Perpignan: man stabs partner 19 times before calling police
A man in his thirties killed his wife with a knife in their apartment in Pyrénées-Orientales, then alerted the gendarmes to his act.
Perpignan: man stabs partner 19 times before calling police
On Monday 6 July 2026, at around 8 p.m., a peaceful residence on rue Abelanet in the Porte-d'Espagne sector of Perpignan was the scene of a conjugal homicide of rare violence. A childcare professional in her thirties lost her life at the hands of her partner, a 30-year-old man without employment.
According to the conclusions of the autopsy made public on Wednesday, the deceased suffered nineteen stab wounds to the torso, back and neck region. Her attacker also allegedly slit her throat after she had died. At the scene, investigators found approximately half a dozen blades stained with blood, several of which were deformed or fractured. The prosecutor's office magistrate, Jérôme Bourrier, described the crime scene as "particularly tragic, barbaric and striking". This tragedy constitutes the first femicide of the year in the Pyrénées-Orientales department.
Witnesses living in the building recounted the circumstances of the tragedy. The alleged murderer reportedly left his home in haste, demanding the intervention of the forces of order, his upper limbs covered in blood. Displaying extreme agitation, he returned to his car after several trips in and out of the residence. As he drove along the D900 towards Narbonne, he successively contacted his mother and then a police station to admit that he had taken his wife's life, providing his geographical coordinates and his number plate. BAC officers apprehended him shortly after.
At roughly the same time, SIPJ officers and a representative from the prosecutor's office entered the marital home where the lifeless body of the victim lay.
During his custody, the man in question admitted to the facts without contesting them. He described a sudden crisis, using the expression "losing his temper", which he attributed to morbid jealousy that he was unable to explain. The prosecutor emphasised that his words, though apparently logical, revealed a personality that was "highly paranoid and obsessive". It should be noted that no trace of alcohol or narcotics was found in his system at the time of the facts, despite his claims about his habitual drug consumption.
The suspect also harboured the conviction that he was the target of a conspiracy orchestrated in Perpignan. He claimed that video recordings had been made without his knowledge in the cab of his heavy goods vehicle at the time when he worked as a lorry driver, and that a police plot was designed to ruin him. Furthermore, he maintained a "jealous obsession" towards his wife, unfoundedly accusing her of adultery. He regularly examined her telephone and harassed her with repeated calls, even during her stays at her parents' home.
A psychiatric evaluation was carried out, with the experts not recommending compulsory hospitalisation. The man in question was brought before a court on Wednesday 8 July in the evening before an investigating judge, within the framework of proceedings for "murder of a spouse". The prosecutor sought his remand in custody. The maximum sentence he faces is life imprisonment.
The judicial authority in Perpignan recalled that in the previous year, nearly 1,800 investigations into domestic violence had been opened. Each day, two or three individuals are placed in custody in the department for offences of this nature.
Source: L'Indépendant
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)