A beer in one hand, a young woman in the other, the man talks with the receptionist who refuses him entry to the hotel this Sunday, January 14 around 11 a.m. “We’ll stay no more than a minute,” promises the customer. “No,” tenses the employee sitting in front of a section of wall where a whole bunch of warnings for bad payers are plastered. “Identity papers,” he asks the lady. The person concerned rears up, mutters a few words in an Eastern European language and turns around without insisting.
It is in this establishment, apparently not very family-friendly and located rue des Moines in Paris (17th century) between the Porte de Clichy and the Parc des Batignolles, that the corpse of a 43-year-old woman was discovered this Saturday shortly before 1 p.m. by an employee responsible for cleaning, as we revealed this Sunday morning.
The autopsy has not yet taken place
The victim, who is of Brazilian nationality, was lying face down on his bed, in one of the rooms of the Hôtel de l’Europe. At the level of his neck, a deep wound that could suggest a throat slitting. No sharp weapons were reportedly discovered in the room, the front door of which was apparently ajar.
According to a police source cited by AFP, the victim showed signs of defense on his arms. And towels stained with blood were in the bathroom. “We must remain very cautious about findings of this kind,” says a source close to the investigation. The autopsy which is to take place at the Paris medico-legal institute has not even taken place yet.”
Are we sure, at least, that this is a murder? Not yet. But this is what the Paris prosecutor’s office suspects, which told us this Saturday evening that it was opening an investigation into intentional homicide and that it was entrusting it to the first judicial police district.
The forty-year-old had been a customer of the establishment for about a week. “She even came to eat with us,” confides the owner of the small Portuguese community restaurant, located right next to the hotel. I remember her because she has a Portuguese accent. I served him a steak. »
“Completely premature to rule out other hypotheses”
According to the AFP police source, the victim had arrived at the hotel with another man but they did not share the same room. They were accompanied by two women. A second man was also said to have been present. When the police arrived on Saturday, there was only the body of this hotel guest. According to the same source, a farewell letter written in Portuguese [la langue qu’on parle au Brésil, Ndlr] was in one of the victim’s suitcases.
“It’s very strange,” analyzes a police source. Obviously, the presence of all these people can suggest prostitution. But at this stage of the investigation, it is completely premature to rule out other hypotheses.” According to another police source, the establishment is not known as a transient hotel.
This Sunday afternoon, it seems that no one had been arrested in connection with this affair.