Blanca is consumed with worry this Friday, May 11, 2018. All day long, this mother tried, in vain, to reach her daughter Marion, 28 years old.
She even called the agency where the young real estate negotiator has been employed for two years.
But her daughter did not show up for her job.
Blanca went to ring at her house, rue de Picpus in Paris (12th century).
Nobody.
Even more worrying: Marion's bank contacted her to report suspicious withdrawals from her daughter's account.
Blanca, panicked, contacted the emergency services at 9:30 p.m.
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A little over an hour later, the firefighters discovered the body of the young woman, completely naked, on her bed, with a blue sheet and a white towel wrapped around her head.
He has numerous bruises and lesions, including one about a dozen centimeters, similar to a burn, on his right arm.
No trace of break-in was noted but a great disorder reigns in the apartment.
Cupboards, cupboards and drawers are open, as if they had been searched.
Many objects and clothes are scattered around.
The remains of a drunken evening are piling up everywhere: bottles of vodka, champagne, sachet of cannabis, used condoms… But also four knives, two razors - one of which is broken - and an empty box of professional souricide.
A friend of the threatened and kidnapped victim
The autopsy reveals that Marion died of strangulation, after being beaten and raped in a particularly brutal way. A sordid crime, which traumatized the neighborhood. This "pretty woman", "tall brunette" with curly hair, "always dressed" according to a neighbor, did not seem to have a particularly dissolute life. Quite the contrary. She had lived in this apartment for a long time with her grandmother, who was losing her mind. Marion took on the role of helper with abnegation. “She took care of her until her death. We found it admirable, ”greets another resident of the building. “She always had a smile, a beaming face. He was someone we noticed, ”adds a neighbor.
Fanny C., Marion's best friend, will very quickly put the police officers of the 2nd judicial police district (DPJ), seized of the investigations, on the trail of Thomas J., 20 years old. When the young woman, worried about not having any news, calls her girlfriend in the morning of May 11, it is this student, in alternation in the real estate agency of Marion, who ends up dropping out. Thomas assures Fanny that Marion cannot speak to him because she has drunk too much, but that she wants to see her. Fanny immediately goes to her friend's house. A chilling closed-door follows. According to Fanny's story, Thomas opens it for her, then places a knife under her throat, threatening to kill her.
Thomas then begins to strangle her with his arm.
Fanny would have succeeded in making him release his grip by scratching him deeply.
The young man would then have offered a glass of water to Fanny.
After a sip, Fanny quickly feels weak.
She says she sat on the living room sofa, unable to move, for two or three hours, until the young man concedes to let her go.
The young man would have strangled her with an arm lock
After this sequestration, Thomas made several withdrawals with Marion's bank card, for an amount of more than 1,500 euros. Before evaporating into nature. A search warrant is launched against him. On May 17, Thomas's mother called the police: her son came to her home in Cagnes-sur-Mer (Alpes-Maritimes). He admits having killed Marion and wishes to surrender. In custody, he admits to having tried, without success, his luck with Marion. He says that on May 10, he and the victim agreed to meet in the early evening for a drink. Around 10:20 p.m., an argument broke out about Fanny, whom Thomas considered "toxic". Marion would have asked him to leave, and would have slapped him. Thomas would then have strangled the young woman with an arm lock, until she stopped moving. Then, he said,"This is the black hole".
Still according to his statements, Thomas would have woken up, panicked, around 1:30 am. He would then have swallowed a sachet of souricide, before sinking into sleep. He wakes up the next day around 10 a.m. There, he transports Marion to her room. He undresses her and rolls her under a towel and sheets. He ends up acknowledging sexual acts, but claims that they took place after the death of the young woman. He also denies having hit her. But his statements hardly resist the expertises, which revealed numerous traumatic ante-mortem injuries all over the body. With, in particular, muscle tears on the thighs, characteristic of a rape scene. Traces of chloralose, the active ingredient in souricide, were also found in the stomach contents of the victim.
A partial impairment of discernment?
During the training, Thomas walled off in silence. "I do not remember any more and even if I remember it, I would not want to tell you", he declared in particular. The trial of the young man, now 23 years old, opens this Monday before the assizes in Paris for the murder, rape and torture of Marion, as well as the attempted murder and kidnapping of Fanny. For the examining magistrate, the motive "seems to be that of amorous spite". At the real estate agency, many colleagues had noted that the young apprentice "was always glued to Marion". "It was like a love hysteria on her part," said Aurélien, who was on the way to becoming Marion's boyfriend. “The fact that Marion and I got closer was the trigger for Thomas' jealousy taken to the extreme. "
In their report, two psychiatrists concluded that the discernment of Thomas, a young man who was perfectly inserted and without a criminal record, had been impaired partially under the influence of cannabis and alcohol. Conclusions which should animate the debates before the Assize Court.
