A 71-year-old man, suspected of having shot and killed a 34-year-old salesman on Wednesday in Chavelot (Vosges), was placed in police custody. The Epinal public prosecutor's office requested his indictment for murder as well as his placement in pre-trial detention, confirmed the public prosecutor, Frédéric Nahon.
The events occurred late Wednesday morning. Alerted by a witness, the gendarmes intervened at the home of a man in his seventies, located in this town of 1,300 inhabitants. In the entrance of the house, investigators discovered a seriously injured man. The victim, manager of a company specializing in house construction and real estate work, died on the spot. According to the prosecution, “the first findings revealed the presence of two wounds, located in the back, compatible with two gunshots”.
The accused, who shares his home with his brother, is unknown to the courts and did not have blood alcohol levels at the time of the events. While in police custody, he refused to answer investigators' questions. A search of his home led to the seizure “several hunting weapons”indicated Frédéric Nahon in a press release. An autopsy on the victim's body must be carried out this Friday at the Nancy medico-legal institute (IML) in order to clarify the exact circumstances of his death. The prosecution also specified that “the investigations are continuing in order to clarify the course of the facts and the previous relationships, of a commercial type, between the accused and the victim, in particular on previous visits”.
The victim was canvassing when she was killed
The investigation, opened for murder, was entrusted to the gendarmes of the Remiremont research brigade. The victim, originally from Haute-Marne, was canvassing at the time of the incident. She showed up at the two brothers' home before being fatally shot.
The prosecution insists on the need to continue investigations in order to clarify any previous link between the victim and the suspect. The accused, for his part, must be presented to an investigating judge for indictment.
