the essential
A 47-year-old man was found dead on the night of December 18 to 19 in Tonneins, in Lot-et-Garonne. The investigation carried out by the Marmande research brigade made it possible to arrest a thirty-year-old, who was indicted for having subjected the victim to torture or barbaric acts.
A sordid story was brought to light by the gendarmes of Lot-et-Garonne. It all started on the night of December 18 to 19. It was 2:30 a.m. when firefighters were called to rescue a 47-year-old man, living in downtown Tonneins. On the other end of the phone, a man introduced himself as one of the victim's neighbors. He indicated to the rescue center that the forty-year-old “seemed in very bad shape, even dead”, details the public prosecutor of Agen Olivier Naboulet, this Sunday evening.
When they arrived, the firefighters seemed to guess that this 36-year-old neighbor was providing cardiac massage to the victim. The emergency services take over, in vain. However, the thirty-year-old is not waiting for the police, who have been dispatched to the scene. He leaves, seemingly nothing. Which will alert investigators.
The suspect arrested a few hours later… at Bordeaux station
Alerted, the duty magistrate of the Agen public prosecutor's office immediately contacted the Marmande Research Brigade, allowing the first forensic investigations to be carried out. The intervention of a forensic doctor from the Bordeaux Medico-Legal Institute is also requested. It will highlight several anomalies. “The examination and lifting of the body by the coroner made it possible to identify several marks and wounds, some of which did not appear contemporary with the death,” the prosecution argues. In his report, the pathologist indicates that it is “unlikely” that a fall caused all of the injuries.
In the meantime, investigators are trying to contact the neighbor who alerted the emergency services, in order to collect his testimony. But he did not respond to requests from the gendarmerie. The Bordeaux Research Section, also seized, is doing everything possible to find the thirty-year-old. “He had left the Lot-et-Garonne department and was at the Bordeaux SNCF station” reports the Agen public prosecutor. Arrested a few hours later after his call to the Tonneins firefighters, he was taken into police custody late in the morning of December 19.
During the hearings, this 36-year-old man, originally from Tarn-et-Garonne and living in Tonneins, denied any involvement in the death of the forty-year-old from Tonneins, despite being confronted with the first elements of the investigation. Police custody extended until this Saturday, December 21, when he was referred and presented to an investigating magistrate. The suspect was indicted for having subjected the victim to torture or barbaric acts, for a period between November 1 and December 19, and for having voluntarily carried out violence which led to his death without intention to give it.
The 36-year-old man “is found to be in a potential state of legal recidivism” explains the prosecution. A committal warrant was issued. The investigation, entrusted to an investigating judge from the Agen judicial court, is continuing to shed light on this tragedy.
