Murder of a 71-year-old woman in Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent: a 23-year-old man under investigation
A woman in her seventies was murdered, raped and her home set on fire in Eure on 20 August. A resident of the municipality, aged 23, was arrested four days later.
Femicide in Eure: suspect arrested after murder, rape and arson
According to Google News FR — Crime (fr), an extremely violent incident occurred on Thursday, 20 August 2026, around 20:50, at 22 rue René Cassin in Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent, a municipality in Eure located on the outskirts of Évreux. Neighbours, alerted by a fire in a property, entered the house from the rear and discovered the lifeless body of a 71-year-old woman, found in her dining room, before carrying her into the garden.
The victim bore bruises, a swollen and bloodied face, and a scarf tied around her neck. Emergency responders attempted to resuscitate her on site before transferring her to Évreux hospital, where she died shortly before 23:00 that same evening.
A flagrant-offence investigation conducted jointly by Rouen and Évreux
The on-duty magistrate of Évreux's public prosecutor's office ordered a flagrant-offence investigation to be opened, entrusted jointly to Rouen's gendarmerie research section and Évreux's gendarmerie research brigade. Following the victim's death, the qualification was changed to homicide.
The public prosecutor for Évreux, Rémi Coutin, spoke on Friday to describe the acts as being of "great severity" and to thank the investigators for the speed with which the case was resolved.
A man reported by neighbours on the evening of the incident
Residents of rue René Cassin reported to gendarmes the presence of a man with unusual behaviour between 19:30 and 20:00 that same evening. According to prosecutor Coutin, this individual had been seen "moving back and forth in the street, then knocking on certain doors and looking into gardens, before being spotted talking with the victim around 20:00".
Telephone investigations established that the suspect's mobile phone had connected to relay stations in Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent throughout 20 August. Furthermore, the victim's debit card had been used at 20:52 in the same municipality for three unsuccessful cash withdrawal attempts.
Closed-circuit television cameras did not allow for the formal identification of the suspect, but investigators established a connection with an electric scooter visible in the images. This device, stolen a few days earlier, was found partially burned around 23:00 on the evening of the incident. Its owner quickly identified the suspect. Near the charred scooter, gendarmes also discovered an empty holiday voucher booklet in the name of the accused's mother, as well as remains of clothing.
Arrest on 24 August, conclusive DNA results
The suspect, described by the prosecutor as "an individual aged 23, born in Évreux, without profession, residing in Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent, with a criminal record", was arrested on Monday, 24 August in the morning at his home. He was placed in police custody for "theft with violence resulting in death and damage to another's property by a means dangerous to persons".
Initially, the man denied any involvement in the murder. On 25 August, the genetic analysis laboratory nonetheless indicated that "the characteristics of his profile were consistent with the male genetic profile identified on several samples taken from the victim's home", in the terms used by prosecutor Coutin. Faced with this evidence, the accused only conceded that he "should not have been in Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent at that time".
This presence in the municipality constituted in itself a breach: the man was subject to a prohibition from appearing on this territory, issued under a sentence handed down on 23 September 2022 by the criminal appeals chamber of the Rouen court of appeal — namely "five years' imprisonment on the charges of sexual assault against a vulnerable person and theft in a place of residence or storage facility".
His criminal record lists five convictions handed down between 2020 and 2022, first by Évreux's children's court, then by Évreux's criminal court, for "violence against a minor, domestic violence, breaches of drug legislation, contempt of a person vested with public authority, or driving without a licence".
Post-mortem: head trauma and sexual violence
A post-mortem examination carried out on 24 August at Rouen's Institute of Legal Medicine established that death resulted from a "head injury, itself the result of multiple falls or impacts against a hard surface, a blunt object or a natural weapon". The examination also revealed genital injuries suggesting "sexual violence involving vaginal penetration".
The fire expert appointed by investigators concluded that the fire's origin involved "direct and deliberate human intervention".
Judicial investigation opened for wilful homicide
The accused was referred to Évreux's public prosecutor's office on Wednesday, 26 August. A judicial investigation was opened against him on the charges of "wilful homicide concomitant with or linked" — the exact qualification not having been fully transmitted in the available information — as well as for rape and arson.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)