It is a case that marked France, at the end of summer 2017: the murder of Maëlys, 8, kidnapped during a wedding in Pont-de-Beauvoisin (Isère) on the night of August 26 to 27, 2017 A murder for which will appear, from this Monday, Nordahl Lelandais.
This former dog handler, now 38, confessed, several months after the events, to having "unintentionally" killed the little girl.
For a long time, he had denied having abducted her before a trace of the child's DNA was found in his car.
Read alsoMurder of Maëlys: "My whole life has been shattered", the heartbreaking words of the little girl's father
Since then, the life of Nordahl Lelandais has been peeled, and the shadow of a particularly disturbing man has continued to grow.
So much so that the investigators will eventually make the link between Lelandais and the death of Arthur Noyer, who disappeared leaving a nightclub in April 2017. For having killed the young corporal, Nordahl Lelandais was sentenced last May, to 20 years in prison.
Referred to the Assize Court for the murder of Maëlys, Lelandais will also be tried on suspicion of sexual assault on two of his underage cousins and for possession and recording of child pornography images.
His shadow also hovers over several other disappearance cases, without Nordahl Lelandais being prosecuted in these cases.