Death of Christophe Dominici: what we know about the drama

He died near his home.

Former rugby player Christophe Dominici was found unconscious on Tuesday afternoon in the Sully barracks, a set of disused buildings located on the edge of Saint-Cloud park.

Aged 48, the one who made the heyday of the XV of France and the Stade Français, had a fatal fall of ten meters.

Christophe Dominici's death is very likely voluntary.

The thesis of suicide is almost acquired, even if the accident cannot be totally ruled out at this stage.

In addition to those of the entourage of the rugby player, we must wait for the hearing of a key witness to see more clearly.

This key witness is a cyclist who would have seen the imposing silhouette of Christophe Dominici on the parapet along the avenue de la Grille-d'Honneur, this sloping artery which leads to the main entrance to the Saint-Cloud park.

It was around 2:30 p.m.

According to the very first elements of the investigation, opened for “research into the causes of death”, this witness also saw the man fall into a vacuum.

But this Tuesday, "he was too shocked" to answer in detail the questions of the police.

An unsuccessful revival attempt

This concrete parapet, which borders an avenue itself parallel to the A13 motorway bridge in Saint-Cloud, is no more than a meter high.

Whether he knowingly fell into the void or not, Christophe Dominici fell about ten meters by falling directly over a building from the 1970s erected behind the historic buildings of the Sully barracks.

Building that belonged to the General Directorate of Armaments until its departure in 2008, bought by the Hauts-de-Seine departmental council in 2016, but as disused as the barracks since the departure of the soldiers.

This is why witnesses are rare.

Help arrived quickly and tried in vain to revive the former rugby player.

But it was already too late, Christophe Dominici would have died instantly.

The death was pronounced at 3:05 pm.

His wife at the scene, in shock

When the police arrived on the scene, Christophe Dominici's wife was at the scene of the tragedy.

"In a state of shock, she could not be heard," said the Nanterre prosecutor's office.

But from the few information collected by the police, the athlete's wife was looking for her husband at the beginning of the afternoon.

He had left their home in Boulogne-Billancourt to take a walk that was not to last two hours.

Worried, she then joined the surroundings of the Saint-Cloud park, on the other bank of the Seine, an area which notably houses the Faisanderie, the private club of the Stade Français.

But that's because she hoped to find her husband near the site of their house under construction, a stone's throw from the Saint-Cloud park, in the town of Sèvres.

It was while looking for him that she passed avenue de la Grille-d'Honneur, shortly after the fatal fall.

The victim's body has been transported to the forensic institute where forensic scientists are expected to perform the autopsy on Wednesday.

They will also carry out toxicological analyzes.