Colorado Springs man sentenced to 30 years in French prison for killing ex-wife, her boyfriend
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Colorado Springs man will spend 30 years in a French prison after a court found him guilty of killing his ex-wife and her significant other, according to French CNN affiliate BFMTV.Â
50-year-old Charles Dietrich reportedly flew to France in 2020 without telling any family to kill his ex-wife.
On July 29, 2020, court documents say law enforcement in France found Aurelie Kazian and her boyfriend, Christophe Hautcoeur, shot to death, and both naked.
According to law enforcement, Charles moved to the United States after his separation from Aurelie and believed she had "stolen" their three daughters from him.
Court documents show that all three children were in the U.S. with Charles at the time of the murder.
Video surveillance shows Charles arriving in Paris on July 27 and then hours later leaving his hotel room holding a plastic bag. According to law enforcement, Charles took a taxi and was dropped off near Aurelie's home.
Both Aurelie and Christophe are seen leaving a local restaurant, and an hour after Charles was dropped off, and making their way back to Aurelie's home, where they were later killed.
Charles was seen returning to his hotel room around six hours later without the plastic bag he had left behind, and shortly after, catching a plane back to the U.S, says court records.
The court says he planned to regain custody of his daughters.
His defense, according to the court, was that he hadn't seen his ex-wife, and he had never used the murder weapons. The judge responded to the claims by saying, "He wasn't in the CIA," and didn't have enemies powerful enough to create a conspiracy.
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