Murder with torture in Charleville-Mézières: couple referred after Snapchat videos
A 37-year-old man and his 27-year-old partner have been referred for the murder of a 47-year-old man, filmed and broadcast on Snapchat in Charleville-Mézières.
Murder filmed live on Snapchat in Charleville-Mézières: couple faces justice
According to Google News FR — Crime (fr), a couple was referred on Tuesday 1 September with a view to being formally charged with "murder with the aggravating circumstance that the acts were accompanied or followed by another crime, namely acts of torture and barbarity". The Reims public prosecutor's office confirmed the facts in an official statement.
Body discovered following Snapchat alert
The facts date back to the night of 26 to 27 August in Charleville-Mézières in the Ardennes. On 27 August, a woman wishing to remain anonymous alerted the police after viewing a video on Snapchat showing a man being attacked and dying on the ground. Officers managed to identify the victim, a 47-year-old man already known to police, and went to his home where they discovered his lifeless body.
The autopsy revealed extremely serious injuries: "very severe trauma to the face, the cervical region having obstructed his airways, as well as chest injuries with fractured ribs", the Reims public prosecutor specified. The victim had also suffered very serious sexual violence, and his genitals had been mutilated. "He was clearly not dead from the first blow, and the video found indeed showed him dying whilst his attacker gave him violent kicks to the face", the public prosecutor added.
Suspect identified through his voice
Neighbours reported hearing arguments between 3 am and 5 am. The voice of the main suspect was subsequently recognised by a former partner as well as by his sister. He is a 37-year-old man with 36 convictions, notably for violence, theft and traffic offences. Another ex-partner also came forward to police: she explained that the man had come to her home that night, intoxicated, with traces of blood on his trousers. She threw him out after receiving the videos on Snapchat.
The main suspect was apprehended on 28 August in Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone in Hérault at the home of another woman. He admitted to the violence and acknowledged being the man visible in the images broadcast on the application. He invoked rapes that the victim allegedly subjected him to in exchange for drugs, "against a background of massive alcohol consumption and no less massive drug consumption", but did not comment on the sexual violence and mutilation.
An evening that "went wrong" according to a teenager's account
A 17-year-old girl, of no fixed abode, was present on the evening of the incident. She explained that she had gone to the victim's home with the suspect and his partner for an evening out. The four protagonists consumed alcohol, cocaine and "C", described as a mixture of cocaine and ammonia.
According to her account as reported by the Reims prosecutor, "the victim allegedly proposed to the suspect's partner that they have sexual relations with her in exchange for drugs. The evening went wrong, and according to her words the suspect had 'lost it', turning on the victim whom he accused of rape." The prosecutor specified: "There was an unleashing of violence by both him and his partner that defied comprehension, as both of them were attacking the victim, striking him with kicks, a fan, furniture whilst filming the scene."
The teenager evoked sexual violence against the victim but claimed not to have been present during the mutilation. Police cleared her of involvement.
Partner admits "partially" to her involvement
The suspect's 27-year-old partner was quickly identified and taken into custody. She is already known to police for a conviction for aggravated violence. During her custody, she admitted "partially" to her involvement, notably regarding the sexual assaults, whilst invoking "memory lapses". She accused the minor of having struck blows, but text messages exchanged with the main suspect suggest, according to the public prosecutor, that she was seeking to implicate the teenager to cover herself.
The suspect, for his part, also accused the 17-year-old minor of taking part in the violence. Both of those formally charged face the possibility of life imprisonment.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)