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00:00To be continued...
00:30We just received a message. Just came to us from the hospital.
00:33About what? What's happened?
00:36They said a woman has been transported there from a nearby hotel.
00:39And she's in intensive care now.
00:42They said she's in critical condition.
00:44Her partner beat her up.
00:47So we'll arrest him.
00:49He's French, though.
00:52Bertrand Cantata, lead singer of the band Noir Desir,
00:55is accused of assaulting his partner in Vilnius, Lithuania.
00:59He has been placed in custody, and he faces 3 to 15 years in prison.
01:03Actress Marie Trantagnon is currently fighting for her life in the hospital.
01:08Was the couple under the influence of alcohol or drugs?
01:11What happened between 3 and 5 in the morning?
01:14A new story of this size involving two big celebrities wasn't heard of in France.
01:20It was a shock to the media.
01:24Bertrand Cantata.
01:25Bertrand Cantata.
01:25Bertrand Cantata.
01:26Marie Trantagnon.
01:27Marie Trantagnon.
01:28Marie Trantagnon is between life and death.
01:30What really happened in that hotel in Vilnius from Saturday night into early Sunday?
01:35What could Bertrand Cantata have possibly done to put Marie Trantagnon in a coma?
01:39In the hospital.
01:44What's more important to you than music?
01:46My love.
01:48The girl I love.
01:50Bertrand was jealous, possessive, and alienating.
01:53Could it have been an accident?
01:54Maybe a fight that went too far?
01:56It was an accident.
01:58But we were so far from the truth.
02:01She punched me right in the face.
02:03She hit me.
02:04It is unlikely to think that this small young woman could have pushed him to the ground.
02:09This big guy who's a real athlete, about 1.9 meters tall and weighing 85 kilos.
02:14We only have one side of the story.
02:17Cantata's version of the truth.
02:19There's still so much silence.
02:22So many people who are scared to speak out.
02:26I have my own problems.
02:28No, I don't talk.
02:30This story shook up and divided France.
02:33It was really something to see him perform again.
02:35Fuck off!
02:36Fuck off!
02:37Fuck off!
02:38Personally, what I would have loved would be to never hear about this guy again.
02:43We're crazy about each other.
02:45Sometimes I said to her, our love's too strong.
02:47You're all animals.
02:49It's not possible.
02:49It seems so unreal.
02:51Bertrand, she's still alive.
02:53Today, this story has to finally be told the way it actually happened.
02:57Please, God of our way, step aside.
03:15Bertrand, Cantata, is there anything you would like to say on your behalf?
03:18So, as I said to you all before, this hearing is currently being filmed with a Panasonic camera.
03:48The suspect in question, Bertrand, Bruno, Lucienne, Cantata, has already been notified that he is suspected of intentionally beating Marie Trentignon from the night of July 26th through the morning of July 27th in 2003.
04:02Before we conclude this broadcast, we'd like to recap our top story of the night.
04:12Actress Marie Trentignon is in a coma following an argument with her partner, Bertrand Cantata, frontman of the band Noir Desir.
04:18It happened in Lithuania while she was shooting a TV movie.
04:21At the time, I'd been a journalist for 10 years, specializing in police affairs and legal cases.
04:31And that day, I must have just arrived in the newsroom.
04:35It was about 9.15.
04:37And that's when a report came in and said, Bertrand Cantata got into a dispute with Marie Trentignon.
04:44He pushed her down and now she's in the hospital.
04:46That's all.
04:47So we didn't know very much.
04:51Even though at the time we didn't fully understand what was going on, the fact that it involved a big star in the music world and a movie star was unheard of to me.
05:00There were two things about the story that were shocking.
05:04First of all, no one knew that Bertrand Cantata and Marie Trentignon were even together.
05:09And the second shock was that something very serious had gone on between them and Marie Trentignon was in a coma.
05:14The first question that I asked myself was, what could have happened?
05:18What could Bertrand Cantata have possibly done to put Marie Trentignon in a coma in the hospital?
05:24I just wanted to know how things could have gotten to that point.
05:26So the editorial team decided to send me to Vilnius.
05:33While waiting to question the suspect, Bertrand Cantata, the investigating judge will try to interview a key witness.
05:39A Lithuanian man who worked on the film was the last person to see them together, Bertrand Cantata and Marie Trentignon.
05:45When I got to Vilnius, Bertrand Cantata was in custody.
05:49All of the French press was there.
05:57There were cameras and photographers everywhere.
06:00When I saw Bertrand Cantata, he looked like a hunted animal.
06:13He looked devastated and he looked exhausted.
06:17I thought to myself, he looks out of place with handcuffs on.
