It is a voice at the heart of a criminal trial, which only the alleged murderer can hear.
A voice which, this Friday in October 2016, ordered him to kill to “resuscitate” his mother, who died in 2012.
For three days, since Wednesday, Romain B., 27, appears before the Assize Court of Oise for the assassination of Nicky Regnault, his throat cut in his apartment in Béthisy-Saint-Pierre four years ago.
This voice, which will be at the heart of the debates and of a “battle of experts” during these three days of trial, Romain says he has heard them since he was 15 years old.
“A male voice, will detail the young man to a first expert who hears it on March 8, 2017. At the beginning, it was not always diabolical, it was rather advice, as to choose the right direction.
She told me what to do and what not to do.
"
"Kill a person to bring my mother back, like an exchange"
But over the months, in the summer of 2016, it becomes more pressing.
“More and more restrictive”, explains another expert at the helm.
"She started by asking me to hurt the cat," says the accused.
It was then that she told me to kill someone to bring my mother back.
Like to make an exchange.
"A life for a life", summarizes the director of investigation at the helm.
This voice, Romain answers it more and more often, out loud.
"I speak in my cell, as if I were speaking to another person," he will tell an expert.
"It was all the time, every day, getting worse and worse," confirms his big sister, with whom the accused lived.
We were at the table and suddenly he would get up, go to his room and talk to himself.
It could go on for hours.
Sometimes it was without realizing it, next to us.
"It was like whispers," says his little brother.
But we never thought it was serious… ”
A passion for horror movies and serial killers
Behind the voice that haunts Romain's daily life hides a deep discomfort that will continue to grow.
“Year after year, it got worse, slips his sister.
He didn't want to go out, didn't have any friends, stayed in his room all the time.
"When he got to college, he closed in on himself a lot," adds his little brother.
The teenager then takes refuge in horror films and develops a passion for serial killers.
The young man identifies in particular with Jeffrey Dahmer, nicknamed "the cannibal of Milwaukee", who had confessed to having murdered 17 young men between 1978 and 1991.
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"I think I have a relationship with him, he is a close person I would say," he confided during his custody.
In the trunk of his car, the gendarmes will thus find DVDs of horror films as well as “Mein Kampf”, the work of Adolf Hitler.
"I'm ashamed of not being like everyone else"
His ill-being is also accompanied by a thwarted sentimental life and a homosexuality that he struggles to assume.
“I found the boys attractive, I didn't like girls,” Romain told the various experts.
But I am ashamed that I am not like everyone else.
"
When in the fall of 2016, the voice becomes too urgent and the accused decides to "take action", it is to his contacts met on gay dating sites that he will turn.
Romain must then "choose", "select" his victim, summarize the investigators.
"It was easier," confirmed the accused.
A homosexual would believe that we would have sex.
"
Nicky, "the easy prey"
Among the boys with whom he exchanges, there is Nicky Regnault, a 37-year-old employee of Parc Astérix, with whom the first conversations began in January.
It's decided, Nicky will be the sacrificed.
"Easy prey," said the young man in custody.
"Nicky was the person who trusted him the most," said a gendarme.
So, in October, the frequency of messages will increase.
“No less than 109 exchanges in a month,” notes the lawyer for the civil party.
Together, Nicky and Romain are building a "scenario" on this meeting which will take place on October 21, in the apartment of the thirty-something, in Béthisy-Saint-Pierre.
Nicky will have to leave the door open, get naked, kneeling on her bed, blindfolded and hands tied.
"I wanted it to be easier, that he could not defend himself and look at me", explained the accused.
"I absolutely needed to bring my mother back"
On October 21, Romain, who told his relatives to take the road to Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), loads his little Peugeot 206, leaves his sister's home in Arsy and heads towards Béthisy-Saint-Pierre.
It is a little after 9:30 p.m. when he parks in the parking lot at the bottom of the building on rue du Val-d'Automne.
In his Peugeot 206, Romain hesitates: “I was wondering if it was good or bad.
I thought it was wrong but necessary.
I absolutely needed to bring my mother back.
I needed to believe it.
"
The final text message to Nicky is sent at 9:36 p.m.
Romain rushes into the small building, opens the door and walks towards the room lined with egg cartons where his victim awaits him.
Romain takes out his knife, grabs his "target" by the hair, "to pull his head back" and slaughters it.
Nicky tries to let go of her bonds, to no avail.
Romain, who had initially planned to "cut his leg", gets scared, gives up and leaves the apartment.
Only ten minutes have passed, Nicky is not yet dead when his executioner takes back his Peugeot 206.
