A young man "carrying a knife" and "with behavioral disorders" was indicted and provisionally incarcerated Monday for "voluntary homicide", in connection with the discovery Saturday in Montpellier of the body of a 72-year-old woman, announced the prosecutor's office. Saturday around 11:00, "the body of a 72-year-old woman", who had "several wounds on the throat, probably made by a knife", had been "discovered in the parking lot of the residence where she lived, in the district of Aiguelongue, in Montpellier" (Hérault), recalled the prosecutor of the Republic of Montpellier, Fabrice Bélargent, in a statement.
The victim, who lived alone and was placed under curatorship, according to the prosecutor, "was described as a person with psychological fragilities". "She was particularly known to walk around the residence at any time of the day or night," he says. In parallel, the police officers of the police station of Montpellier had arrested in the night from Saturday to Sunday a man of about twenty years "who was walking on the public road and was carrying a knife," adds the statement of the prosecutor's office.
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Several elements allowed investigators to make the link with the homicide perpetrated probably a few hours earlier: first the "testimony of a person who recognized the individual arrested (...) for having met him in the parking lot of the residence where the body was discovered, on May 27 at 1:30 am, "according to the prosecutor. "His presence in the Aiguelongue district on the night of May 26 to 27 was also confirmed by the exploitation of the recordings of video protection cameras," he adds.
In addition, traces of blood, still being analyzed, were "discovered on the clothing worn by the person concerned," says Fabrice Bélargent. The suspect, unknown to the police but "with obvious behavioral disorders", has "denied any involvement in the facts", according to the prosecutor's office. "At this stage of the investigation, the identity of the person concerned is not established. He provided an incorrect marital status and refused to comment on his past. He said he was born and had always lived in Montpellier, adding that he had been homeless for a few days," he added. Indicted on the charge of voluntary homicide, the young man was incarcerated provisionally, "pending a contradictory debate on his detention which will take place during the week," concludes the prosecutor of Montpellier.