Killed by ex-lover's sister

Colette Deromme was last seen at a supermarket in the hours before her death.

In a bizarre turn of events, Sylviane Fabre, the sister to Deromme's first husband, has confessed to killing 50-year-old Deromme in an "act of blind rage" after having been caught out by a police wire-tapping.

Speaking to various French press on behalf of her client, Fabre's lawyer, Isabelle Colombani, said that it was not a "premeditated attack," adding that Fabre had "blacked out…lost it."

According to national media France 3, the day before Deromme was reported missing by her children, she went to the house of Fabre's son to speak to his mother about a financial matter related to the real estate business they ran.

As tempers flared, Fabre allegedly strangled her friend of over 20 years with a rope in the outhouse of the Lorgues home. She then reportedly asked her son to help her dispose of the body in the Verdon National Park, some 30 kilometres from the murder scene.

Five other people were arrested in dawn raids that took place on Monday in the Var and Mayenne, north-west France, and Fabre, her son, was amongst them. The case is expected to go before the courts this week. 

Elsa Carpenter