what we know after the arrest of the suspect in Portugal

The man suspected of shooting Lilian Dejean, a municipal agent in Grenoble, was arrested in Portugal on November 21. Placed in detention, he should soon be extradited to France. A look back at two and a half months of investigation which made it possible to find his trace.

It took investigators 10 weeks to find Abdoul Diallo, suspected of having killed Lilian Dejean in Grenoble on September 8. “We are extremely happy that this matter was resolved so quickly.welcomes Brice Gajean, departmental secretary of the Police Unit union in Isère. For this type of case, it was quick“.

Thursday, November 21, the main suspect, on the run since the events, was arrested in the north of Portugal. “A 25-year-old man who was the subject of a European arrest warrant following the murder” by Lillian Dejean, this summer “arrested Thursday in Póvoa de Lanhoso, a municipality in the Braga region (north)“, Portuguese police said in a statement.

Formally identified, Abdoul Diallo is “currently detained in Portugal under the European arrest warrant issued against him“, confirmed the Grenoble public prosecutor, Eric Vaillant, during a press conference organized this Friday, November 22.

“The success of this arrest is due to the work of the police officers, magistrates and the possibility of European police cooperation. It is a satisfaction for the family and loved ones, but also for all of us here present“, added the prosecutor, in the presence of the directors of the Grenoble and Lyon judicial police who worked on the case.

Once extradited, the suspect will be handed over to the French authorities.in the coming weeks“, indicated the Grenoble public prosecutor's office. Then he will be presented to the investigating judge in charge of the case as part of the judicial investigation opened for “murder of a person responsible for a public service mission”.

The young man, incarcerated for the first time at 15, already has 19 convictions on his criminal record for acts of violence and drug trafficking. In total, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison over the last 10 years, recalled the public prosecutor.

On September 8, Lilian Dejean was fatally shot in the chest while trying to prevent a man from fleeing who had just caused a road accident. The 49-year-old cleaner died a few hours later in hospital.

The shooter had disappeared into thin air. But investigators found in the damaged car an identity card in the name of Abdoul Diallo, residing in Saint-Martin-d'Hères.

To find his trace, investigators then carried out telephone, computer and field investigations. “Once we had the feeling that the individual was in Portugal, we had to go there, identify and search in partnership with the Portuguese police. And it worked very well.” explains Brice Gajean, from the Police Unit union.

In total, around forty investigators from the Isère judicial police, supported by specialized investigators from the Lyon judicial police, were mobilized to track down the suspect, said Damien Delaby, deputy zonal director of the Lyon judicial police. , during the press conference.

The excellent work accomplished by the police allows justice to be served in fairly record time for this type of case.

Jérôme Chappa, interdepartmental director of the Isère national police

On the other hand, the Grenoble public prosecutor's office and the direction of the judicial police refused to make any comments concerning the methods which made it possible to locate the suspect in Portugal, indicating only that the investigation “required significant human and technical resources, with more than a thousand reports drawn up within the procedural framework“.

For the victim's loved ones, it is “an immense relief to see this nightmare end, comments their lawyer, Me Romain Ruiz. But also an awareness of the path that remains to be taken, towards explanations first and towards justice then.“.

The Dejean family wants to understand “why their father, their brother and their ex-partner was killed“while he has not demonstrated”no violence towards this man (the murderer, Editor’s note)that he did not physically restrain him and that he was not vehement”adds Me Ruiz.