Man arrested after woman and 4 kids found dead in family home on Christmas Day
A French father-of-four has been arrested today suspected of multiple murders after five people, including his wife and all his young children, were found dead at the family home on Christmas Day.
A baby and boy of four were among the dead in the apparent massacre in Meaux, north east of Paris. "Five lifeless bodies were found – two boys and two girls – leading to an investigation into their murders," said local prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier on Tuesday.
"The prime suspect is the father, aged 33, who was found on Tuesday at a house nearby, after going on the run." Geolocation data on his phone revealed that the man left the family flat at around 8.07pm on Christmas Day. He then went to nearby Sevran to see his father, and to his grandmother in Garges-lès-Gonesse, it is understood.
The dead children – aged 10, seven, four and nine months – were all inside the family flat, with their mother. Neither the suspect, nor any of the victims, have yet been named by the French authorities. "There were a very large number of stab wounds on both the front and back sides, on the trunk, lower and upper limbs as well as defence cuts," said Mr Bladier.
"Two other victims, the four-year-old boy and the nine-month-old baby, had no had no apparent wounds," said Mr Bladier. This led to the early theory that they had died from drowning or suffocation, said the prosecutor. The arrested man was already known for acts of "domestic violence and for suffering from psychiatric disorders", said another investigating source.
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He was in 2019 investigated for acts of domestic violence, including attacking his wife with a knife. But criminal proceedings against him were closed after he was declared "irresponsible due to his mental deficiency", said the investigating source. In 2017, he had spent time in a psychiatric hospital, and he was on regular medication for his mental problems.
A neighbour of the family who raised the alarm following the latest attack, said she had last been on the phone to the mother who died at around 7pm on Sunday. "She said she was waiting for the return of her husband," said the witness. When the neighbour visited the family flat on Christmas Day, she found "blood on the front door handle", and alerted the police, she said.
This neighbour described the mother as being "very jovial and very kind", adding: "She was like a sister, always there for us, she lived for her family, her children and for her husband. Her children are friends with my children, they are in the same class in the same school."
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