Former rugby star shoots wife dead at party

FORMER French international rugby captain Marc Cecillon was in police custody yesterday after shooting dead his wife in front of 60 guests at a party.

The 45-year-old shot his wife, Chantal, in the throat and the head at a party near Bourgoin-Jallieu.

He was subsequently restrained by several of the shocked guests, which resulted in him receiving a head injury, and handed over to the local police.

Cecillon, who was capped 46 times from 1988-95 and was captain of Les Tricolores five times, was drunk at the time of the shooting and did not realise his wife was dead until he awoke yesterday morning, according to the police.

According to sources, Cecillon and Chantal, who had two daughters by him, had already had a row at the home of a close friend of theirs before having another one at the party.

Cecillon then left only to return with the gun and shoot his medical secretary wife dead.

“I have known Marc for 12 years,” Bourgoin club president Pierre Martinet said. “I often saw him with his wife, the mother of his two daughters, and she was very proud of him.

“I never noticed any problems between them and I certainly never saw him drunk.

“But it is clear that the lack of activity led to Marc drinking a lot on occasions,” he added.

Cecillon, who had returned to Bourgoin to be their general manager, and his wife had grown apart over several years.

Best-known as a rampaging flanker, Cecillon played for Bourgoin for 23 years before finally retiring in 1999.

He was known in the area during his playing days as the player who ‘partied more than just the third-half (a reference to the post match entertainment which traditionally starts in the clubhouse bar),’ and it was only his father who was able to calm him down and stop him from regularly going to nightclubs.