06:21It's not possible.
06:22It seems so unreal.
06:24Because Bertrand Cantata was this great singer who everyone loved.
06:28He was the lead singer of Noir Desir.
06:30He was a huge star.
06:33Noir Desir was unparalleled.
06:36I organized their concerts for years.
06:38They were a huge success.
06:40They headlined everywhere.
06:40So, at the time, Noir Desir was the biggest French rock group.
06:51They played shows in front of 80,000 people.
06:57It was crazy.
06:59Their fame was so widespread.
07:03They were icons.
07:05You don't sell a million albums by chance.
07:07Johnny Halliday wasn't selling a million albums.
07:11So, our success with them was massive.
07:14Rock album of the year?
07:15Okay.
07:16De Visage de Figure Noir Desir.
07:20Noir Desir was clearly one of the label's biggest artists, based on sales.
07:24So, they were treated well?
07:26Sure.
07:26You act nice.
07:27You act polite.
07:29And Bertrand was just...
07:30Well, he has a shit ton of charisma.
07:32In the group, Noir Desir, they fought as four.
07:40But in the end, there was one who made the final decision.
07:43Bertrand Cantat.
07:45He overshadowed everyone.
07:51Tall guy.
07:52Handsome.
07:53Like this.
07:54He was well-built.
07:56He had this violence about him on stage.
07:59Like Jim Morrison.
08:01He was a tortured soul.
08:04Above all, Bertrand was a great writer.
08:07And so, he was like a poet.
08:08We need to get up here and spread the word.
08:10He knew how to write songs.
08:12This message needs to be shared with all of you.
08:14He was very politically active.
08:15We'd like to make the most of being here by telling you what we think of the National Front far-right political party and those who paved the way for it.
08:23And then he would sing for free at factories that were on strike.
08:27So, he was really committed.
08:29Our belief is that uncontrolled liberalism produces, it inevitably produces, exclusion and poverty and the rise of fascism.
08:37Left hand, left hand, fuck you, fuck you!
08:45Marie was also a very big star.
08:49She was part of a large film industry family.
08:51I was friends with Marie, and I loved her deeply, because she was generous, and she was sweet, always beautiful, and poetic.
09:08From the start, I said to myself, this person is going to be my best friend, forever.
09:13There are people who are good, and there are those who have grace.
09:23On a shoot, you could film her in the middle of 100 people, and she'd always stand out.
09:28The first time I met Marie was through work.
09:36She demanded a lot of herself.
09:40And yet, at the same time, as a mother, she was very loving, like a mother had.
09:47From what I could see, it seemed like her day-to-day life was divided.
09:52Between, really, her job and her children.
09:56She'd go pick up her children from school while still wearing a fancy dress.
10:01She had four sons, from four different fathers.
10:07Four is a lot, but you don't have to make room in your heart.
10:10Your heart just grows.
10:11The last time that I had lunch with her, she came in with her son.
10:15He was on her shoulders, and so, there was something...
10:19She had a bit of the Italian mama thing going on.
10:22She had an enormous amount of generosity, and she was very free-spirited.
10:27But everything was intense for Marie.
10:29She was a person who was full of life, but also very passionate.
10:32And I think that's the reason why she ended up falling under the spell of Bertrand de Quintin.
10:41At the time, Marie was still living with Samuel Ben-Certreit,
10:50the director that she was working with while preparing for Janice and John.
10:57I think that at first, you should try to imitate, take on her position, like...
11:04You see? Try to find the position that makes you a singer.
11:07Janice.
11:09Janice Joplin.
11:11To prepare for the role of Janice...
11:14She wanted to see someone who performed on stage with the same intensity as Janice Joplin.
11:25That's what brought her to him.
11:27Marie Trentignon.
11:29She came with...
11:31I can't remember, some friends?
11:32I don't know.
