"It seems so unreal to me!" : in Meaux, the amazement of residents after the murder of a mother

For three days now in Meaux, in Seine-et-Marne, the usually peaceful atmosphere has given way to a climate of amazement.

“

've lived

've

”says Jeanine, a Meldoise.

"

», Sylvie * laments in turn, frozen.

And for good reason, this long-time resident of the Luxembourg district, has just learned that the apartment located two floors above her own, in a peaceful residence on rue Jablinot, was the scene of a conjugal murder on Sunday. December 5 at dawn.

Her neighbor Irene, mother of two children and cleaning lady in a Meldoise bank branch, was allegedly murdered by her husband Richard - who is also the father of her youngest son.

And it is the suspect himself who went on the night of Sunday 5 to Monday 6 December to the Meaux police station to confess his crime and take himself prisoner.

A case which is only just beginning and over which hover many gray areas.

Unsuccessful searches

It all starts Monday, around one in the morning. A man, accompanied by his 23-year-old son, shows up at the police station to be heard. The latter claims to have killed his wife. He allegedly strangled her and then suffocated her with a pillow in the family apartment. Worse, this 52-year-old father says he got rid of the victim's body in the icy waters of the Marne. A judicial police officer on duty was immediately notified, and the man was taken into police custody. An investigation for murder on a spouse was opened in the wake of the Meaux prosecutor's office and entrusted to the investigation service of the Judicial Police of Melun.

At the same time, firefighters are mobilized to find the remains of the victim in the Marne. Until 3:40 am, divers probe the muddy bottoms of the river near Nanteuil-lès-Meaux, where the body was reportedly thrown. After a few hours of interruption, the search resumed Monday at dawn, in the same sector but also further downstream - the body having probably been carried away by the current. In vain.

Tuesday evening, the investigations had been interrupted "

" according to the prosecution.

In a press release delivered in the evening, Laurelyne Peyrefitte, the public prosecutor of Meaux, also indicated that the defendant, hitherto unknown to the police services, had been referred and presented before a judge of instruction, which put him in charge of the murder.

He should be remanded in custody soon, in accordance with the requests of the prosecution and the investigating judge.

"I said to myself: 'Hey, Irene hasn't put the Christmas tree yet'"

It remains to be seen what really happened behind closed doors in the family apartment during that night of December 4-5. Questioned, several neighbors of the couple claim to have seen or heard nothing suspicious at the time of the facts. Neighbor Sylvie, who shares an apartment with her son and mother on the first floor of the residence, however remembers a detail that did not fail to intrigue her on Sunday evening. “

”. A custom to which the mother was however particularly attached. “

”explains Sylvie.

The front door of the couple's apartment, where seals were affixed by investigators. Nicolas daguin

During his first statements in police custody, Richard S. explained that the drama would have been tied on Sunday, around six in the morning, while the couple was alone at his home, according to a police source. Irene was reportedly woken up by her husband and an argument broke out. We do not know at this stage the exact causes of this heated exchange but it would have degenerated and ended in the murder of the mother of the family. During his hearing, Richard told investigators that he had then dressed and then transported his wife to his car, heading for the banks of the Marne, in Nanteuil-les-Meaux. It was at the city's drinking water plant, a particularly deserted place on Sundays, that he allegedly threw the corpse into the river.

The sequence of events raises questions.

It is a testament to the composure shown by Richard S. after the murder.

The 50-year-old spent his Sunday as if nothing had happened.

He first went to play sports before taking up his post in Paris in the hotel-restaurant where he is a cook.

It was finally the pressing questions of his son, worried about not finding his mother at the family home, which would have pushed him on Sunday evening to confess the crime and go to the Meaux police station.

A discreet but united couple

Described as relatively discreet, the S. family did, it seems, very little about them. Married since 1997, the couple shared their apartment with their 23-year-old son and his girlfriend. Irène's son, a little older, had recently moved to a town in the Pays de Meaux. “

remembers Morgane, another neighbor.

Irene, for her part, was seen as a "

" woman, according to several of her neighbors. "

”Sylvie says.

Irène had never "

", as the Meaux prosecutor recalled in a press release.

Outside, Irene and Richard formed a united and tidy couple.

“

continues Sylvie

"

Was Richard S. seized with a murderous impulse - as his first statements suggested - or had he carefully prepared his crime?

Did he act alone or with the help of possible accomplices?

Investigators rely heavily on the discovery of the body of the victim to see more clearly.

There remains the question of the motive, which, here again, remains an enigma.

If some sources close to the file whisper that the couple was in the process of separation, nothing at this stage allows us to say with certainty that this is a lead favored by the investigators.

According to the #NousToutes collective, this would be the 107th marital murder since the start of 2021.

* Some first names have been changed