Motive for 5 homicides stays unclear; suspect to bear psychiatric examination.
Police in France have arrested a 33-year-old man suspected of murdering his spouse and 4 youngsters in a knife assault early on Christmas Day, a public prosecutor has mentioned.
The mom, 35, and two daughters, aged seven and 10 years, had been stabbed a number of instances in a single day from Sunday to Monday, prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier mentioned on Tuesday.
The 2 youthful sons, aged 9 months and 4 years, had been both suffocated or drowned, Bladier mentioned.
Police broke in via a bed room window of their ground-floor flat to discover a “very violent crime scene” lined in blood, the prosecutor mentioned.
The our bodies had been discovered on Monday night time in an house within the city of Meaux, 40km (25 miles) east of Paris after family and friends sounded the alarm.
The motive for the killings was unclear.
The suspect was arrested on Tuesday outdoors his father’s dwelling northeast of the French capital, the prosecutor mentioned.
He informed police “he knew why he had been detained, and spoke of his unhappiness and melancholy”, Bladier mentioned. He was receiving medical take care of wounds to his hand.
The suspect had stabbed his accomplice as soon as earlier than when she was pregnant with their older son in 2019, however the investigation was dropped as a result of he was declared mentally unsound on the time of the assault, the prosecutor mentioned. He had been positioned in a psychiatric hospital in 2017 and in addition tried suicide that 12 months.
The couple had been collectively for 14 years and had recognized one another since highschool, Bladier mentioned. That they had their 4 youngsters earlier than they married in October.
Neighbours informed investigators they’d heard screams through the early hours of Christmas Day. The alarm was raised later within the day after they didn’t get any response from the household.
Not one of the relations’ names had been launched, in line with French regulation defending minors who’re victims of crimes.
Authorities are opening an investigation into 5 homicides, and the suspect will bear psychiatric examination to find out the subsequent steps, the prosecutor mentioned.
On common, a girl is killed each three days in France. Some 118 girls had been killed by their accomplice or ex-partner in France final 12 months.
