Italian justice has opened an investigation into premeditated murder after the death of a young French woman in Val d'Aosta, whose companion was arrested in Lyon (south-east), the prosecutor's office announced on Thursday.
“The accusation that we are raising is that of aggravated murder by premeditation and emotional relationship with the victim,” declared the public prosecutor of Aosta, Luca Ceccanti, during a press conference on Thursday. “It is obviously a feminicide,” he added, excluding the hypothesis of a kidnapping.
His companion, of Italian nationality, arrested Wednesday evening in Lyon, was indicted this Thursday. He had been referred a little earlier "for violation of his judicial control and execution of a European arrest warrant, issued by the Italian judicial authorities", indicated the Grenoble public prosecutor Éric Vaillant.
Wanted since the end of March by the Grenoble public prosecutor's office for the violation of his judicial control, the 21-year-old man of Italian nationality is suspected of the murder of his partner, a young woman of 22 years old. He “was arrested Wednesday evening in Lyon,” said Éric Vaillant.
Church in ruins
Judicial sources had earlier told AFP that the body of the young French woman, bearing numerous stab wounds, had been found in a ruined church in Italy. She was “stabbed in the neck and stomach”, according to these sources. The victim, originally from Saint-Priest, in the suburbs of Lyon, was discovered on Friday and identified on Monday, these sources said, confirming information from the Italian press agency Ansa.
“Warned by the Italian police that the couple had crossed the France-Italy border together, without incident, on March 25, the Grenoble public prosecutor's office opened an investigation for violation of judicial control against the companion,” specifies the prosecutor.
Since the discovery of the body, an investigation has been opened for murder by the Grenoble public prosecutor's office, as is the case on the Italian side. The suspect, never convicted, was placed under judicial supervision on January 13 “following his dismissal for domestic violence and threats so that the victim retracts her complaint”. In particular, he was prohibited from coming into contact with the victim, specifies the prosecutor. He was to be tried on May 3 in Grenoble.
According to Ansa, the body was found by a walker in an abandoned church in the village of La Salle and the death dates back to the end of March, beginning of April.