The body of Barbara, a young woman of 24, was found on December 10 in her studio located rue de la Balance, in Avignon (Vaucluse). A 34-year-old suspect was arrested on December 25 in Amsterdam (Netherlands) in this investigation, indicates the Avignon prosecutor’s office, confirming information from Provence.
Barbara, schizophrenic since the age of 17 and recognized as a disabled adult, showed signs of strangulation and bruising when her body was discovered at her home. His face was swollen. The autopsy concluded that she died by strangulation, also ruling out the initial hypothesis of rape. According to the first elements of the investigation, Barbara had spent the weekend preceding her death in the company of three men, all known to the police, as well as her mother. The latter, worried about not having any news from her daughter, had alerted the police. In the studio, investigators also discovered crack pipes and cocaine.
Faced with these elements, the Avignon public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for “murder, acts of torture and barbarity by an organized gang”.
The suspect must now be extradited
A European arrest warrant had been issued to find one of the three men wanted in this case. The suspect, an Avignon resident, was arrested on December 25 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, by the Dutch police. He is currently in pre-trial detention in the Netherlands. He is now due to be extradited in the coming weeks. His return to France could coincide with “the return of the results of the DNA expertise, which will allow it to be confused with certainty”specifies a source close to the investigation, to the regional daily.
Investigators from the Organized and Specialized Crime Division (DCOS) are continuing their investigations to clarify the exact circumstances of this murder.
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