2023-12-27 09:01:21
Several gray areas persist after the tragedy discovered in Meaux (Seine-et-Marne) Monday evening. A mother and her four children were found dead in the family’s apartment on Christmas Day. The father, the main suspect, was arrested on Tuesday and taken into custody. The autopsy of the victims must take place this Wednesday at the Paris forensic institute, announced the Meaux prosecutor, Jean-Baptiste Bladier, in order to determine the exact causes of their death.
During a press conference on Tuesday, the magistrate specified that the mother and the two little girls, aged 10 and 7, “had been victims of a very large number of stab wounds” all over their body. However, no apparent trace of wound was found on the boys, 7 years and 9 months old, for whom the hypothesis of suffocation or drowning is considered. The autopsy should clarify this.
VIDEO. Quintuple homicide in Meaux: “I called the police when I saw the blood”, testifies a neighbor
The five bodies were discovered around 9 p.m. Monday by the police, alerted by relatives of the victims who were worried about not having any news. When they entered the family home, an apartment located on the ground floor, the emergency services found “a very violent crime scene”, described Jean-Baptiste Bladier. Traces of blood were also visible on the landing.
Previous incidents of domestic violence
The father, aged 33 and of French nationality, was still hospitalized under police custody on Tuesday evening, with significant injuries to his hand. He was arrested at his father’s house in Sevran (Seine-Saint-Denis), partly thanks to analyzes of video surveillance images.
Suffering from psychiatric disorders, the accused indicated during his arrest that he “knows why he was in police custody” and “mentioned his personal discomfort and his depression”, according to the magistrate. Since 2017, he has been monitored for depressive and psychotic disorders. Prescriptions prescribing tranquilizers were found at the home.
Despite a criminal record “devoid of any antecedent”, the beginnings of the investigation revealed previous acts of violence within this couple formed 14 years ago and married in October 2023. In November 2019, the father had carried a stab wound to his wife in the shoulder blade, who had refused to press charges. An investigation was opened and the spouse was placed in police custody before being hospitalized in a psychiatric unit. The procedure was dismissed on the grounds of deficient mental state. An expert report had attested to the existence of the abolition of his discernment.
The question of his discernment will also be at the heart of the investigation which has just opened into the quintuple homicide. At the end of the father’s custody, a judicial investigation will be opened for “intentional homicide of minors under 15 years old” and “intentional homicide by spouse”, announced the prosecutor.
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