Two macabre discoveries took place a few days apart in September in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle: the body of a dismembered woman and that of a headless man.
Hypotheses have been linked in recent weeks to discover the link between these two cases.
The tracks concerning the idea of a serial killer at the origin of these two murders are however quickly swept away by François Pérain during a press conference on September 23, who affirms that these two bodies have “
no relation
".
Back to these two cases.
“Clearly criminal case”
Monday, September 19, the mutilated and dismembered body of a woman is discovered in Mont-Saint-Martin, in the north of the department.
The corpse is at the back of an abandoned building, in a dump.
His lower limbs are severed at the knees, and the body is decapitated: the head is missing.
A large police force is deployed, and the scientific police are required to carry out initial investigations.
" It's
a clearly criminal case
," says Catherine Galen, public prosecutor at the Val de Briey court.
“
All the hypotheses are explored
”, explains the prosecutor François Pérain during a press conference, on September 23.
It could be a "
feminicide
", or, "
given the proximity of Luxembourg and Belgium
", a murder "
of a prostitute
" committed in these two neighboring countries, to then file the bodies in a landfill after crossing the border.
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The victim was reportedly killed within 24 hours of the discovery of his body, before it was mutilated and dismembered at another location.
No gunshot wounds, stab wounds, or sexual violence were found on his body.
"
It lacks an essential element that is the head and therefore in the absence of this element we do not know what she died of in the state of the legal medical examinations
", explains François Pérain
to Figaro.
“
Additional examinations (anatomopathology, etc.) could give us some clarification, but these procedures are long term (at least 6 months).
»
The victim had a navel piercing and two tattoos, one in the right groin mentioning the word "
Kiko
", probably a "
nickname
", the other on the lower back representing a dagger and a rose, specified the magistrate, who distributed drawings of these tattoos to the press.
“Long and difficult investigation”
The investigation, which brings together "
a dozen criminal investigators
", promises to be "
long and difficult
", according to the divisional commissioner Antoine Baudant, head of the judicial police of Metz, in charge of the investigations.
“
We cannot say that it
[the body, editor’s note]
was concealed
”, adds the prosecutor, which, according to him, gives the impression that the perpetrator or perpetrators of the murder rather sought to “
get rid
” of the body "
as soon as possible
".
On October 3, the Nancy prosecutor's office announced that it was a Portuguese national residing in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
DNA checks have confirmed this identity, and the Luxembourg authorities are taking over the file.
The victim was called Diana Gomes Dos Santos and was a 40-year-old mother.
It is now a question of determining the reasons which motivated the murder of the victim.
Another body found decapitated
This case echoes the previous discovery of another body, again headless, found in the forest of Moyeuvre-Grande by a walker on September 16, 2022. It is the body of a man, but impossible to departure to determine his identity: “
The body is very damaged
”, declares Catherine Galen whose remarks are quoted by France Bleu.
An investigation is opened and entrusted to the judicial police of Metz.
The first findings do not allow to say "
if it is a violent death
".
The death of the man goes back indeed "
to the month of June
", and his corpse was "
altered by wild animals
", according to François Pérain
,
which explains "
the absence of a skull
".
The victim was identified by his "
dress
".
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This is a man declared missing in June 2022 who suffered "
from a serious illness, and known for his suicidal tendencies
".
The Val de Briey prosecutor's office has opened a procedure to investigate the causes of death.
The investigation is still ongoing, pending formal DNA identification.
In the meantime, "
no element collected in the context of this procedure directs the investigators towards a criminal track
".