prosecution's case, C�cile was "not delirious nor were her perceptions of reality altered" when she murdered Edouard, Gasser wrote.

Aerial view of the prison in Champ-Dollon

C�cile apparently attempted to commit suicide shortly before the psychiatrist's report was released. Little was written about the incident, except that C�cile had slit her wrists while being transported from the prison in Champ-Dollon to the Belle Id�e hospital, but that her life was never in danger.

However, C�cile's attempt to end her life can also be construed as part of a pattern of psychotic behavior she has exhibited since she was jailed almost four years ago. She is heavily dependant on the anti-anxiety medication benzodiaz�pine, and she constantly claims to be in direct contact with Edouard. According to the psychiatric report, C�cile once declared that "his death has fused them together."

One may be tempted to think that C�cile's irrational behavior, holding conversations with dead people, is a ruse to help convince a jury of her diminished mental capacity in a court of law. However, even Bonnant does not think her behavior is an act. Instead, Bonnant told Crime Library, her eccentricities may largely stem from being alone in a cell for several years.

"I believe she was actually very much in love with [Edouard], and the solitude of jail has made something almost mystical out of the affair for her," Bonnant told Crime Library. "It is a normal system of psychological defense, and is a way to put herself out of reach of her own conscience."

When she is not talking to Edouard, C�cile spends her time in her cell thinking and writing, Bonnant said. Compared to women's maximum security prisons in other parts of the world, C�cile is treated "humanely" and is allowed one personal visit per week, he said.