A 27-year-old man, suspected of having killed a man with two stab wounds on Monday evening in Reims (Marne), was presented before an investigating judge with a view to being indicted for “intentional homicide », announced this Wednesday François Schneider, public prosecutor of Reims, via a press release relayed by the local press. The prosecution requested placement in pre-trial detention against him.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the suspect and the victim met on Monday evening during a poker evening, drinking alcohol in the company of around ten people “from the Antilles-Guyana”. A fight broke out around 9:45 p.m., and the suspect then left for his home, returning armed with a knife. Bladed weapon with which he will strike the victim twice.
“A witness took the knife from his hand, a ceramic knife, broke it and threw it on the ground, where it was found by investigators,” said the prosecutor. When firefighters arrived on scene, they provided first aid to the victim, to no avail. For his part, the perpetrator of the stabbing managed to flee. Until that famous phone call…
On the line, the fugitive’s mother. She explains that her son confided in her as soon as he returned home, his pants still stained with blood, admitting to her that he was “the author of the stabbings”. The 27-year-old man was then arrested and taken into custody for murder, the prosecutor said. In police custody, the accused admitted to having carried out the blows, while specifying that he was defending himself “after having received a blow from the victim”. A version contradictory with the statements of witnesses.
Still during his hearing, the suspect indicated “that he had no homicidal intent”. However, the victim was stabbed from behind. According to the autopsy, the victim received two blows: one to the shoulder blade, the other to the side, “hitting the liver”. It was this last blow which caused the victim’s death.
On the motive, the suspect put forward a “dispute against the backdrop of poor quality narcotics” that the victim allegedly sold to him. 17 ova of cocaine were also found at the suspect’s home. “Although possible linked to narcotics, the murder does not appear to be part of a territorial struggle for the conquest of narcotics sales points,” the magistrate further clarified.
