Widow Of Beheaded Man Charged, 27 Years After Murder In France

French authorities have charged a woman for her husband's murder, 27 years after he was found decapitated in a French town.

The headless body of Christophe Doire, 28, was found on Dec. 25, 1995 near Busset, a small town in central France, CBS News reported.

The wife of the deceased, now 55 and whose name hasn’t been revealed, was taken into custody on Tuesday. She was placed in pre-trial detention and was charged by a magistrate on Thursday. Regional prosecutor Eric Neveu said, "The investigations must continue to identify and arrest other protagonists,” suggesting that the events of the incident as well as evidence, indicated that the crime was perpetrated by more than one person.

According to the prosecutor, the accused failed to exhibit credibility and gave incoherent statements. Prosecutor Neveu revealed that if the woman was found guilty of murder, she will be sentenced to 30 years in prison. “All the hypotheses have been considered: family, wife, hunters, villainous affair. Our idea was to take this investigation as if we had just discovered the body,” said the magistrate in a report by the Le Parisien.

The case, which had no conclusive leads at the time of its initial investigation in 1995, was reopened last April 15. Followed by the exhumation of Doire's body in the same month to conduct new tests, Prosecutor Neveu stated that during interrogation, the widow denied any involvement in the killing.

According to the Le Parisien, on Dec. 16, 1995, Doire stormed out of his house to spend the night at his brother's house, after an argument with his wife over a hair dryer. She reportedly dropped his hair dryer while he was taking a bath, which angered Doire. He went missing after spending the evening at his brother’s house. He left before midnight and said he was going hunting the next day.

The deceased's car was found but there was no sign of him until his body was discovered eight days later in a ditch by hunters. The body was decapitated, and the head was not discovered.

The case was reopened twice, in 2000 and 2002, but remained unsolved.