Claude Vandeloise, former University French professor, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and obstruction of justice Wednesday for the death of his wife.
Prosecutor Aaron Brooks said Vandeloise had an upcoming speaking engagement in Quebec in 2004. Monique Beckers, Vandeloise’s wife, made a mistake while scheduling his flight to the conference.
Brooks said Vandeloise and his wife had an argument resulting in a physical altercation. Vandeloise backhanded his wife across the face causing “extensive” brain damage. Brooks said the blow caused a contrecoup brain injury, which causes the brain to bounce against the inside of the skull and bruise.
“He admitted that he intentionally struck her,” Brooks said.
David Bourland, Vandeloise’s attorney, said Beckers was “in an acute state of cirrhosis of the liver” and had suffered from the disease for many years prior to the incident. He said the brain shrinks in the disease’s advanced stages. He said Beckers’ brain weighed 880 grams when she died; an average healthy brain weighs about 1,100 grams.
Bourland said Vandeloise apologized to his wife immediately after the incident.
“He’s in total shock and great stress, and everyone involved agrees this was not an intentional homicide,” Bourland said.
Brooks said the obstruction of justice charge covers “moving and manipulating the presentation of Ms. Beckers’ dead body.” Brooks said Vandeloise placed his wife’s body in the bathroom to make it look like she died after falling on the floor.
Brooks said medical examiners determined Beckers died between three and five days after the fight. He said Vandeloise testified eight days elapsed between the fight and her death.
Brooks said there is a discrepancy between the number of days “because defendants don’t always tell the truth.”
Bourland said Vandeloise issued a best interest plea that means he doesn’t “agree with the presentation of the facts presented by the prosecutors.”
State District Judge Todd Hernandez will sentence Vandeloise on Aug. 1. Brooks said Vandeloise could face a maximum of 40 years in prison for manslaughter and 10 years for obstruction of justice.
Bourland said his client is a Belgian citizen, which means he may face deportation if found guilty. Bourland said the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service is following the case as it unfolds in order to make a decision.
Brooks said the case took almost three years to get to the final stages because the defendant wanted him to reduce the charges, and the prosecutor refused.
Bourland said Vandeloise is “very regretful and misses his wife desperately.”
“He feels very, very depressed,” Bourland said. “He’s very distraught.”
—–Contact Angelle Barbazon at [email protected]