Could the murder have been avoided? Was there a loophole in the justice system? These two questions were this Tuesday at the heart of the press conference of Christian Mercuri, the public prosecutor of Metz.
"We cannot speak of dysfunction,"
said the magistrate. The 23-year-old defendant, already convicted 9 times by the courts and who was finishing a home prison sentence with his partner at the time of the murder,
"was not identified as a violent husband"
. And to add that
"the victim had given his agreement to accommodate his spouse"
.
The respondent, a 23-year-old man of Serbian origin, was under electronic surveillance at the time of the incident.
He was supposed to wear an ankle bracelet but had succeeded, without the prosecutor being able to explain how, to part with it on the night of the crime.
“
The bracelet was indeed found in the couple's apartment
,” he explained.
Arrested on Monday
"without any resistance"
at the home of a couple of friends and placed in police custody, the alleged perpetrator of the conjugal murder perpetrated in Hayange (Moselle) on the night of Sunday to Monday
"did not want to express themselves on the facts or very little, simply explaining that there had been an argument in the apartment, ”
said Christian Mercuri.
Read also: Amiens: a man suspected of feminicide and two of his relatives indicted
The respondent, a 23-year-old man of Serbian origin, was under electronic surveillance at the time of the incident.
He was supposed to wear an ankle bracelet but had succeeded, without the prosecutor being able to explain how, to part with it on the night of the crime.
“The bracelet was indeed found in the couple's apartment,” he explained.
Handrail and complaint
The young woman had filed a handrail then a complaint on November 3, 2020. But this complaint "
was not brought to the attention of the judicial authority
", nor "
any element relating to domestic violence
", justified the prosecutor. And the victim "
did not want to go further in the process when a social worker from the police station had contacted her on several occasions
" following her complaint. The magistrate, however, admitted that there had been "
several police intervention assistance to the marital home
" since last November. An ex-companion of the suspect also went to the police station on Monday to share the
"death threats"
, which she would have undergone at the time when she attended him, indicated the prosecutor of Metz.
Read also: Feminicide in Chartres: the husband indicted and imprisoned
According to the meager elements provided to investigators by the defendant of Serbian origin, the murder was motivated by "
a
story of infidelity
" when he was in prison, specifies the prosecutor.
Moreover, an incident had arisen during a visit of the victim to his companion in the visiting room a few months earlier.
"The administration had suspended the visit permit for a few weeks,"
said Christian Mercuri.
During the tragedy, the 22-year-old victim was allegedly stabbed several times, including four or five serious, and kicked in the face.
"
Do you like it bitch?"
", Would have said the suspect while hitting his companion, according to witnesses who were also"
alerted by the cries of the victim
".
The first blows would have been carried in the marital apartment and the last in the middle of the street while Stéphanie tried to flee.
"
She tried to take refuge at the police station located not far from the apartment,
" explained the Metz prosecutor.
"
Traces of blood were also found on the intercom of the police station
“, He detailed.
The young woman finally died a few minutes later in the street, not far from there.
