She should have celebrated her 24th birthday on June 17. She will never reach them and her family will mourn her forever. Found dead on May 27, 2023 in the Blavet in Lanester, near Lorient (Morbihan), Iris was indeed killed and probably raped. His lifeless and naked body had been found immersed in the river, bearing the obvious traces of violence. Since June 8, a man considered the number 1 suspect in this murder has been heard by the investigators of the judicial police. After denying having met the young woman, Christophe R., 49, admitted having loaded her into his van. This Monday, June 12, the public prosecutor of Lorient gave some details on the investigation surrounding this particularly violent murder.
The autopsy of the body of the young woman made it possible to establish the presence of a little water in her lungs. “This made it possible to consider that she was breathing, at least weakly, during her immersion”, indicated the public prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger, who advances “a possible mechanism of suffocation and / or drowning”. When the rescuers found her lifeless body in the river, the young woman also showed significant traces of blows to the head and face, carried by a blunt object. Strangulation marks caused by a bond created “a major asphyxiation mechanism”. Asked about the facts of rape of which she could have been the victim, the prosecutor recalled the existence of “a recent sexual intercourse” having left “traumatic lesions”. Already known for criminal acts, the suspect has also been indicted for “murder preceded or accompanied by rape” and “kidnapping and forcible confinement”.
His friend disappears, Iris victim of a kidnapping
The last images of Iris alive were captured around 4:15 a.m. by the video surveillance camera of the Lorient sub-prefecture. We see the young woman struggling to stay seated, accompanied by a friend, also in a state of drunkenness. A place located very close to the bar where Iris and her friend had spent the evening. According to the prosecutor, the relative who accompanied him would then have left the scene to “go and lie down further”. CCTV footage then shows a man approaching Iris and loading her onto his shoulder, before disappearing from view. By carefully going through all the video surveillance images captured that night, the judicial police investigators noticed that a white van had been turning in the city center of Lorient since 3:15 a.m. A truck that belongs to the prime suspect. Already known to justice for having been found guilty of a rape in 2015, the defendant would also have spent part of his evening prowling around and in the night bars of Lorient.
His DNA found under the fingernails of Iris
Since his placement in police custody, this man convicted in 2015 for a rape committed in 2001 on a young woman, has provided little information to investigators. Christophe R., 49, initially denied having met the young woman. Except that his DNA had been found under the fingernails of the victim. “The respondent admitted to having seen Iris drunk and inanimate. He had picked her up, grabbed her and loaded her into his van to help her. Believing that she was not behaving well and would have abandoned her. He conceded that she must have scratched him and specified that he had thrown his jacket”, detailed Stéphane Kellenberger, specifying that the explanations given by the respondent were “extremely vague and very imprecise”. The man domiciled in Hennebont asked for a delay to prepare his defense. When questioned, his wife admitted that her husband could suffer from “urges” but rather from theft or kleptomania.
The issue of its socio-judicial follow-up was also addressed. Placed in pre-trial detention in 2012, the suspect had been sentenced to nine years in prison by the Morbihan Assize Court in June 2015. He had however been released in July 2018 “He had served the firm part which was his due to the ‘effect of remissions,’ replied the prosecutor. Married and father of a child, the suspect was the subject of “regular and recurring” expertise since his release from prison. He had found a job and was diligently following his judicial review, which was due to end in July 2023. All reports, including the last one in May, showed a man respectful of his obligations. “The experts did not, then, find any element as to a possible risk of recidivism”, recalled the prosecutor. The suspect must be heard again this week by the investigators.
Iris’ family will be supported by an association specializing in supporting victims.