Murder of Loana, 10, in Sedan: accused admits guilt on first day
Jean-Baptiste M., 60, confessed to the rape and murder of the girl at the opening of his trial before the Ardennes assize court.
Trial in Charleville-Mézières: Jean-Baptiste M. admits murder of Loana after denying it for two years
With a simple "yes", spoken before the president of the Ardennes assize court, Jean-Baptiste M. admitted on Monday to the rape and murder of Loana, 10, committed in Sedan in October 2023. According to 20minutes.fr, this confession came on the first day of the trial in Charleville-Mézières, after the accused had long denied the murder.
Arrested shortly after the facts, Jean-Baptiste M. had initially admitted to the rape but maintained that the girl had died as a result of an accidental fall. This version was formally ruled out by the experts heard at the hearing.
Physical evidence incompatible with the accident theory
The pathologist cited by the court president established that Loana had received "five very violent blows with a blunt object" to the head — injuries deemed "incompatible" with a fall. A blood pattern analysis expert also ruled out any accident.
The investigation director described to the court the scene discovered in the building: "A trail of blood, hair clips and beads" from the victim's necklace, leading from the kitchen of a disused bar down to the cellar, where the child's body lay "on palettes, surrounded by bloodstained sheets". Her underwear had been found "torn"; "signs of sexual penetration" were revealed by the analyses.
The facts: October 2023, Sedan
On 17 October 2023, Loana's mother reported her disappearance after the girl did not return as usual from college by bus. The following day, the body was found in the cellar of this small building in the town centre, where Jean-Baptiste M. occupied the flat upstairs. A witness had seen him in the company of the child. He was formally charged and placed in pre-trial detention on 20 October 2023.
A life marked by precariousness
The tenth child of a family of twelve, Jean-Baptiste M., 60, with shoulder-length brown hair and a drooping moustache, grew up in a caravan within the traveller community. The court president noted that he "did not have the life path of a privileged person, to say the least": parental violence, the death of his father at age 13, his mother's alcoholism. Illiterate — he only began to learn to read two years ago in prison — he lived off odd jobs and disability allowance. He was known to the justice system for traffic offences and theft, but not for sexual violence.
In Sedan, he frequented a few neighbours, including Loana's family, to whom he "appeared kind".
The civil parties hope he "never leaves" prison
Several relatives of Loana, including her father and her aunt, Peggy Creton, filed civil suits. At the end of this first day of the hearing, Peggy Creton said: "I would have liked him to speak more", while hoping that he "never leaves" prison.
Jean-Baptiste M. faces life imprisonment with a maximum period of security of thirty years. The trial is to continue until Wednesday.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)