Did Lucas Valfrey himself take the weapon to the scene of the crime? Did he plan or premeditate this veritable bloodbath that brought him before the Doubs Assize Court in Besançon on Monday, July 1? This is one of the questions that is animating the debates on the first day of this trial.
The accused has been on trial since Monday, July 1, for shooting two men on February 29, 2020 in Grandson, Switzerland. He is also suspected of shooting three other men who were in the room. Two were seriously injured in the head and the third was grazed by a projectile. He is the only one facing the accused.
Zurich residents turned to French people to find cannabis
This bloody affair was born from a scam. A “deal” as a Swiss investigator recalled in court. “People from Zurich approached individuals working in Yverdon to find cannabis. The latter turned to French people who decided to organize a transaction rotten “In short: the accused and his friends chose to replace cannabis with soap. They bought hygiene products in a supermarket before taping these blocks together, to give the illusion of a cannabis bar.
This clever idea on paper did not resist the vigilance of the buyers. Sitting on the sofa, one of them grabbed a package with the aim of testing the goods. Alone facing five individuals, Lucas Valfrey says he “panicked”. He got his hands on a gun and fired six times. In the next second, he took an envelope containing 16,500 Swiss francs before fleeing into the wild.
“We came without weapons, the others and I,” assures the only witness at the hearing.
Actively sought, he finally surrendered to the police a few days after the events. In front of the investigators, he specified that this 6.35 mm of the brand “Unique” was in the apartment. A version strongly contested by the three survivors as recounted on Monday July 1st, the only witness of the events present at the hearing.
“The atmosphere in that apartment was extremely tense. The accused did not want us to look at the goods until we had given the money. I remember that he was speaking loudly at the entrance, near the stairs,” recalls the young man, helped by a German interpreter. “When we went to get a knife to open the packages, the shooting started. He opened fire on everyone.” Concerning the presence of a pistol at the scene, he is unambiguous: “We came without weapons, the others and I. I knew them, they were my friends.”
To find this pistol, the investigators received a helping hand. In 2021, during a search, the police found the caliber in a cellar in Besançon. During a discussion between the magistrate and the investigator, a connection was made. Technical expertise confirmed that it was indeed the murder weapon. At the hearing, an expert from the IRCGN intervened to detail its origin and operation.
“This is a weapon manufactured at the beginning of the 20th century. It was sold in large numbers because the regulations allowed its sale in open access. The roads being more or less safe, some citizens felt the need to protect themselves. Today they are no longer manufactured but many of them are found on the black market.”
A weapon that is easy to use, can be concealed very easily and can be accurate at close range. A weapon that injured and killed on February 29, 2020. This Tuesday, July 2, the jurors will hear Lucas Valfrey for the first time. An accused who spoke once and uttered these three words: “I am guilty.”
