Laure Zacchello, 43, has been missing since June 21. Her husband, from whom she was in the process of separating, was indicted for voluntary manslaughter of a spouse. The courts suspect him of having staged an assault and having killed his wife, the mother of three young children.
What happened to Laure Zacchello? A professional nurse, converted to “psychogenealogy”, this mother of three children, aged 43, has been missing since the evening of June 20 in Urrugne in the Basque Country. A call for witnesses was broadcast this Wednesday. Heavy suspicion falls on her husband, from whom she was in the process of separating. This Thursday, June 27, while the forty-year-old remains untraceable, the Bayonne public prosecutor provided an update on the investigation into this probable femicide.
A call for witnesses has been launched to find Laure Zacchello, missing.
•
© Police nationale
If no hypothesis can be excluded, “serious and consistent evidence suggests that Laure Zacchello is possibly dead, possibly the victim of voluntary homicide by her partner” stressed Jérôme Bourrier.
“Given the complexity of this case, two investigating judges have been seized and a judicial investigation was opened on June 24 under the qualification of murder by spouse“, he added. Laure Zacchello’s husband was indicted at the end of his police custody.
A knocked out man lying on the ground
The mother of the family was in the process of divorcing. A separation “clearly badly received by the accused”, specifies the prosecutor, who details the lifestyle put in place since March. “This couple is separated and they take turns at the house they own, in Urrugne, to preserve the environment for the children who live there.“.
On Friday, June 21, the children were looked after by the grandparents so that the father could go to the music festival with friends. In the afternoon, the latter’s sister tried to contact him, in vain. She then decided to go to his home, with the aim of collecting some of the children’s belongings.
It was she who raised the alarm and called the police: she declared having discovered the body of her brother lying on the ground, outside the home, on his stomach.
Jérôme BourrierDistrict Attorney
The man has a wound on the back of his head and is lying next to a concrete block. He was evacuated to the Saint-Jean de Luz hospital to undergo examinations. On site, the police found no break-in or trace of a struggle. Is this a staged attack? The hypothesis is not excluded by the prosecutor.The accused has injuries behind the head that are not extremely serious, bruises, and multiple scratches, which are, for example, compatible with moving through brambles.“, adds the latter.
He also presents a trauma which is certainly compatible with a real loss of consciousness, but also with a violent effort.
Jerome BourrierDistrict Attorney
Jérôme Bourrier, public prosecutor of Bayonne.
•
© France 3 Basque Country
Other grounds for questioning: two safes in the master bedroom are open but not broken into. Inside, category A war weapons, namely submachine guns and automatic pistols, have disappeared. Weapons that belonged to Laure Zacchello’s husband. This teacher is himself a sports shooter and a former reserve officer in the national gendarmerie.
On the other hand, Laure Zacchello’s handbag, her two mobile phones, her car, locked but without the key, all of her personal effects are there. The hypothesis of a burglary, the intervention of a third party or voluntary disappearance therefore seem to be ruled out: Laure Zacchello had no means of payment or communication on her. She could therefore not communicate with her children, “which, in light of the hearings conducted in his entourage, is absolutely not like him“.
A context of violence and fear
Laure Zacchello seemed to live in fear. She had reported a first violent argument on February 7. During this, her partner allegedly tried to force her bag away from her and she bit him. Other elements: she had noticed bank transfers made from her account, the key to her business premises had been stolen, her email account hacked. Feeling threatened, the forty-year-old had bought a small portable camera.She was sleeping on the couch with her children, with her bag next to her. and had placed objects on the floor so that he could hear his companion enter the room.”explains Jérôme Bourrier.
As for the accused, during his custody, he appeared “cold, mute, without empathy, never caring about the future or fate of his wife”. The man did not provide any explanation, “highlighting amnesia and explaining not remembering anything“According to the prosecutor, he led investigators to a false lead,”a sort of cache in which he has survival rations“.
The accused clearly appears to be following a survivalist line.
Jérôme BourrierDistrict Attorney
“It is the responsibility of the accused to cooperate in the investigation and provide answers, even though he presents himself as a man who seems to stand on a stance of honor and principles.”, underlined Jérôme Bourrier.
Anyone with information about this red vehicle, which was driven in the Urrugne area around June 20 and registered GC-494-PR, is asked to contact the police.
•
© Police nationale
Even if the chances of finding Laure Zacchello are tiny, the investigations, searches and searches continue. In the call for witnesses broadcast, the authorities ask anyone with information on a red Suzuki Samurai type 4×4, streaked with blue on the sides, which circulated in the Urrugne sector around June 20, to report .
Laure Zacchello’s three children, aged 5, 7 and 9, were entrusted to members of their family. A children’s judge as well as a victims’ support association were contacted to assist them in this ordeal.
