French police resume searches for Delphine Aussaguel remains in Tarn ahead of crime reenactment

New searches in Mailhoc

French gendarmerie personnel resumed search operations on Wednesday morning, 30 September 2026, in the commune of Mailhoc in the Tarn department. The ground efforts are directed across multiple agricultural fields that had not undergone previous physical verification by investigators. These search operations are being conducted under a supplemental investigation ordered by judicial authorities linked to the Haute-Garonne Assize Court.

The operational force includes two mobile gendarmerie squadrons, approximately 30 gendarmes from the local Tarn department, and roughly 10 investigators from the Toulouse research section and the National Judicial Police Unit (UNPJ). Personnel are focusing their search on plots situated about 10 kilometres from the couple's former residence in Cagnac-les-Mines.

Search for forensic evidence

Investigators are attempting to locate remaining skeletal parts of Delphine Aussaguel, placing specific priority on finding the skull. Chantal Ferreira, the first president of the Toulouse Court of Appeal, detailed the forensic reasoning for authorizing additional ground sweeps across the area.

I would like to have found the skull. There may be marks on the skull.

Ferreira stated that examining the skull could provide physical evidence to consolidate findings regarding the exact cause of death. During initial search efforts on 16 July 2026, investigators uncovered skeletal remains from the lower body in a Mailhoc field that Jubillar had designated. Laboratory analyses subsequently confirmed that the recovered bones belonged to the missing 33-year-old nurse.

Confession and case background

The recovery of the remains followed Jubillar's confession in July 2026, ending more than five years of denial and silence. The drywall installer admitted to the killing in a letter on 6 July 2026 before repeating his confession to investigators during an interview on 15 July 2026. He confessed to strangling his wife at their home in Cagnac-les-Mines during the night of 15 to 16 December 2020.

In October 2025, the Albi Assize Court convicted Jubillar of murder and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. Jubillar, who remains incarcerated in the detention facility at Seysses, appealed the conviction, which led judicial officials to order the supplemental inquiry.

Crime reenactment and appeal schedule

The search operations take place two days ahead of a scheduled crime reenactment on Friday, 2 October 2026, in Cagnac-les-Mines. Investigators previously held a reenactment at the couple's home in December 2022. Preparations on the Mailhoc field included placing mounds of topsoil along a tree line, with barriers and red-and-white marking tape delimiting the area.

The evidence gathered from the searches and the reenactment will be presented during Jubillar's appeal trial. The second trial is scheduled to take place at the court in Toulouse from 30 April to 14 May 2027.