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French lawyer convicted of murdering heiress after 36 years

In a case that has gripped France, Maurice Agnelet, 76, is given 20-year jail term in his third trial for killing of his mistress Agnes Le Roux.

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A former Riviera lawyer was convicted on Friday of killing a glamorous casino heiress 36 years ago, after a legal battle that has gripped France, reports GlobalPost.

Maurice Agnelet, 76, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in his third trial for the killing of his then mistress, Agnes Le Roux. She disappeared in October 1977, aged 29, although her body has never been found.

Agnelet was initially acquitted of the murder but convicted on appeal in 2007 to serve 20 years -- a verdict that was later overturned by the European Court of Human Rights.

Agnelet's retrial in Rennes has seen a number of shocking new revelations, including testimony from Agnelet's own son that he believes his father committed the crime.

Guillaume Agnelet, 45, told the court on Monday that his mother had confided to him that his father had killed Le Roux in her sleep during a camping trip in Italy and then dumped the body by the side of the road.

He said his father had also confessed in the 1980s to knowing the location of the corpse.

Read more of this AFP report published by GlobalPost.