The attempted burglary turned tragic in Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone, in Hérault. An 80-year-old man and his daughter-in-law were killed by a 38-year-old homeless man who broke into their home, presumably to commit theft, prosecutors said on Friday.
“The author was apprehended while he was still in the house. 38 years old, he is of Spanish nationality. He is homeless and has a nomadic life, “said Montpellier deputy prosecutor Laurent Fekkar in an email. A judicial investigation was opened and the man was remanded in custody.
The bodies of the octogenarian and that of the daughter of his deceased wife, aged 57, were discovered on December 18, in the house they shared, by the gendarmes, intervened at the request of the family, who s worried about not having any news, specified the assistant prosecutor.
The mental state of the suspect “questions”
At this stage of the investigation, the prosecution does not “know precisely when the facts took place or even their chronology”, Laurent Fekkar told AFP. “Examinations in progress will be able to specify it later”. However, the autopsy has already confirmed that the two victims died “as a result of beatings”, he added.
The suspect, “whose mental state raises questions”, according to the prosecution, “did not provide a rational explanation for his acting out” but “acknowledged the facts”. “It seems that he came from Italy and got off the train at Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone station, located near the victims’ house. The traces of the break-in suggest that the defendant entered there to commit theft”, further indicated the representative of the prosecution, according to whom there was “no family, friendly or professional link between the author and the victims”.