The ex-spouse of woman killed in the middle of the street, Thursday morning, in La Croix-de-la-Rochette, in Savoie, was arrested this Friday morning, 24 hours after the fact, we learned from a source familiar with the matter. The suspect, aged 61, was arrested by the gendarmes of the PSIG of Savoie, as part of a device piloted by the GIGN, around 10:10 a.m., near the parking lot of a Buddhist study and practice center in Arvillard, where he had parked his car. His Toyota had been spotted on the spot, on Thursday, by the gendarmes.
According to the public prosecutor of Chambéry Pierre-Yves Michau, this arrest took place calmly. The suspect was taken into custody, in the context of the investigation opened for assassination. Thursday evening, the public prosecutor of Chambéry had indeed confirmed that the murder “probably was committed with premeditation”.
160 gendarmes mobilized
It is a very important research device which had been mobilized since Thursday morning, with no less than 160 gendarmes, including 60 GIGN soldiers and more than 10 gendarmes from the Chambéry SR, as well as divers, mobile gendarmes, as well as soldiers from the PGHM and the regional observation and surveillance group (GOS).
The gendarmes were supported on the ground by dog teams and aerial means : five helicopters (some equipped with thermal cameras) and drones. “The marking of dogs has been very interesting for the orientation of operational research, in addition to all the means employed”, said a source close to the investigation.
“Thank you to the gendarmes who carried out the arrest of the individual suspected of feminicide yesterday in Savoie, by mobilizing very significant resources”immediately reacted Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Thursday morning, around 9:20 a.m., a 42-year-old woman, the ex-wife of this man, was leaving the crèche where she had just dropped off one of her children, when she was fatally assaulted in front of her three-year-old son. She received a dozen violent blows, carried out with a sharp object, of the “machete” type according to the investigators. The suspect then fled by car and the emergency services could not do anything to save the victim.
This man was already known to justice. As part of their separation, in 2021, he was notably sentenced in November 2020 by the Nice Criminal Court for non-compliance with a protection order rendered for the benefit of the victim. Since his transfer to Savoie as a police officershe had filed a complaint for non-payment of alimony against her ex-spouse.