Maubeuge: 68-year-old repeat offender charged with murder of 77-year-old woman
A 68-year-old man, already convicted of femicide in 2008, has been charged with the murder of a woman in her seventies in Maubeuge. He faces a life sentence.
Murder in Maubeuge: repeat offender held in custody
According to Google News FR — Crime (fr), a 68-year-old man was charged on Thursday 27 August with the murder of a 77-year-old woman whose body was discovered on Tuesday in her flat in Maubeuge (Nord). The Valenciennes prosecutor announced the opening of a judicial inquiry.
The suspect was placed in custody pending trial. The charges against him are classified as "murder preceded, accompanied or followed by another crime", with the prosecution citing evidence suggesting a sexual element to the offence.
It was the victim's son who reported her "disturbing disappearance" to the authorities. Police subsequently found the septuagenarian's body at the home of the sexagenarian, described as a "friendly acquaintance" of the deceased.
When questioned, the man stated he had strangled the victim. He explained that he had attempted to kiss her, received "a blow from a bottle" in response to his advances, and then seized a "cord" to carry out his act. The prosecution clarifies that he had harboured "romantic feelings for the victim".
The man charged is not committing his first crime. Convicted in 2008 to twenty-eight years' imprisonment with a minimum two-thirds custodial period, he had served his sentence following the murder of a woman in 2004, according to information reported by La Voix du Nord. He had been released on 31 December 2022, having completed his sentence.
The Valenciennes prosecutor indicated that "further investigations will aim to determine the precise circumstances of the tragedy", emphasising that the man charged now faces a life sentence.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)