BERTRAND CANTAT - WIFE DEFENDS SINGER OVER 'MURDER'

BETRAND CANTAT's estranged wife has defended the French rock star against charges he murdered actress MARIE TRINTIGNANT.

Cantat, 40, is standing trial in Vilnius, Lithuania accused of fatally injuring Trintignant during a violent row in a hotel in the city last July (03).

But KRISTINA RADY told the court her husband is "an honest man, very good and very gentle" and denied he had ever been violent towards her.

When questioned on Cantat's character, she said, "I never told anyone around me that Bertrand had raised his hand against me.

I could never have lived with a liar, a macho man and a beater."

However, Trintignant's husband, director SAMUEL BENCHETRIT, countered that Cantat was "jealous" and "cried for himself more than he did for Marie".

He told the court Rady had told him Cantat had been violent with her and once chased her with a knife.

Trintignant died in Paris, France from swelling to the brain, five days after the incident. Cantat claims her death was a tragic accident.

The trial continues.