The alleged perpetrator of the murder of Lilian Dejean was arrested Thursday in Portugal by the local police.
On September 8, the municipal agent was shot while trying to prevent a man from fleeing.
Abdoul Diallo, 25, well known to the police and the justice system, has been wanted since.
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Grenoble: a municipal agent shot dead by a driver after an accident
The identity of the suspect had been known since the day of the murder, his identity card having been found in his car: a large car rented in his name, registered in Poland and abandoned at the scene of the tragedy. Two and a half months after the death of municipal agent Lilian Dejean in front of the town hall of Grenoble (Isère) while trying to intervene following a car accident and a hit-and-run, the alleged perpetrator was arrested Thursday November 21 in Portugal. Thanks, in particular, to the work of more than 40 investigators from the Isère judicial police, supported by specialized investigators from Lyon and the national directorate of the judicial police.
Under a European arrest warrant, Abdoul Diallo, 25, was arrested around 5 p.m. in Póvoa de Lanhoso, a town in the Braga region, about 70 km northeast of Porto, by agents local, in conjunction with the national police. This twenty-year-old, who lived in an apartment, “probably thought he was safe” in Portugal in the words of the Grenoble public prosecutor, Eric Vaillant. The latter held a press conference this Friday, specifying that the suspect was far, before this affair, from being unknown to the police and the justice system.
Already 19 convictions and ten years in prison
The magistrate in fact revealed the young man's substantial criminal record. “He was first imprisoned by the Grenoble children's judge at the age of 15. He has 19 convictions on his criminal record, many for acts of violence but also for drug trafficking. In total, he was sentenced to six years in prison over the last ten years. detailed Eric Vaillant.
Abdoul Diallo is currently detained in Portugal under the European arrest warrant issued by the investigating judge in Grenoble. It will be handed over to this magistrate in the coming weeks, although we do not know the exact date of this delivery. “He will be heard by the Portuguese judges on his identity and by the judge here on the facts“, said the magistrate. According to him, “if all goes well, it could be in five to six weeks” on French soil.
Investigations carried out on possible accomplices
With the aim of bringing justice to the family of Lilian Dejean, significant human and material resources were mobilized to elucidate this case. Prosecutor Eric Vaillant did not want to reveal how the suspect was located in Portugal, due to “secrets of the investigation”.
Investigations are now being carried out to find out if possible accomplices helped Abdoul Diallo on his run. To date, there have been no other arrests.
