A new key element in the investigation into Lina’s death, the 15-year-old girl found dead last October in Nièvre. According to a press release from the Strasbourg public prosecutor published this Thursday, December 19, the young girl was allegedly strangled using the handles of a cloth bag, probably a tote bag. However, the autopsy operations did not make it possible to categorically establish the exact cause of death.
Lina’s body, discovered largely submerged in a wooded and isolated area near Nevers, presented a “horizontal furrow under the chin”characteristic of a strangulation. During the autopsy, experts noted the presence of tissue around the cervical region and the base of the skull, as well as linear cracks on the left mandible. These observations reveal a “mechanical strangulation using exposed tissue”explained the prosecutor.
The theory of drowning ruled out
Forensic analyzes also ruled out the theory of drowning. This hypothesis was initially considered when the body was found, immersed in a stream in Sermoise-sur-Loire, after several months of fruitless searches in the region. According to experts, the delay between Lina’s disappearance and the discovery of her body made the interpretation of certain clues complex.
All elements today point towards a solitary action of Samuel Gonin the main suspect in the case. This 43-year-old man, in great psychological distress and social breakdown, committed suicide last July at his home in Besançon. In a letter left before his suicide, he wrote: “I lost my honor, my dignity, my humanity. I have to leave. I don’t know how to control myself, it’s going too fast. »
Complex affair
Furthermore, Samuel Gonin was to appear a few days after his suicide for two violent robberies committed in August 2023. Investigators established that his vehicle had been geolocated on September 24, 2023, the day after Lina’s disappearance, near where her body was discovered. DNA analyzes revealed the presence of the genetic fingerprints of Lina and Samuel Gonin on ropes found in the trunk of the car. This suggests that the girl may have been tied up before her death.
The investigation remains ongoing to clarify the gray areas of this complex matter.
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