11:32well they went to the concert and the one thing she asked was that at the end of the show she
11:37could see bertrand canta we quietly brought them back to the dressing rooms and that's how it
11:48happened when he saw her that just clicked love at first sight there it was others saw it too
12:02marie when she saw noir desir on stage she was completely transfixed i couldn't talk
12:15i remember very well she was acting a little bit mysterious she said yeah it's difficult because i
12:24i'm already in a relationship and everything but it's amazing
12:29when marie and bertrand were together it was a wonderful relationship they were already two
12:37beautiful people with these auras that seemed otherworldly it was a bit like when johnny
12:45depp got together with vanessa paradis you wanted to root for it and when marie spoke with me about
12:53her separation from samuel benchatreet i think she genuinely felt that the two of them had a strong
12:59enough foundation for them to remain good friends and for marie it was that was ideal
13:08it was more difficult for bertrand because christina who was bertrand's wife she was pregnant
13:16and he told her at the clinic he said to her that's it i'm leaving she had just given birth
13:23so it was really a bit of a strange situation he left her for someone else but christina was still
13:31madly in love with him in spite of it all the separation from him from my perspective it was
13:39excruciatingly painful but it was still done in a loyal and respectful manner well
13:47so following that i think she was she was unbelievably sad it was a tough time yeah
13:57and if i had known at that time what i know today
14:00i could have been more helpful
14:15i am the father of one of marie trentignon's sons
14:30from the very first moment that i got to the hospital she was in a terrible state
14:34you think it can only happen to other people but this time i was those other people i mean we were
14:47i knew her face perhaps better than anyone and it was very swollen
14:52so many different colors purples blues everything yeah
15:11i was there just trying to to understand or find out facts and see what had happened
15:22i just felt like i was in a nightmare a nightmare
15:31we didn't know much at the start i had a lot of questions at that time i wanted to know what
15:36happened in reality everybody wanted answers at the time social media didn't exist but on blogs that
15:44specialized in film or in music discussions were heating up
15:47i had a lot of questions at the time social media
15:50when i read those comments i realized that people were just as worried
15:54about marie trentino's health as they were for the future of nordésir
16:05one of the stages that was the most important for this investigation was the official hearing for
16:09bertrand canton it was most important because we had no idea what had happened at that point in time
16:18in room 35 the room where the tragedy took place
16:23and we expected bertrand canton to tell us what had happened
16:28please coming through coming through
16:30is there anything you would like to say on your behalf it was the first time he hadn't spoken until then
16:43and for the first question how long have you been here in vilnius meaning what was the date
16:49well when you arrived here first arrived in vilnius on the 24th or 25th of may
16:54may something like that yeah in may marie is an actress she came to start shooting in lithuania
17:13every day i would drive marie and bertrand from the hotel down to the set
17:18the whole time they were always together usually when i saw them they'd be holding hands i'd often
17:28see them kiss and go for walks sometimes they'd lock themselves in the trailer
17:35it wasn't common for a partner to stay for an entire shoot especially a two-month shoot it was
17:42strange very strange
17:44it seemed obvious to me that the singer wasn't willing to
17:51leave her alone with anyone from the crew away from him that's what i felt
17:57marie yeah come in sweetheart
18:01of course we felt like he was quite possessive but the trinton young family was a very close-knit team
18:07the shoot was already an unusual situation to begin with marie's brother vincent trinton young was there
18:18and he was the assistant director who was working with his mother nadine trinton young who was the
18:24director and there's roman kolinka who is marie's son he was also playing a very big role in this project
18:32over here we'll set up from this angle the other one to go to him you go towards him and you surround
18:38him sound good it was clear that nadine trinton young was not happy
18:45that bertrand can toss but every single day on set with them
18:49because of course he was taking up all of marie's time and focus
18:59the role itself was a huge undertaking she always had a script with her while i was doing her makeup
19:05the whole time
19:08and even then he'd come to the makeup room to talk to her
19:19that was always a very stressful situation because he was a nervous person
19:24marie told him to leave and she said it was because he bothered me and it's true he did bother me
19:34what's more important to you than music my love the girl i love
19:43yeah there's nothing except the girl i love
19:50when i stayed at the apartment and while marie was on set we would both send each other lots of
19:56messages through texts you know messages on our phones constantly all day long
20:06all right then where were we huh
20:11are you gonna put your phone down of course i'll put it in my pocket
20:14all right let's go there okay i could see that she was typing on her phone
20:21and i knew that marie was very preoccupied with that yeah when i arrived in vilnius
20:26they had already been filming there for a good month
20:31and i remember i saw marie putting her cell phone in her boot on vibrate
20:38so that there was no chance of her missing a call from bertrand
20:45i remember seeing marie standing there holding her phone
20:49winking at me and missing a scene so they'd cut right away so she could call him
20:54i experienced a whole day of that it was nuts
21:05i think that the singer he wanted to keep an eye on her and also separate her from all the friends
21:11that she had on set because bertrand is a man who is jealous possessive and alienating
21:19even when they were in paris i remember this takeover
21:23he took complete control of marie's time of her mental space suddenly she stopped being available
21:29even when she wanted to be for example when we set a time to meet it would always get cancelled
21:35canta how did i become aware of his possessive and jealous side and all that frankly one time we
21:45were having lunch because now and then we'd have lunch together that was normal with marie because we
21:50had a son together so it was normal for us to see each other and while we were when when marie and i
21:59were having lunch he called her and marie said to me it's crazy he's incredibly jealous she always
22:05wants to know where i am and what i'm doing and then in vilnius during filming there was this message
