PARIS (AP) — Four people including two men linked with France’s extreme right stood trial in Paris on Monday over the killing of former Argentina rugby player Federico Martín Aramburú.The trial took place more than four years after Aramburú was shot dead in March 2022 and a verdict was set for Sept. 25.Loïk Le Priol, 32, was being prosecuted for murder, while Romain Bouvier, 35, faced charges of attempted murder. They face the possibility of life imprisonment.Bouvier and then Le Priol gave their names to the court at shortly after 2:40 p.m. local time at the Palais de Justice. Le Priol accepted responsibility for the fatal shooting but maintained he used his weapon in self-defense.“Whatever the verdict, I am condemned to bear the weight of this immense tragedy for the rest of my life,” he said. “I will never cease asking his family for forgiveness.”
The 42-year-old Aramburú, who played 22 times for Argentina, was killed when leaving a bar in Paris along with his friend Shaun Hegarty, a former New Zealand rugby player. They were former club teammates at Biarritz and traveled to the capital to attend a Six Nations Championship match.Le Priol’s former girlfriend, 29-year-old Lyson Rochemir, drove Bouvier to the scene of the shooting, and faced a possible life sentence for complicity in attempted murder. She was also present on Monday.
