An employee of the Gard funeral home was preparing the body of a corpse… when he stumbled upon an obstacle.
A 33-centimeter knife was discovered in the thorax of a 54-year-old man, whose suicide was confirmed during the week.
An investigation to “search for the causes of death” was opened this Saturday by the Alès public prosecutor’s office.
A bladed weapon in the heart of a corpse. A 33-centimeter knife was discovered in the thorax of a corpse by funeral directors, two days after a doctor concluded it was suicide, the Alès prosecutor's office told AFP this Saturday, which opened an investigation.
“During the mortuary toilet, the funeral home employee who was preparing the body saw his needle hit an obstacle. A 33-centimeter knife was lodged in the thorax, buried up to the handle, invisible from the outside, and whose blade was placed at the height of the heart”explained to AFP the prosecutor of Alès, Abdelkrim Grini, confirming information from the Objectif Gard site (new window).
The trail of murder not ruled out
An investigation was opened in “search for causes of death” in order to define whether it is a possible murder or to corroborate the theory of suicide. An autopsy of the body is scheduled for Monday, December 2 at the Nîmes Medico-Legal Institute.
The body of the man, aged 54, was found inert at the start of the week in the grounds of a clinic in Bouches-du-Rhône, where he was being treated for mental suffering. He had several wounds on his chest and another on his carotid artery. “A box cutter was discovered at his side, as well as letters written in which he indicated that he was ending his life. No trace of a struggle was also detected. The doctor noted suicide, since a priorieverything converged towards this thesis”added the prosecutor.
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At the request of the family, the body was then repatriated to Gard, to Vigan, near the Cévennes, in order to be buried there after care provided by the funeral directors. “Without this care, the knife would probably never have been spotted. In 28 years of experience, I have never seen such a situation”was surprised by the prosecutor, who specified that if the evidence concluded that there was a possible murder, the investigation would then be managed by the Marseille prosecutor's office, the department where the victim died.