22:18roll camera action and that's when tragedy struck at that moment
22:29on that day there was a message from samuel from samuel benchatry who as you know is still her husband
22:39a text message
22:42the message was about settling outstanding payments for the promotion of the film that they had made
22:47together called janice and john marie showed it to me there was a phrase in there that i would
22:54describe as tender so i felt then that there was sort of this imbalance between their relationship
23:08on the one hand between marie and samuel as opposed to my previous relationship
23:15and how i had behaved in the way that i spoke to christina
23:18in fact bertrand canton when he met marie chantignan he was still with the mother of his two children
23:27her name is christina radi
23:31he cut all ties with her and he said that he left everything behind from marie chantignan
23:35i've made things very clear there wasn't even the slightest ambiguity about any romance
23:40between me and christina and so this text message that she received from samuel he wrote something that
23:46just wasn't right i didn't agree with it actually bertrand canton had criticized marie
23:52chantignan for still having a relationship with samuel benchatry and for not cutting him off entirely
23:59so this text drove him crazy with jealousy and it was this incident that really started their dispute
24:09but the argument it started slowly
24:11at the end of the day after they finished filming there was a cocktail party organized because
24:21an actor was leaving during the party i couldn't help but notice that marie
24:26was a bit stressed out she was really not acting like herself and i could see from a distance that
24:34marie and bertrand were having an argument
24:40i could tell from their hand movements and their gestures it was clear that they were arguing i didn't
24:45feel comfortable letting them go home alone just the two of them
24:49we went to my place around 10 p.m they smoked some joints we had a few drinks shots of vodka
25:04and right there and then he started asking marie questions and marie
25:08well she wouldn't give him any answers none he got angry
25:12and grabbed marie by the shoulders and just like that he pinned her against the wall
25:21i was completely shocked so then when i saw that i said okay that's enough get it together and then all
25:29of us left the apartment i wanted them to calm down i took marie by the hand i took bertrand by the hand
25:37i was basically walking with them like they were children and we left just like that
25:55i left them at the door of the hotel
25:59we said good night and marie said to me get home safe or have fun or something like that
26:04but tron seemed like he was a little bit calmer
26:11i left them and i was under the impression that everything was fine
26:18and so andreas leluga the assistant he took them to the hotel door and he left them there
26:34but what could have really happened in room 35 in the moments that followed
26:42well bertrand canton gave us his version of the events
26:49so you arrived at the apartment what happened after that when you got there well
26:55when we first arrived at the apartment i don't know about 10 minutes had passed nothing eventful
27:03happened then and this was a big mistake on my part i asked her that same question again the same
27:12question as before you know which was just it obviously it kept repeating over and over in my head
27:19it was about this imbalance that i spoke of earlier this imbalance between their relationship on the
27:26one hand between marie and samuel and on the other between me and christina and from there tensions rose
27:33she kept shouting again and again go see your wife go see your wife go see your wife the whole time she
27:45she didn't stop the whole time she grabbed me and then she punched me right in the face and she she
27:52pushed me back and from there i i saw red i just went into a complete rage we described that with a lot
28:01of colors in france i saw red but then i went black with anger and it was in that moment that i slapped
28:07her i felt like it was almost like doing doubles in tennis going back and forth like around rob back and
28:16forth like this and after that i grabbed marie here by the collar and then i was trying to push her away
28:25from me throw her down on the couch but i missed when i threw her on the sofa she landed like this on
28:38the edge of the sofa on her stomach and then she fell to the ground
28:41when she fell do you think that she might have banged her head on the sofa or i really don't know
28:52i don't know exactly how she landed i pushed her away from me then i started to leave see what i
28:58mean i went like this and then i turned around i assure you that the next time something like this
29:04happens to me i'll take detailed notes no but it's awful really i i'm trying to make light of it because
29:16it was a fight between two people
29:19that resulted in an accident sign here
29:21at the end of the hearing for bertrand canton the theory was it was an accident
29:32because based on what he's told us so far it was an accident
29:39he pushed her she fell down and she hit her head
29:45and so for everybody the story of the accident is the leading hypothesis
29:51even i believe what he told us at the time
29:57i believe that story too and if you look to the press the word that keeps coming up is accident
30:03accident accident accident accident accident the accident seems to be linked to a fight with
30:07her partner bertrand can talk the singer of noir desire in fact at the time no one doubted it
30:12least of all the fans
30:16marie who suffered a bad fall is now in a coma
30:21it was an accident yeah
30:37it was an accident yeah
30:41uh radiator and that's exactly what happened exactly that that's it there's no more to it than that
30:49it was an accident yeah so there you go
30:54what more do you want me to say nothing
30:57yes i did hear that version that she hit her head against a radiator maybe the radiator came towards her
31:03i don't know we'd have to ask the radiator but well no i mean that's just you can say whatever you want
31:11you can say anything in reality we still don't know if we got the truth
31:17we just have one person's side we've only heard the truth from kantor we don't have marie
31:23trantignant's truth of course not she's still in a coma
31:40at that moment in time i still believed that we would be able to save marie
31:45we kept holding on to that glimmer of hope we thought it's just not possible
31:51i kept believing but bertrand's loved ones were especially worried because they didn't know what
31:57would happen the band members of noir desire all arrived on a special flight
32:02and then after that return content's ex-wife arrived christina radhi
32:06she's still alive she is she's still alive that's not true no she's alive bertrand i know it
32:28she's still alive now you're all animals
32:42Marie Trentignon has now been hospitalized in France.
