A 25-year-old man was taken into custody this Sunday and indicted for attempted murder of the Vergèze jogger a week ago.
It was the relief that could be seen on the faces of the gendarmerie officers after the great fear following the attack on a jogger a week ago in the Gard. The fear was that the attacker would reoffend. The soldiers from the Gard gendarmerie group and the Nîmes research section worked hard to “corner” the knife attacker as quickly as possible. And for good reason…
A savage attack
The victim, a 44-year-old mother, was running on Saturday January 11 around 11 a.m. in a park in Vergèze when an individual appeared. She was violently stabbed from behind, with six stab wounds, three of which hit her in the neck, one in the chest and two in the shoulder. Her vital prognosis has been compromised for a long time and she has 30 days of ITT. “The crime scene is quite poor”reveals Colonel Christophe Capsié of the SR of Nîmes.
The gendarmes quickly canvassed the area then 20 investigators from the Research Section worked day and night on this priority case. After 6 days of investigation, that is to say this Friday January 17, a man was arrested following extensive work of exploitation and analysis of video surveillance cameras. “ Two people, including an off-duty police officer, witnessed the attack. explained Colonel Emmanuel Casso, head of the Gard gendarmerie group. From the analysis of the cameras it appears that the suspect who has never been convicted by the courts appeared in a joint Police-Gendarmerie file. It was probably by comparing the photo taken by a Vergèze camera with the one which appeared in the gendarmes' file that a connection was made, although this clarification was not given during the prosecutor's press briefing this Sunday evening .
He confesses in custody
The alleged attacker, in police custody since Friday, confessed to the facts. He was indicted this Sunday, January 19 for “attempted murder” and placed in pre-trial detention.
-“He is a 25-year-old man, living near Vergèze, whose profile reveals psychiatric difficulties.” “He was taken into care by a care establishment four days previously and was granted leave on Friday. January 10,” the day before the attack, added prosecutor Frédéric Kocher. He had no link with the victim.
During the search of the suspect's home on Friday, investigators seized a jacket and a knife, items which contained the victim's DNA. A defendant who” took a knife with the aim of attacking someone”said the deputy prosecutor.
“My client, a young man in his twenties, spent 46 hours in police custody, agreeing to answer the police's questions“, explains Maître Alexandre Zwaertvaegher (see photo below) without wanting to say more at this stage of the procedure.
The rest of the investigations are now continuing under the authority of an investigating judge from Nîmes…
.
Related News :