what we know about the suspect in the murder of Lilian Dejean

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS – The alleged murderer of Lilian Dejean, a municipal agent in Grenoble, arrested in Portugal on Thursday, was heard Friday afternoon by a court in Porto (north) and did not oppose his extradition to France, Portuguese police said. The suspect “was presented to a judge at the Porto court and agreed to be extradited”a spokesperson for the judicial police told AFP, specifying that his transfer will be made “in coordination with the French authorities”.

This man of French nationality was arrested on Thursday around 5:00 p.m. in Póvoa de Lanhoso, 70 kilometers north of Porto, under the European arrest warrant issued by French justice. “If everything goes normally, in 5-6 weeks, he could be in France”Grenoble prosecutor Éric Vaillant said on Friday during a press conference.

Here is what we currently know about this individual, suspected of having killed Lilian Dejean, a 49-year-old cleaning agent, on September 8.

A heavy criminal record

Abdoul Diallo is 25 years old. According to his identity papers, found in the car abandoned by its driver who had fled on foot, he is domiciled in Saint-Martin-d'Hères in the suburbs of Grenoble.

This man already has a serious record. He “was first imprisoned by the Grenoble children's judge at the age of 15. He has 19 convictions on his criminal record, many for acts of violence but also for drug trafficking. In total he was sentenced to six years in prison over the last ten years.according to Eric Vaillant.

He had also spent a stay in prison, at the Varces remand center, in Isère, in June 2023. There, he had beaten another prisoner with five fellow prisoners. He almost lost an eye, according to The Dauphiné Libéré.

Tried in August 2023 for this violence, he received a four-month prison sentence accompanied by a ban on possessing a weapon for five years. That's not all, since after his return to prison, he was involved in new acts of violence, for which he would normally be judged on October 3.

Continuing investigations into possible accomplices

Abdoul Diallo was arrested Thursday around 5:00 p.m. in Póvoa de Lanhoso, 70 kilometers north of Porto, Eric Vaillant said during the press conference, welcoming the “excellent collaboration” deployed with the Portuguese authorities.

“More than forty investigators” worked at the “stalking” of the suspect and the case, “obviously priority”mobilized “maximum human and technical resources”underlined for his part Damien Delaby, zonal director of the judicial police.

This file was “major” in view of “his sensitivity, the emotion that was caused in Isère and the facts of this particular gravity”he insisted.

Asked about the techniques that made it possible to locate the suspect in Portugal where “he probably thought he was safe”the police were less forthcoming, referring to “secret of the investigation”. Investigations are continuing into possible accomplices who helped him in his escape.

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