Murder of Loana, 10, in Sedan: Accused admits blows at trial
Jean-Baptiste M., 60, admitted on Monday before the Ardennes assize court that he struck Loana, found dead in Sedan in October 2023. He faces life imprisonment.
Rape and murder of Loana in Sedan: Accused admits facts on first day of hearing
On the first day of his trial, Jean-Baptiste M., 60, admitted to striking Loana, a 10-year-old girl found dead in Sedan in October 2023. According to ladepeche.fr, the man had previously partially denied the allegations; he simply answered "yes" when the president of the Ardennes assize court asked him, on Monday 7 September, whether he admitted to them.
On 17 October 2023, Loana's mother reported her daughter missing after she failed to return home as usual from school on the school bus. The next day, the child's body was discovered in the basement of a small building in central Sedan, housing a defunct bar and a flat upstairs.
Jean-Baptiste M., who lived in the flat, had been seen with Loana by a witness. Quickly arrested, he then spoke of "an accidental fall" of the girl, weeping. This version proved "incompatible" with the conclusions of the forensic pathologist: Loana would have received "five very violent blows to the head with a blunt object".
The investigation's director described to the hearing a particularly sordid scene: "a trail of blood, hair clips and beads" leading from the kitchen of the defunct bar to the basement, where the little girl's body had been placed "on pallets, surrounded by bloodstained sheets". Her knickers, found "torn", and "signs of sexual penetration" established by analysis led to the rape charge also being retained in the indictment.
Jean-Baptiste M. has been held in custody since 20 October 2023. The president noted that he "has not had the life of a privileged person, that is the least one can say". The trial, being held in Charleville-Mézières, is to continue until Wednesday. The accused faces life imprisonment with a maximum safety period of 30 years.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)