Bertrand Cantat

French rock star and leader of Noir Desire, convicted of killing his lover Marie Trintignant. As a singer, he has been adored in France for his powerful lyrics and charismatic stage presence as well as for his militant stands on social and political issues such as racism and globalisation. He founded the rock group in 1985 and with six albums selling copies in the multimillions, the group is the biggest French rock group since the 70s.

Married, he became the lover of actress Marie Trintignant in early 2003. He accompanied her to Vilnius, Lithuania where she was filming a TV series in July that year. On July 27, 2003, she was rushed to the hospital in a coma from severe head trauma and he was taken into custody in Vilnius on suspicion of killing her, most likely accidentally during a violent fight. While he admitted to a fight with the actress, he denied committing a crime. He allegedly waited more than five hours from the struggle which began around midnight before calling for help, and her family filed a formal complaint against him in Paris for premeditated grievous bodily harm and failure to help a person in danger. His right fist was, according to a doctor, badly bruised and evidence of a violent struggle, including broken vases and strewn furniture was cited.

Cantat was rushed to the hospital on at 7:30 AM on Sunday, July 27, 2003, suffering from acute alcohol poisoning and a suspected overdose of prescription drugs. He was convicted in March 2004 of manslaughterr and sentenced to eight years in prison. After serving about half, he was released on probation on October 16, 2007. He was ordered to undergo psychological treatment for one year and forbidden from discussing, writing about or singing these events.