French woman who killed rapist stepdad-turned-husband walks free Valerie Bacot talks to journalists as she leaves Chalon-sur-Saone Courthouse, flanked by relatives and lawyers. PHOTO: AFP AFP, France AFP, France A French woman who killed her rapist husband was spared more jail time on Friday (June 25) in a case that has become a rallying cause for feminists. Valerie Bacot, who shot her husband Daniel Polette dead in 2016, was sentenced to a four-year term with three years suspended. But she walked free from the court in Saone-et-Loire in eastern France as she had already served a year in pre-trial detention. The verdict was met with thunderous applause in the courtroom, and some of Bacot's friends and family burst into tears.