The Seine-Saint-Denis Assize Court has been judging since Monday March 21 a 35-year-old man accused of having killed a young man, whose body was fished out of the Ourcq canal, by stripping him at the exit of a techno festival in Paris in 2016.
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On the night of December 17 to 18, 2016, Maxime Rendu, a 23-year-old engineer, disappeared after leaving a music festival organized in a hall on the edge of the Parc de la Villette, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.
Came in the company of friends, the young man is lost sight of by them arriving at the festival, shortly before midnight.
A Tunisian in an irregular situation already known to justice
Around 1 a.m., video surveillance shows the victim, who has consumed ecstasy, leaving the place of the festivities.
He orders an Uber to return but the driver does not find him at the location indicated.
Then it's the black hole.
Two months later, in February, his body was discovered not far from there, in the territory of the town of Pantin.
In a state of decomposition, the corpse is fished out of the Ourcq canal, under the tracks of the ring road.
The very night of his disappearance, the victim's bank card was swallowed by a local ATM, after three bad codes during attempts to withdraw 120 euros.
Recovered by the investigators, the card ends up revealing the DNA of a Tunisian in an irregular situation in France, known to justice under different aliases for multiple acts of violence in the La Villette district.
Arrested in the summer of 2019, Abdallah Miladi admits having met Maxime Rendu that night but denies having killed him, explaining that he only hits "
Arabs and blacks, not the French
".
During the first day of his trial, the Assize Court returned to the career of this undeclared worker accustomed to police custody and round trips to prison for brawls, thefts or damage under the influence of the alcohol in the North-East of Paris.
"
Yes, sometimes I drink too much, but not every day
", retorts in the box the thirty-something with a shaved head, prominent forehead and surly look, to the president who lists his many feats of arms in state drunk.
Prosecuted for theft with violence resulting in death, he faces life imprisonment.
The verdict is expected Thursday, March 24.