Mohammed C., suspected of the murder of a 15-year-old girl in 1988 and that of a 40-year-old woman in 2000 in Isère, had already been convicted of sexual assault on his daughter.
The man suspected of the murder of a 15-year-old girl in 1988 and that of a 40-year-old woman in 2000 in Isère has already served time in prison for sexual assault, BFMTV learned from a source close to the case, confirming information from RTL.
Mohammed C. had been convicted of sexual assault on his daughter. Sexual assault was then defined as “the fact, by an adult, of carrying out sexual assault on the person of a minor under fifteen years of age without violence, coercion, threat or surprise”.
Today, following the modification of the law in 2021, sexual assault refers to relationships between an adult and certain minors, when such a relationship does not fall within the definition of rape or other sexual assault. The modification of the law also specifies that an adult cannot have consent for a sexual relationship with a minor under 15 years old, 18 years old in the case of incest.
Following this conviction, Mohammed C.'s DNA should have been taken, which would have directly linked it to that found during the murder of Leïla Afif in 2000, this was not the case. The reason why his DNA was not taken is currently unknown. This suspect is also known for violence against his family, according to our information.
The suspect indicted on Monday
This man in his sixties was arrested and placed in police custody last week in the premises of the Grenoble research section gendarmes. He was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention this Monday, December 2.
Mohammed C. is suspected of being involved in the murder of Leïla Afif, killed in 2000 in La Verpillière, and in that of Nathalie Boyer, 15, found with her throat slit in August 1988 in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier.
Suspect arrested aged 24 and 36 after two previously unsolved murders
The Nanterre serial or unsolved crimes center (“cold cases”), created in 2022, relaunched these two procedures, now joined. Nathalie Boyer is one of the victims of the “disappeared from Isère” file which concerns nine disappearances or murders of children in the department between 1983 and 1996.
Identified using parental DNA
The suspect was recently identified using family DNA. This is a process by which members of the same family can be identified with DNA. In the case of Mohammed C., the DNA taken in 2000 was not linked to any member of the file.
But he matched, as parental DNA, with a man, a son of Mohammed C who was in the National Automated Genetic Fingerprint File for acts of sexual assault. After this discovery, the gendarmes became interested in the family members of this kinship DNA. They then came across Mohammed C., who could match the profile of the culprit in the two murders in Isère. The gendarmes then took him into custody and checked his DNA, which was indeed that found during the murder of Leïla Afif.
Maxime Brandstaetter with Sophie Cazaux
