A Colorado man has been sentenced to 30 years in a French prison for the murders of his estranged wife and her lover in a Paris suburb. Charles Dietrich, 50, was convicted of fatally shooting his former partner and her new boyfriend in Saint-Maur-des-Fosses in 2020, reports CBS News. The court also stripped Dietrich of parental rights over his three daughters. During sentencing, the judge criticized Dietrich for his lack of remorse, telling him, "I do not believe that by killing the mother of your three daughters, you are being a good father. I hope you understand that." Dietrich replied, "I do."
The couple had been separated since 2015 and were engaged in a contentious custody dispute. According reporting at the time of his arrest by the Denver Gazette, Dietrich believed Aurelie had "stolen" their children after she was awarded primary custody. The daughters lived in France but spent holidays with Dietrich in the US. Investigators described the July 2020 crime as meticulously planned, with prosecutor Stephanie Gauthier calling it "an act of war following a battle plan" aimed at regaining custody of the children. Surveillance footage showed a disguised figure near the victim's home, and ballistics evidence linked a gun purchased in Colorado to the killings. Police later found the gun's frame in the Marne River.
Dietrich maintained his innocence throughout the trial, claiming he was framed and accusing police of falsifying evidence. He admitted traveling to France for less than two days at the time of the killings but denied involvement. His lawyer suggested Dietrich might be in denial about the crime, saying his refusal to accept the facts "shows that there is a shred of humanity."
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