At the trial of the assassination of Samuel Paty, an investigator gives the chilling account of the professor's last minutes of life

The harsh light of the street lamps illuminates the empty street, photographed at night, with flash. A body lies to the right, “along the sidewalk, lying on your stomach towards the ground”. The head, “disconnected”is located “to the left of the body”described in a clinical tone an investigator from the Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate, Thursday November 7, on the fourth day of the trial of eight accused suspected of having participated, to varying degrees, in the assassination of Samuel Paty. Interviewed behind opaque glass to preserve his anonymity, the investigator relies on a PowerPoint document whose images are presented to the special criminal court in Paris and projected on the screens of the courtroom.

Minute by minute, he relates the circumstances of the attack, on October 16, 2020, since the departure of the history-geography professor from the Bois-d'Aulne college, located in Conflans-Saint-Honorine (Yvelines), at the “neutralization” of his murderer, Abdoullakh Anzorov, a young 18-year-old radical Islamist from Chechnya who had a residence permit to reside in France. “At 4:51 p.m., Samuel Paty leaves the school, he takes the street on the sidewalk on the odd side”begins the investigator. Images of the teacher, filmed from behind, captured by video surveillance, appear on the screens. A few moments later, a schoolgirl followed suit.

Then a small silhouette appears at the top left of the screen. It's Abdoullakh Anzorov, who is coming in the opposite direction, “with an energetic step”, “all dressed in black”. The investigation will reveal that he was wearing “three layers of clothing” to conceal his weapons, one of which is an Airsoft gun, which can injure but not kill. At 4 p.m., 52 minutes and 10 seconds, Samuel Paty passes in front of number 16 rue du Bois-d'Aulne. The schoolgirl does the same, ten seconds later.

Then everything comes together. In the rue du Buisson-Moineau, Abdoullakh Anzorov takes out a knife. “The schoolgirl understands what is happening and runs away, scared”notes the investigator, who specifies that the adolescent “sees him hiding his knife behind his back”. She also hears him screaming “God is great”. Samuel Paty is stabbed numerous times. “He will hit him 14 times, before decapitating him on the ground”, reports the investigator.

“Samuel Paty had no time to react to what happened.”

The investigator from the Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate

before the special assize court of Paris

At 4 p.m., 55 minutes and 4 seconds, the terrorist took a photo of his victim's head and posted the image on social networks, to demonstrate his cruelty. Then Abdoullakh Anzorov resumes his walk. He is calm and “don’t run”notes the investigator. A heavy silence filled the courtroom. He continues his chilling story: “red hands full of blood”the terrorist holds a handgun on one side, and his phone on the other, with which he sends messages. He shoots “once in the air” when he faces the police, who in turn open fire. The horror stops when “Abdoullakh Anzorov falls to the ground”. It’s 5:04 p.m.

A diagram is then projected. The body of Samuel Paty is symbolized by a disjointed wooden drawing mannequin, in the middle of “cavaliers”these little yellow triangles that help locate clues at crime scenes. Then the investigator takes inventory of the teacher's clothes, stained with blood. “All clothing supports the attack he suffered”he emphasizes. In his beige backpack, there was a hammer, because for several days, faced with threats appearing on social networks, the professor feared for his life.

“We’re going to get closer to this body,” announces Franck Zientara, the president of the special assize court of Paris, an hour after the start of the hearing. The magistrate wishes to warn the civil parties. The teacher's teenage nieces leave the courtroom. “This is the only photo I will show up close”insists the president of the court. The same crime scene appears, but in close-up. The accused, in the glass box, or on chairs for those who appear free, turn or lower their heads.

Remaining on the civil parties' bench, a little shifted to see the images broadcast on the screens, Gaëlle, one of Samuel Paty's two sisters, turns to her partner. Front to forehead, the couple looks away slightly when this last photo is projected on the screens in the room. “My clients were prepared. They want to know and see everything”reacted their lawyer, Virginie Le Roy, to the suspension of the hearing. “It’s the barbarity of the act, of what happened to Samuel.”