Paris sometimes takes on the appearance of a village, where news spreads at the speed of light. At the corner of rue Saint-Maur and rue du Faubourg-du-Temple (10th), regulars talk about the death of the day before. “A prostitute killed a customer,” says a man who took a seat on the terrace, sure of his fact, in discussion with a few local residents. “With a knife,” her neighbor insists.
Checks are underway, the Paris prosecutor's office has entrusted the investigation to the second judicial police district, retaining the classification of murder. “Witnesses heard sounds of a struggle in a home on rue Saint-Maur and intervened, discovering a man on the ground, whose death was noted on Thursday shortly after 10 p.m.,” specifies the prosecution. The young woman, aged 27, was arrested when leaving the accommodation and placed in police custody. “She would have confided to the first witnesses that she had a violent dispute with the client of a paid sexual service,” adds the prosecution.
A neighbor thinks he spotted this Ecuadorian a little earlier pushing the red door which gives access to a courtyard and the apartment in question. “She came home several times, followed by a different man each time, you could tell they were customers, I was smoking a cigarette, she said hello to me,” he explains, not surprised that the apartments are hired for prostitution. “It’s common in the neighborhood,” he admits. What happened next, the police arriving, the knife… It was neighbors who told him. He had returned home to watch the France-Israel match.
According to initial information, it was the young woman herself who alerted the emergency services, information which has not been confirmed at this stage. She also reportedly indicated that she had disposed of the knife in a neighborhood trash can, which was found and placed under seal.
The apartment was also placed under seal, red tape required, with the words “murder” on the criminal record. It is located on the ground floor of a five-story building with a decrepit facade. Around thirty households live there, as well as three companies, including a real estate agency. On the ground floor, the accommodation looks better, neighbors indicate that they have been renovated and that they are seasonal rentals. Several key boxes are visible. “We often see people passing by with suitcases,” says a neighbor. Attempts to contact the owner of the accommodation this Friday have so far been unsuccessful.
It is up to the police to unravel the circumstances of this tragedy, which occurred in the world of prostitution where violence is increasingly evident. Since last summer, five sex workers have been killed in Paris and Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis) by clients.
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