The man, suspected of having attacked a jogger in the Gard on January 11, had been hospitalized four days previously in a psychiatric ward and had “benefited from leave” the day before the attack, the prosecutor's office said this Sunday. from Nîmes.
The alleged attacker, in police custody since Friday, confessed to the facts. He was indicted for “attempted assassination” and placed in pre-trial detention, announced deputy prosecutor Frédéric Kocher, in a statement to the press at the Nîmes judicial court.
The victim's condition stabilized
“He is a 25-year-old man, living near Vergèze, whose profile reveals psychiatric difficulties. He was taken care of by a care establishment four days previously and was granted leave on Friday January 10, the day before the attack, added the magistrate, who did not specify whether he was This was a temporary or permanent exit.
The victim, a 44-year-old mother, who was jogging late in the morning in a park in Vergèze, was struck from behind with six stab wounds, three of which hit her in the neck and one in the chest. and two on the shoulder. His vital prognosis was in jeopardy for a long time before his state of health stabilized. Two people, including an off-duty gendarme, witnessed the attack, explained Colonel Emmanuel Casso, commander of the Section of the Gard gendarmerie group.
-The suspect has no connection with the jogger
The use of their testimonies and video surveillance images “made it possible to trace the suspect”, arrested this Friday. At his home, investigators found a jacket and a knife, on which the victim's DNA was detected. The man lived near Vergèze, but had “no connection” with the victim. “He took a knife with the aim of attacking someone,” said the deputy prosecutor.
The day after the attack, the Nîmes prosecutor launched a call for witnesses. Large numbers of gendarmes had been deployed around Vergèze, with 70 gendarmes, supported by aerial means, drones and helicopters, as well as dog teams. Twenty investigators from the Nîmes gendarmerie research section worked “day and night” on this investigation, said their commander, Colonel Christophe Capsié.
