Renaud Bettcher, the criminal lawyer from Strasbourg, was found dead on Wednesday morning in a hotel room in Metz, when he was expected for a plea.
The lifeless body of criminal lawyer Renaud Bettcher, media star of the Strasbourg bar, was found this Wednesday morning, June 1, in a hotel room in Metz. He had not appeared at the hearing of the criminal court of Metz, where he was expected this morning. Master Caroline Bolla who was to find herself facing him testifies: “We are in shock, yesterday he was with us at the helm. He is a big name who has just left”.
A specialist in criminal law in the Bas-Rhin, Renaud Bettcher, 61, was sworn in in 1987. He notably defended the recidivist criminal Pierre Bodein, the profaner of the Jewish cemetery of Herrlisheim, Emmanuel Rist, as well as the Haut-Rhin deputy Marc Dumoulin, sentenced for rape of a minor. Known for his rants, he did not leave anyone indifferent. For Master Eric Braun, criminal lawyer at the Strasbourg Bar like Renaud Bettcher: “He certainly marked the spirits by his positions, by his outbursts, by his outbursts, but also by his talent, by his verve, by his success. He was someone who never let go”.
Maître Bettcher pleaded in the Assize Court as well as before the criminal court, and intervened occasionally in Master 2 at the Faculty of Law of Strasbourg.
The causes of his death are not known at this time. But he had been ill for several years and had recently been hospitalized.
