“an unbearable outbreak of violence”

Thursday November 7, 2024, a 59-year-old man died after being beaten in Morteau (Doubs). His attacker, arrested a few minutes after the tragedy, filmed the attack before broadcasting it on social networks. He faces a life sentence for aggravated intentional homicide.

According to the own admission of the public prosecutor of Besançon (Doubs), Etienne Manteaux, the scenes of violence are “unsustainable“. Thursday November 7, 2024, around 1:15 a.m., a 59-year-old man died on the public highway, rue Fauche, in Morteau.

The causes of his death are terrible: this cook living in Montlebon (Haut-Doubs) was beaten until he died by a 21-year-old man. The latter filmed the scene, broadcast it on the social network Snapchat immediately. Apprehended by the police a few minutes after the tragedy, he explained that he had “vrillé” after the victim allegedly offered him sexual relations. He was brought before the Besançon public prosecutor's office on November 8 and then indicted for aggravated intentional homicide.

How did we get there? According to Etienne Manteaux, who gave a press conference on November 8 to discuss the circumstances of the attack, the two men met on November 6 in a bar in downtown Morteau. The alleged attacker was then with a group of young people, also aged in their twenties.

“Analysis of the establishment's video surveillance cameras shows the victim speaking with the group and drinking alcohol with them” specifies the prosecutor. “Then the fifty-year-old leaves the bar for seven minutes, accompanied by his future attacker, without signs of aggression“. Étienne Manteaux explains that according to several witnesses, the victim suggested that the 21-year-old young man have sex with him.

Around 12:50 a.m., all the protagonists leave the bar. The fifty-year-old and the accused leave on their own, while the rest of the group disperses. There too, according to police hearings, no form of tension. However, around 1:15 a.m., several people called the authorities: they said they had seen and heard a beating on rue Fauche.

When help arrived, the 59-year-old man was in severe cardiorespiratory arrest on the road. Despite several “intense” cardiac massages, he died a few minutes later. The gendarmes were then alerted by Mortuacians, who warned them of the presence of a man, near rue Fauche, who resembled the attacker.

The police apprehended this 21-year-old man a little further away, visibly drunk. On his sneakers, they noticed traces of blood.

Etienne Manteaux,

public prosecutor of Besançon

Directly placed in police custody, the accused will be tested positive for cannabis and alcohol. “Very quickly, he confesses and admits to having carried out the blows” specifies the prosecutor. “At first, he said he defended himself, that the victim also hit him and that she had a knife“. A search was carried out at the young man's home, located not far from the scene of the attack, where the gendarmes discovered bloody pants and his phone,”which means that the man changed before returning to the scene of the attack“.

Its exploitation will prove crucial. Inside, investigators found three videos where the accused films himself hitting the fifty-year-old. “These are scenes of extreme violence, difficult to bear, very hard to watch“insists Etienne Manteaux.”In the first video, the victim is sitting with his face covered in blood. On the second, he is lying down, and makes a few sounds. On the third, despite the blows, his body remains inert“. All these videos were shared on the social network Snapchat by the accused, who sent them to some of his acquaintances.

Clarification: in these videos, the court specifies that the accused insults the 59-year-old man on numerous occasions by kicking him in the face, and says that he does this because his little sister has received propositions sexual activity on the part of the victim. “After verifications and investigations with the family of the accused, it appears that these remarks are not substantiated“justice informs us.

Faced with a fait accompli, the suspect said during these hearings that these were “sexual proposals from the victim“which made him angry. Add to that the alcohol and drugs, which “would have made it twist“. “If he hadn't met me, this wouldn't have happened” he will repeat to the police.

The autopsy of the body of the deceased, carried out this November 8 in the morning, revealed “a significant series of hematomas and lesions on the victim“, particularly on the face, cerebral hemorrhage and asphyxiation syndrome. “New analyzes have been ordered to understand the mechanism of death” concludes Etienne Manteaux.

The alleged attacker lived in Morteau and was very unfavorably known to the justice system. He had already been convicted four times, notably in December 2023 for violence with weapons in Morteau, which earned him a 6-month suspended prison sentence. He was also due to appear on November 25 for violence committed once again in Morteau: he was accused of having kicked a person to the ground. A modus operandi that is sadly reminiscent of his last alleged attack.

At the end of the day, the young man was indicted for manslaughter aggravated by the fact that it was committed because of the sexual orientation of the victim. For these charges, he faces a sentence of life in prison. He will remain in pre-trial detention awaiting his trial.