32:58A medical aircraft took her there from Lithuania at the request of her family.
33:02Although her surgeon was highly experienced, Marie Trentignon is now in an irreversible coma with an EEG that's completely flat.
33:10Nothing could be done.
33:12Ms. Marie Trentignon died this morning at 10.20 as a result of a cerebral edema.
33:34Despite great efforts that were made to revive her, since she arrived here at the Hartman Clinic, thank you all.
33:44Marie Trentignon has died. The official announcement came in late this morning.
33:56I didn't understand. It wasn't possible.
34:04It wasn't possible.
34:14Everybody died a little that day.
34:16But the thing that really touched me was the people. The people who showed up for her like that.
34:23There was a big crowd.
34:25She represented a woman who was... She was magnificent. She gave me a lot of hope.
34:34Among all these letters, one sentence stood out to me.
34:38Remember that Jean-Louis Trentignon read something that was absolutely amazing.
34:44It was something that a woman had written to him.
34:48Don't you cry for the one that you lost.
34:49Don't you cry for the one that you lost.
34:57On the contrary, be happy that you knew her.
35:01I'm sorry.
35:15I'll never forget it.
35:20When Jean-Louis Trentignon burst into tears,
35:23that was really something.
35:26And then I saw the children.
35:31I never stopped asking myself what I could possibly do
35:39to make sure that my son
35:42suffered as little as possible.
35:48And that's not easy.
35:52It hasn't been easy.
36:01Criminal investigations are based on doubt.
36:14So you question everything.
36:18At this stage,
36:19our only concern was establishing what happened.
36:22That was our only job.
36:24We had a body in front of us.
36:26What were the factors?
36:27We wanted proof.
36:29We wanted the autopsy,
36:30which was done quickly.
36:31Everyone was waiting for the autopsy.
36:33We wanted to know if the story of the accident
36:35that Bertrand Cantat had told held true,
36:38or if he had something to hide.
36:40It's hard to forget such high-profile cases.
37:04The autopsy was done on August 2nd,
37:07one day after Marie Trentignon's death.
37:09The description is that of a young woman
37:12with an average build,
37:141.66 meters tall, 60 kilos.
37:19The external examination showed a number of lesions.
37:23Lesions on her scalp,
37:24lesions on her face,
37:26and there was evidence of an open nasal fracture.
37:29Behind the larynx,
37:30we also found bruising,
37:32possibly caused by someone pinning her down.
37:34The bruises were consistent for the person's leg,
37:37pressing down on the neck of the person beneath them.
37:41When we opened her skull,
37:42we found that the violence of the blows
37:44must have been extreme.
37:45There were too many injuries for them to have been caused by a fall.
37:50We could see lesions involving intracerebral damage and intracerebral bleeding and a significant hematoma.
37:59This eliminated the possibility of a single traumatic event to the head.
38:03There must have been at least 15 or 20 blows that were sustained.
38:07There were a large number.
38:09And they couldn't have happened in a few seconds.
38:12There was a sequence of multiple blows that would have taken several minutes.
38:18They were repeated hits.
38:20There were successive blows that were struck from the right and the left.
38:23And so, this autopsy showed us that clearly it was not an accidental fall that led to her death.
38:35Bertrand Cantat seems to have been lying.
38:38This is what we are now led to believe based on the autopsy of Marie Troutignon.
38:42The singer's account that she fell onto a radiator has been disproven by the results.
38:47The Lithuanian courts have now reclassified Bertrand Cantat's prosecution as murder.
38:52From there, the rest of the story would be completely different.
38:55Bertrand Cantat has now been charged with murder.
38:58Murder, murder, murder.