Nearly three and a half years ago now, Jeanne Lelong, 84, was killed in her house in Saint-Marcel-lès-Sauzet, along with her companion Paul Pastor, 67. The cleaning lady employed by Ms. Lelong discovered on the morning of Tuesday, June 19 in the morning of the traces of break-in on entering the property, and water all over the floor inside, several taps being open, and the drains blocked. The alerted gendarmes would later discover the two bodies, showing numerous traces of injuries, under blankets.
The trial of the man with the cart
Francisco Gonzalez-Ortiz, a 62-year-old Spanish homeless man, is on trial from this Friday, November 5 for intentional homicides. He was arrested on June 19, 2018, the day after the events, in an abandoned hotel in Montélimar. Many witnesses saw it the day of the crime, but also the day before, in Montélimar, or even in La Coucourde, and in Saint-Marcel-lès-Sauzet. Long white hair, long white beard, often growing confidently a blue and red supermarket cart, with loose business in it. The cart will also be seen in front of the house where the double murder took place.
His DNA has been found on the ax, on a broken bottle in the house, and on a window. He does not know Jeanne Lelong and her companion. He later recounted several versions concerning his presence in Saint-Marcel-lès-Sauzet, explaining that he had taken the wrong route to go to Paris on foot. He even explained that he broke in to look for milk. He denies the crimes.
Psychiatric expertises concluded in personality disorders, but not to psychiatric disorders. Hence the possibility of this trial.
In addition, Francisco Gonzalez-Ortiz has already been sentenced to prison in Spain, in particular for manslaughter at the end of the 1980s.
A double murder of great savagery, with no apparent motive
Jeanne Lelong received a blow to the face with an ax. Stab wounds too, head, neck, arms. The body of Paul Pastor is also larded with stab wounds. The two were found covered with some sort of blanket, an astonishing gesture amidst this savagery.
There was a real savagery in the way these two people were killed – explained at the time Alex Perrin, the public prosecutor of Valence.
Traces of struggle were found in the house, and water reddened with blood all over the ground; all the taps had been opened, as if we wanted to flood to clean up the crime scene. Francisco Gonzalez-Ortiz did not know the victims. If many objects have been moved, and certain areas of the house searched, there is no theft noted. This trial before the Assises de la Drôme concerns a double crime with no apparent motive.