In Moselle, an investigation opened for “theft resulting in death” after the suspicious death of an octogenarian in her nursing home

The Thionville public prosecutor’s office announced Monday May 13 that it had opened an investigation into “theft resulting in death”, entrusted to the judicial police, the day after the discovery of the body of a resident of a retirement home. Sunday around 4 a.m., nursing staff at the Sainte-Madeleine nursing home found an 84-year-old resident dead in her room located on the ground floor of the establishment. “The first findings showed that the window was open, which was not the case during the last visit of the nursing staff, and that the room was searched. Valuable objects, such as jewelry, would obviously be missing”, said prosecutor Brice Partouche in a press release.

“No trace of struggle or physical violence”

“The evidence collected so far suggests that the position of the victim’s body, lying on an armchair, seems to correspond to his sleeping habits. No trace of struggle or physical violence has, for the moment , was noted even if the presence of a pillow on the victim’s body could suggest possible suffocation”, continued the prosecutor. “All of these elements led the public prosecutor present on the scene to open a judicial investigation into the theft leading to the death entrusted to the interdepartmental judicial police service of Metz”, he added. An autopsy must be carried out to determine the causes of death.