A serial killer? A man, suspected of having killed a homeless man in Lyon on Monday by hitting him with a concrete block and of having carried out other attacks, was arrested on a train near Toulon, we learned this Wednesday from a source police officer. He is also suspected of three other murders or attacks in Évry (Essonne), Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) and Dijon (Côte d’Or) and for an attack in Rotterdam, according to a police source.
A serious attack in Strasbourg
Contrary to what a source had initially indicated to several national media, the attack which took place in Strasbourg would not be a homicide, according to our information. “The person did not die, his vital prognosis was engaged” but “his condition would tend to stabilize”, we learned this Wednesday morning.
The Strasbourg public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation, entrusted to the Organized and Specialized Crime Division (formerly PJ) of the Strasbourg police station. Investigators are not ruling out any hypothesis, including a connection with the murder of Lyon, but at this stage, the establishment of a formal link would be considered “precipitous”.
Wanted in several cases
He presented himself during his arrest as a 32-year-old Cameroonian subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), according to a police source. He is suspected of having committed the homicides and the attempted homicide “with the same modus operandi”, according to another police source.
Tuesday evening, the railway police were called after the attack on a young woman on board a train. Its author was arrested at Toulon station. “After checking the file of wanted persons, they realized that he was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by an investigating judge in Evry,” said Toulon prosecutor Samuel Finielz.
“The man was placed in detention and measures will be taken so that he is transferred to the ordering investigating judge”, or to Evry, added Samuel Finielz, without giving further details. Analyzes, particularly of DNA, are now underway to determine whether he is indeed the author of these crimes, according to another judicial source.
A homeless man killed in Lyon on Monday
Monday morning, a homeless man of Moldovan nationality was discovered dead in the center of Lyon with a large wound on his head, a bloody concrete block next to him.
A video surveillance camera filmed an individual hitting him in the head. An investigation into murder had been opened. According to ProgressÉmilio, 39, had been living in the Ainay district of Lyon for five years.
Another homeless person attacked in Rotterdam
On the night of November 4 to 5, a homeless man was attacked in the same way in Rotterdam. The scene was also filmed. In a wanted notice, published on the internet, the Dutch police released an image of a dark-skinned man, aged around thirty, wearing a black raincoat, blue pants and shoes with orange laces. “This man seriously injured a homeless man this week with a large tile,” she wrote.
He was then located on board an international train heading to Belgium.
After the Toulon arrest, Dutch police said they were “investigating whether this is the suspect linked to the Rotterdam attack”. “At this stage we cannot confirm this,” said spokesperson Janine Tuinfort.
