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Murder of a French restaurateur in Mexico: an arrest and questions

2020-12-10T22:15:48.882Z


The murder at the end of November of Frenchman Baptiste Lormand shocked the Franco-Mexican community in Mexico City. According to the police, he and his partner


The silence of the procession spreads on Masaryk Avenue, bordered by ready-to-wear boutiques and jewelry stores.

The thousand people holding white flowers take rue Jules-Vernes to meditate in front of Surtidora Don Batiz, Baptiste Lormand's restaurant.

This 45-year-old Parisian was found murdered in the south of Mexico, a few days earlier, Saturday, November 28, with the body of his partner Luis Orozco by his side.

The next day, the mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, rushed to hold a press conference with her security official, Oscar Garcia Harfuch.

Violence kills nearly 40,000 people in this country each year, but the death of an expatriate is a stain.

Baptiste Lormand had traveled aboard his SUV in southern Mexico with his partner.

The sun was setting.

A sale of bottles of cognac, a meeting that goes wrong.

"We wanted to steal the merchandise they were offering," says Harfuch, who speaks of five bottles worth one million pesos, or nearly 42,000 euros.

A man, Miguel Ángel "N", alias

el Tinoco

, was quickly arrested, then charged on Monday, December 7 for possession of a weapon and cocaine.

A bottle of the famous cognac was also found at his home, and the police made the connection.

He was convicted in February for drug trafficking, but released in October.

A good life appreciated by all

Baptiste Lormand arrived 22 years ago in Mexico: Le Bouchon for 12 years, then Don Batiz in 2011. A woman, two children at the Franco-Mexican high school.

Servane Berthelot, a friend, met him in 2000 in Mexico City when they were “young and beautiful.

He embodied the joy of living, he had a great sense of humor, a big heart ”.

"A great dad", agree his relatives.

“Baptiste arrived through a friend who advised him to try his luck in Mexico.

He was a charming guy who had a lot of friends, ”says Eduardo Farah, a figure from the chic district of Polanco.

On November 30, a march in memory of Baptiste Lormand took place in Mexico City.

AFP / Claudio Cruz  

In this microcosm of Mexican opulence, this fan of Johnny Hallyday had made his hole.

Rally races, fishing trips, trips across the country, wet evenings… The Polanco of the 2000s was booming then, remembers Monica Senoret.

“We were making java!

In the evenings, we frequented models, designers, photographers, architects… Safety was not a problem.

Since then, Polanco has lost its luster.

In reality, this district remains a safe area where entrepreneurs rub shoulders with politicians, embassies and chic restaurants.

The police patrols are especially there to reassure a population which does not care much about the ambient violence in the country.

The French rarely targeted by violence

In Mexico, the French are well received.

Their passport is a diplomatic asset and criminal groups know it: the slowness of the files, the evidence which disappears, it is for Mexicans, not for Europeans.

But sometimes, the violent reality of the country catches up with them: Servane was luckier than Baptiste.

“I left Mexico 7 years ago after surviving an assault.

Two weeks of coma, one year of convalescence.

"

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Friends of the two partners immediately refuted the version of the double murder.

Where impunity is king, we are not used to so much efficiency.

Rumors of extortion crop up from WhatsApp groups.

“I can not assure that there is a

right of the soil

in Polanco, breathes Farah.

Ask the traders.

But even if it's true, they'll tell you no!

"Without even asking the question, Eduardo Klein, a restaurateur, insists:" there is no extortion of traders here!

"

The trail of a settling of scores?

So what was Baptiste Lenormand going to do in a disreputable neighborhood aboard an SUV, at an already "dark" hour.

And why didn't he tell his friends about his trip to lunch with him just before?

"The prosecution is on other tracks, yes," confirms an internal source at the office of the Attorney General of Justice (FGJ) in Mexico, now in charge of the investigation.

“What is certain is that it is not frequent to go and sell bottles, like that, in person.

"

The photos obtained by Le Parisien show it: bound hand and foot, Lormand and Orozco were beaten to death.

And according to our information, particularly excessive violence is an axis that highly questions investigators.

For Oscar Cedillo, editor-in-chief of Milenio, formerly legal affairs attaché, “this process is reminiscent of a settling of scores.

You don't lynch a man to take his bottles.

Simple theft does not seem to me to be the only reason ”.

Source: leparis

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