A 21-year-old young man was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention for the murder of a 59-year-old cook, killed because of his homosexuality, in Morteau (Doubs), announced the public prosecutor of Besançon, Étienne Manteaux, during a press conference. The suspect was indicted for “aggravated intentional homicide, because it was committed because of the sexual orientation of the victim,” said the magistrate. He faces a sentence of life imprisonment.
The events occurred during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, shortly after midnight. Witnesses alerted the police, reporting that a man was being beaten on a public highway. Quickly on the scene, the police accompanied by emergency services noted the death of the fifty-year-old. Nearby, police noticed a young man whose shoes were covered in blood. When arrested, the latter admitted to having kicked the victim, particularly in the face, before returning home to change his blood-stained clothes. He then returned to the scene of the tragedy.
According to the investigation, the two men had spent part of the evening together in a bar where they had consumed alcohol. According to the testimonies collected, the cook made advances towards the young man, which triggered the suspect's violent reaction. The investigation, carried out by the Pontarlier research brigade, made it possible to find three videos on the suspect's phone. He filmed them himself during the attack and sent them to several contacts. “In the first scene the victim is seated with a bloody face; in the second the victim is lying on the ground, still emitting sounds; in the third, she no longer emits any sound”detailed prosecutor Étienne Manteaux.
“An extreme outburst of violence”
The videos also show that the perpetrator comments on his action, before insulting the man on the ground. When questioned, he stated that “it was the sexual propositions that were made that made him angry”underlined the prosecutor. The victim's mother, who was his only family, described her son as never having had a stable emotional relationship and said she
“overwhelmed” by the violence of the facts.
According to the second-in-command of the Doubs Gendarmerie Group, Damien Mathieu, the videos highlight “an extreme outburst of violence, of blows”with images judged “unsustainable”. Analyzes revealed that the suspect had consumed alcohol and cannabis at the time of the incident. Already convicted in the past for violence with weapons, he was also due to appear in November for other acts of violence.
