Vilnius, Aug 08: A French rock star who is suspected of having beaten a leading French actress to death has been charged with murder, a lawyer said today in Lithuania, where the beating took place. Rimas Andrikis, who is acting for the family of Marie Trintignant, the dead actress, said prosecutors had told rock singer Bertrand Cantat that he was being charged with murder, and the court would be seeking an extension to a detention order. The 41-year-old Trintignant, the daughter of veteran French film start Jean-Louis Trintignant, died last Friday in a Paris hospital as a result of injuries sustained during an overnight argument with Cantat in a Vilnius Hotel room a week earlier. Both Trintignant and Cantat, who is the lead singer for the popular Noir Desir rock band, are extremely well known in France, where the case has hit headlines.

The actress, who had four children and was involved in a relationship with Cantat, was in Lithuania to make a film for television that was being directed by her mother Nadine Trintignant.

The Lithuanian public prosecutor has so far refused requests from both the family of Trintignant and lawyers for Cantat to have the singer extradited to France.
Bureau Report