Tuesday, July 20, the discovery of the lifeless body of Marc Floris in the heart of the immense scrubland that encircles the small town of Gréolières (Alpes-Maritimes), put an end to a 72-hour hunt.
This 33-year-old man is the main suspect in the murder of Doriane Ragon, Sunday, July 18 at Plan-de-la-Tour, in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.
He is also accused of having opened fire on a gendarme, without injuring her, before fleeing.
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During a press point Tuesday at the end of the day, the deputy prosecutor of the Republic of Draguignan, Guy Bouchet, did not reveal the way in which the thirty-something had died at the end of "
a course of suffering of violence
" , suggesting however that it could be a suicide, without any certainty has been established at this stage.
In his run, Marc Floris had taken a handgun.
Possibly the same one that would have served for the execution of Doriane Ragon two days earlier, coldly shot in the head, but also the one with which he opened fire twice on the gendarmes who came to question him at his home of Gréolières.
200 soldiers mobilized
From now on, it is incumbent on the investigators of the research section of the national gendarmerie in Marseille, supported by the research brigade of Gassin-Saint-Tropez, to shed light on the many gray areas that remain around this tragedy.
An autopsy must also be performed in the coming days to determine the exact causes of the death of Marc Floris.
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In Gréolières, Wednesday, July 21, the din of helicopters and the comings and goings of some 200 soldiers mobilized in the hunt gave way to silence.
“It's back to normal, the gendarmes are all gone.
We can hardly imagine that only yesterday, Gréolières was the center of attention for such a serious and sad fact, ”
confides to
Figaro
a restaurateur from the small town of 600 inhabitants.
A "harassing character"
Marc Malfatto, the mayor of Gréolières, had urged the fugitive on Tuesday morning to lay down his arms and surrender.
As for him, he was sorry for the outcome of “
this sad adventure
” in which, according to him, “
love led to death
”.
Love or rather obsession.
That of a man towards a woman who did not love him.
"
The perpetrator and the victim had a sentimental relationship which lasted a very short time and which had allowed the young woman to deplore a particularly harassing character of this man (Marc Floris)"
, underlined Guy Bouchet.
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First described as a well-integrated, hard-working man - he drove construction machinery in a construction company - and having "
all the characteristics of a son of a good family
", other aspects of Marc Floris' personality have come to darken. this portrait. Several testimonies have highlighted an obsessive and manipulative character. "
She refused his advances and he could not stand it
", explained a relative of the victim at the microphone of BFMTV. Marc Floris would have gone so far as to threaten the young woman to commit suicide if she did not respond favorably to his advances. And to watch her, the thirty-something would not have hesitated to sleep in front of her house either, assures Sammy, Doriane's best friend: "
He sent her messages all day long, long messages (...) He didn't stop.
He would come to her house, knock on the door.
"
"It's been a long time since I felt a very big anxiety, something was wrong.
Marc drank, ate, lived Doriane, in a period of two months ”
Marie-Ange Floris, mother of Marc Floris
The harassment would be escalated when, at the bend of a walk in the forest, Marc would have exhibited a firearm and proposed to the young woman, mother of an 11-year-old girl, to practice shooting.
Unknown to the police, Marc Floris would have been taken by "
a murderous stroke of madness"
, according to the commander of the gendarmerie group of the Alpes-Maritimes, Nasser Boualame.
A point that the current investigations will again have to clarify.
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manhunt in Gréolières: the fugitive and the killed woman had maintained "a short sentimental relationship"
A few hours after the announcement of the discovery of the body of Marc Floris in the mountainous maquis which overhangs Gréolières, Marie-Ange Floris, the mother of the fugitive, granted an interview to the journalists of TF1. She described her son's worrying behavior in recent months. "
It's been a long time since I felt a very big anxiety, something was wrong. Marc drank, ate, lived Doriane, in a period of two months,
”she said, emphasizing the“
fragility
”and“
dangerousness
”of their relationship. “
I lost a son. I lost my chair. I've lost my guts, but I'm relieved he's dead. I'm relieved because he took the life
", She added, before addressing the relatives of Doriane Ragon:"
My heart bleeds for the little one, Zoe, a little girl of 11 years old.
My heart is bleeding for them, the family, and for his friends.
I know she loved her group of friends
”.
On the night of Saturday July 17 to Sunday July 18, Doriane Ragon, 32, was killed by at least one bullet in the head, in Plan-de-la-Tour, a town overlooking the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, in the Var.
A 9mm caliber cartridge case was found near the crime scene.
It was a delivery man who discovered the body around 5:30 am in front of the gate of the condominium where Doriane, a housekeeper, shared a small studio with her daughter.
A silent tribute is to be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Plan-de-la-Tour in tribute to the missing young woman.
