The tragedy occurred in Roujan, north of Béziers, in the Hérault, Friday January 14, at the end of the afternoon. Two women were stabbed to death in a house in the center of the town. The partner of one of them was arrested by the gendarmes after taking refuge in his father’s business. He is in custody for murder.
The emotion has been great since Friday evening in Roujan, a village in Biterrois, located north of Pézenas, in the Hérault.
The announcement of what appears to be a feminicide followed by a murder shocked the inhabitants, especially since one of the victims and his family are well-known traders in Roujan, as is the family of the suspect.
This double murder occurred in the center of the village, not far from the town hall. The 2 young women were 21 and 25 years old.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the perpetrator of the two homicides, a 22-year-old man, is the partner of one of the two victims, a student nurse in 2nd year, with whom he had just moved in.
“The respondent, the partner of one of the two victims, was arrested by the gendarmerie in the family restaurant opposite the apartment where the facts took place”.
Raphaël Balland, public prosecutor of Béziers.
The second victim, a 25-year-old woman, “could be a next door neighbor of the young woman aimed”, said the prosecutor. She lived on the upper floor, a paramedic by profession, she had recently signed up as a volunteer firefighter.
The first examination of the bodies reveals that the two victims presented numerous wounds, probably caused by one or more bladed weapons. The autopsies will be performed on Monday January 17 following other prior legal medical examinations.
The alleged perpetrator of the two murders, a 22-year-old young man, took refuge just after the tragedy with his father, a merchant from Roujan who runs a snack bar just opposite the house where the tragedy took place. The latter said he had warned the emergency services and kept his son with him until the arrival of the gendarmes.
The young man told his relatives “having done something stupid”, explained the prosecutor, pointing out that “the nature of the weapon remains to be determined, even if it is undoubtedly a knife”.
Statements confirmed by the father of the suspect to our colleagues from Midi Libre: “My son has not been well for a few days. He has a split personality. We are appalled by what has just happened. For these little ones and their families. He killed them, it’s awful”.
Placed in police custody around 7 p.m., in his first statements, in the presence of his lawyer, the defendant claims that he has psychological problems for which he would have started a follow-up; that he had been feeling very ill for several days. He claims to have smoked several cannabis joints in the afternoon with his concubine and then felt particularly bad. He was beginning to be very scared, feeling that someone wanted to kill him.
He would then have wanted to go to a psychologist but his concubine would have prevented him.
The couple would then have fought and the man would have stabbed his concubine several times, particularly in the neck. He believes that he was then in a delirious, panicked state. Still according to the statements of the respondent, the neighbor on the upper floor would then have arrived in front of their apartment, when she was about to go down the street to walk her dog. She would then have offered her help as an ambulance attendant, but once they entered the apartment, they also fought and he again stabbed this second victim several times.
Realizing his gesture, the suspect then decided to go to the family restaurant opposite his home. He claims to have only started smoking cannabis since July 2021, which is confirmed by his father, who was also heard by the gendarmes.
He explains that his behavior has changed since that time. He describes his son as a rather withdrawn person for several years, who spent a lot of time in front of his computer, in particular to play violent video games, and who was passionate about horror films. Since he was using cannabis, his son reportedly told his family that he sometimes felt like he was going out of his body.
Friday, the evening of the facts, seeing his son arrive at the restaurant bloodied and with a blank stare, the father then went to the couple’s apartment with other members of the family.
Discovering the bloodstained floor then the two victims they decided to call the fire brigade and the gendarmes.
Neither the alleged murderer nor his companion were known to the police or gendarmerie services, “whether as perpetrator or as victim”, insisted the Béziers prosecutor.
The family of the young woman confirmed to the investigators that they had never heard of either a blow or a threat against her.
The investigation is entrusted to the research brigade of the Pézenas gendarmerie company, supported by soldiers from the Montpellier research section.
According to the latest report from the Ministry of the Interior, 102 women died under the blows of their spouse or ex-spouse in 2020. They were 146 in 2019.
If confirmed, this feminicide would be the 5th since January 1 in France.