The suspect is unknown to the courts and was not drunk at the time of the incident. This septuagenarian, suspected of having shot dead a salesman who came to approach him at his home in the Vosges on Wednesday, was placed in police custody and the prosecution requested an indictment for murder, the prosecutor said on Thursday.
The 71-year-old suspect, unknown to the courts, was not drunk at the time of the events, prosecutor Frédéric Nahon said in a press release. He refused to answer investigators during his hearing.
Late Wednesday morning, the gendarmes were alerted by a witness about a neighbor who had shot a man who had come to approach him at his home in Chavelot.
Once there, investigators found “in the entrance of a private house” a seriously injured man, who died on the spot.
Initial findings revealed the presence of two wounds in the back, consistent with two gunshots.
“Several hunting weapons” seized
The search “of the accused’s home, which he shares with his brother, allowed the seizure of several hunting weapons,” added Frédéric Nahon.
The victim, aged 34 and originally from Haute-Marne, was canvassing in the streets of the small town of 1,300 inhabitants. The salesman was “manager of a company specializing in house construction and real estate work”.
Late Wednesday morning, he appeared in front of a house inhabited by two brothers, in their seventies. One of them, the youngest, fatally shot him while shooting him.
The prosecution requested his indictment on charges of murder as well as his placement in pre-trial detention.
“The investigations are continuing in order to clarify the course of the facts and the previous relationships, of a commercial type, between the accused and the victim, in particular on previous visits,” declared the prosecutor.
The open murder investigation was entrusted to the Remiremont research brigade.
