The research, “very active”, has so far yielded nothing. For ten days, an individual, escaped from prison, has been tracked by investigators from Mayenne and Maine-et-Loire who suspect him of having committed two murders and an attempted murder in the region, in less than fifteen days. The public prosecutor of Angers Eric Bouillard made a first point on the case, this Monday evening.
What are the facts of which he is suspected?
It all started on June 22: a 40-year-old woman, mother of two, was found dead in her apartment in Angers. The criminal hypothesis is quickly favored after the discovery of the body, which bears traces of strangulation. The investigation then quickly moved towards a man, an acquaintance of the victim who was neither his spouse nor his ex-spouse, specifies the prosecutor. But the latter has already vanished into thin air.
The following Wednesday, in Chailland in Mayenne, a 26-year-old woman was the victim of an attempted vehicle theft and strangulation on her way home. Thanks to the intervention of a witness, the aggressor is put to flight and takes refuge in a wood. Disturbingly, it is in this town that the forties killed the week before was buried. The cops, many, fail to apprehend the suspect, but a link with the murder of Angers is established.
On Saturday, a vehicle was found burned in Cantenay Epinard, north of Angers. Its owner, a 72-year-old man and still living in Chailland, was identified the next day. The gendarmes go to his home and find, on the spot, the lifeless body of the septuagenarian. Forensic examinations are still underway to find out the circumstances of his death. But in the meantime, the investigation is progressing. “Since yesterday, we have fairly certain hypotheses which tell us that all these facts are connected”, indicates the public prosecutor.
What is the profile of the wanted man?
Originally from Reunion, this man in his forties was imprisoned in the prison of Argentan (Orne). In particular, he was serving a twelve-year sentence for attempted murder of a spouse, and still had three years left. A one-day leave had been granted to him for June 20, in order to carry out administrative procedures at the prefecture of Alençon, to which he never went. “He is an isolated and rather helpless person”, indicates the public prosecutor, who points to his “high level of dangerousness”.
If he knew the first victim, via the ex-spouse of the latter whom he had met in prison, he had no connection with the other two people, indicates the prosecutor. A call for witnesses should soon be broadcast to find this man, who is the subject of an arrest warrant from Argentan prison and a search warrant issued by the Angers prosecutor’s office.
Where are the searches?
The police are now concentrating their searches north of the agglomeration of Angers “in order to find this individual as quickly as possible, before a possible new act”. Some 400 houses have been checked in the past few hours, and the search will continue to intensify in this area. This night, about thirty soldiers will be accompanied by dogs “with exceptional flair”.
“In the meantime, we want to reassure the population but also ask them to be vigilant,” says Eric Bouillard. You have to lock your home, your windows, bring in the cars if possible… ”A toll-free number could soon be dedicated to this case. In the meantime, any witnesses are invited to dial 17. The Nantes BRI is “ready to intervene” as soon as the man is located.