Sentences of up to twelve in prison were pronounced on the evening of Friday June 3 by the Paris Assize Court at the trial of the "cleansing" of the murder of a prostitute on the orders of her "boss", herself who died in the fire lit to cover the crime scene.
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The heaviest sentence was handed down to Mourad B., 29, whom witnesses saw running away, badly burned after the explosion which blew up an entire floor of a peaceful Parisian building on August 3 2016. During their intervention, the firefighters discovered the charred body of Maria, a 26-year-old Spanish madam.
The investigation had established that after an argument with one of her prostitutes who threatened to report her to the police for money matters, Maria had offered 20,000 euros to her occasional boyfriend, Moncef D., so that he
"gets rid"
of the young woman.
Moncef D. and a friend, Kamel Z., then decide to pretend that they killed the girl - whom they intend to let go - and recover the money.
But when they got back into the apartment, Maria had already killed Alixon with about thirty stab wounds.
The two men take fright and leave the place.
Maria offers 20,000 euros, this time for "cleaning".
A new operation is mounted, with Mourad B. and three other accomplices.
The "cleaners" try to erase the traces of blood but Maria decides that the apartment must be set on fire.
It was then that the explosion occurred which killed the young woman instantly and seriously injured Mourad B.
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The latter was found guilty of the fire that caused Maria's death and was sentenced, like the other "cleaners", for transporting the body and not reporting the crime.
The others were sentenced to terms ranging from two years, one of which is firm, to three years in prison for concealment of the body or non-disclosure.
An eighth man tried for having helped Mourad B. in his escape was sentenced to four months in prison suspended.
The penalty for concealing the corpse after a murder
"is not very important but this offense says something about you"
, perhaps
"contempt"
for the human body, said President Dominique Legrand.
Another prostitute, Leniska C., who was in the apartment with Maria when she killed Alixon, was acquitted of complicity in murder and sentenced to two years in prison, including six months suspended for failing to report the crime.
“We are relieved that her innocence, which she has been claiming for more than five years, is finally recognized
,” reacted her lawyers, Margot Pugliese and Clémence Witt.
