The body found appears to be that of Justine Vayrac. The public prosecutor of Limoges (Haute-Vienne) declared, Thursday, October 27, that, “According to the first checks carried out, everything indicates that it is indeed the body” of the young woman reported missing near from Brive-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze) since Sunday. During his press conference, Baptiste Porcher also clarified that the suspect had admitted to having killed the victim. The young man, aged 21, was indicted for “murder, kidnapping and rape”. Franceinfo summarizes the case for you.
Justine Vayrac disappeared near a nightclub
resident of Tauriac (Lot), about forty kilometers south-east of Brive, Justine Vayrac had no longer been seen since Sunday, around 4 am. She was then near the La Charrette nightclub, where she spent the evening, explained prosecutor Emilie Abrantes on Tuesday in a press release.
The evening of her disappearance, the young woman “had a drink, didn’t feel well and asked to go out” from the nightclub, her mother told AFP. An investigation was opened, and entrusted to the security brigade of Brive-la-Gaillarde and to the judicial police of Limoges.
According to the prosecutor, the vehicle of the young woman was found near the discotheque, “open and containing personal effects”. Research was carried out on Monday evening using dogs, without success.
21-year-old man charged
According to witnesses, Justine Vayrac “Was last seen with a young man”near the discotheque, “while she was out for some air”according to the prosecutor of Brive. That man “would be a friendly acquaintance” of the young woman, “met a few times in the nightclub”according to the magistrate. The suspect was taken into custody on Tuesday.
The police discovered “traces of blood in the home of the person concerned, in his room (…) and in his vehicle, at the level of the gear lever”, detailed the magistrate during a press conference. DNA analyzes are in progress. Justine Vayrac’s handbag also has “was discovered charred near the home of the person in custody”.
DThe research had been taking place since Monday evening around the farm of the man in question, in Beynat (Corrèze), about thirty kilometers from Brive, France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine had previously explained. Some 80 gendarmes, assisted by a tracking dog, were mobilized, said Tuesday Emilie Abrantes. “Due to the presence of several bodies of water near the home of the person in custody, several teams of divers have been hired to survey the area”, she added.
Everything accelerated on Thursday, when the 21-year-old farm worker confessed to the police that he had killed Justine Vayrac. The suspect was indicted as part of a judicial investigation for “rape, kidnapping without voluntary release and murder preceded, accompanied or followed by another crime”. The penalty incurred is life imprisonment.
The suspect, who was remanded in custody, was never convicted. The 21-year-old had, however, already been “implicated in a procedure of destruction by dangerous means and degradation”for which he had been “indicted and remanded in custody” until April 2021. He was under judicial review, which he respected. Psychiatric and psychological expertise must be ordered, concludes the prosecutor.
Body found in wooded area
Thursday at midday, a body was found in a wooded area, following the directions of the suspect. A few hours later, at the start of the evening, the public prosecutor of Limoges (Haute-Vienne), Baptiste Porcher, specified that, “According to the first checks carried out, everything indicates that it is indeed the body”. An autopsy and an expertise must still be carried out “as soon as possible”in particular to formalize the cause of death, and that it is indeed the body of Justine Vayrac.
Still according to Baptiste Porcher, the victim suffered “a plurality of blows to the face”. The suspect “specified, without giving further explanation, that he punched him, which caused his death. He then allegedly took his body to the forest with his vehicle and then went to fetch an agricultural machine in order to dig the ground to bury the body there.” “When he returned to his home, he allegedly tried to erase the traces of blood and burned the victim’s handbag, continued the prosecutor. (…) Faced with this evidence, the defendant admitted to having killed the victim, when they were both at his home and had just had consensual sex.