This 42-year-old man escaped from Argentan prison (Orne) while on leave. Arrested on Tuesday, he had been on the run since June 20.
A run that lasted two weeks. The detainee on the run since June 20, suspected of two murders since his escape from the Argentan detention center (Orne), was arrested near Angers (Maine-et-Loire) on Tuesday July 4, announced the prosecutor of the Republic Eric Bouillard to AFP.
This man was actively sought near Angers. The 42-year-old fugitive was serving two prison sentences at the Argentan detention center in Orne and took advantage of an exit permit to escape. Here’s what we know about the suspect and his escapee.
A fugitive arrested “softly” northwest of Angers
A search notice accompanied by a photo had been published Monday evening by the prosecution. The prosecutor asserted that the fugitive presented a “dangerous criminological profile” And “must be arrested before another tragedy”.
The man was finally arrested around 1 p.m. on Tuesday in Avrillé, northwest of Angers, thanks to a “banal report for the theft of food from a construction site shed”, explained the departmental director of public security (DDSP), Franck Hemery. Arriving in this former school under renovation, the police officers of the anti-crime brigade observe on the third floor “traces of life: backpack, clothing effects, some food. “They immediately discovered the man who tried to escape by jumping from the 3rd floor. He was caught by ground crew as he tried to run away.”, detailed the commissioner. While jumping, the fugitive made “rather minor injuries”. He must be presented to the sentencing judge, then placed in police custody, the prosecutor told AFP.
A heavy legal past
Before his flight, this man was serving two sentences in the Argentan detention center: the first for 12 years for attempted murder by a spouse or partner and the second for three years for aggravated property damage. He had obtained leave on June 20 to obtain administrative documents. He took the opportunity to flee by train.
A man suspected of two murders during his run
According to the first elements of the investigation, the fugitive won Angers the day of his escape. Two days later, on June 22, a 40-year-old woman was found dead at her home in the Maine-et-Loire prefecture, “with traces on the neck”. The victim was discovered by his neighbors and his two children. The survey has “established that she [avait] suffered a strangulation with bare hands which resulted in his death”, according to the prosecutor. It turns out that this victim is the ex-wife of a man who was in the same prison as the fugitive. Besides, she had visited him in the visiting room. According to the magistrate, quoted by the newspaper West France, “the man had no intimate relationship with the victim”.
On June 28, further north, in Chailland (Mayenne), a 26-year-old pregnant woman noticed that “someone [était] went home”. This is when she is “victim of an attempted theft of his vehicle and extremely serious violence, an attempted strangulation”. The young woman was saved thanks to the intervention of a third party who intervened. After this altercation, the man fled and took refuge in a vast wood, escaping the device put in place by the police to arrest him, details the prosecutor.
Finally, on July 1, around 7 p.m., a vehicle was discovered burning in Cantenay-Epinard (Maine-et-Loire), north of Angers. Her owner was found dead at his home the next day. He is a 72-year-old man, former mechanic of the town and municipal councilor. “The assumption that we make today is that the owner of the car will find his attacker when he returns home”informed the public prosecutor. “The legal connection between these three cases” was only done on Monday evening, the prosecutor said on Tuesday.
An important device deployed to find him
In all, 52 gendarmerie personnel were mobilized and more than 400 properties were checked, said Colonel Tanguy Landais, commander of the Maine-et-Loire gendarmerie group. Police officers from Angers participated in the hunt as well as the intervention group of the national gendarmerie (GIGN), according to West France.
The research focused north of Angers, in the towns of Avrillé, Montreuil-Juigné and Cantenay-Epinard, said the prosecutor. The magistrate had invited anyone with information to contact 0800 877 668 (or 17 in an emergency) and not to try to intervene. He had also advised to lock his door.