The suspect was known to the police because of domestic violence and mental disorders. Authorities found the bodies of the woman and three children, ages four, seven and ten, on Christmas Day.
Meaux (APA/dpa) – A 33-year-old man in France is suspected of killing his wife and four children. The man was arrested not far from the crime scene in Meaux, right in front of his father's home, police sources said Tuesday. Thus, the man was already known for domestic violence and psychological disorders.
The Versailles criminal investigation department said it had opened an investigation into the murder of children under 15 and the murder of a partner. The alleged perpetrator has not yet been questioned, said local prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier. However, he told police he knew “why he was arrested.” He also told police officers “about his dissatisfaction and depression.” The alleged perpetrator also had injuries to his hand.
Bodies discovered on Christmas Day
Authorities found the bodies of a 35-year-old woman and her children aged nine months, four, seven and ten in their apartment in Meaux, near Paris, on Christmas Day, prosecutor Bladier said. “The apartment showed no signs of forced entry and her father was not present.” Police officers followed reports from concerned relatives. Neighbors reported to police about screaming downstairs on the night of December 25th.
After being alerted by neighbors, the police reportedly broke into the ground floor apartment through a bedroom window. There they found a “very violent crime scene”. Police sources said the mother was lying in the hallway. The children were found dead in their bedrooms, the kitchen and the bathroom. According to the prosecutor, the woman and the two girls suffered “a very high number of stab wounds”. The two youngest boys may have been suffocated.
According to the Public Ministry, the family man had been undergoing treatment for depression and psychotic behavior since 2017. He had already been arrested once in 2019: at the time, he stabbed his pregnant girlfriend in the shoulder blade and then tried to kill himself. However, the woman refused to press charges against her partner. According to the prosecutor, after this attack the man underwent additional treatment and the investigation was closed. The couple, who had known each other since school, ended up getting married.
Several cases of infanticide in and around Paris
Meaux is located about 45 kilometers east of Paris. On Christmas Day, countless people placed flowers in front of the family's house. The woman was friendly, said a 69-year-old resident who declined to give his last name. “She talked to everyone.”
Recently, several infanticides have occurred in the Paris region. At the end of November, a 41-year-old man from Alfortville, in the southeast of the capital, confessed to killing his three daughters, aged between four and eleven. A month earlier, a police officer killed his three daughters and himself in Vémars, northeast of Paris.
On average, a woman is killed every three days in France. Last year, around 118 women were killed by their partners or ex-partners in France. Activists accuse authorities of not taking the problem seriously enough.