the suspect already convicted of raping a woman in 2019

Taha O., suspect in the murder of Philippine, committed a rape in 2019 near the Taverny woods, in Val-d’Oise. That day, he came across a 23-year-old young woman whom he took out of sight, before attacking her. A few minutes later, with composure, she suggested to her attacker that they meet at her home and gave him her number. The man calls him and gives his identity and location to investigators, who question him.

The victim’s ploy impressed the police. “She had succeeded (…) psychologically, in managing her exit and saving her life,” remembers Frédéric Lauze, former director of public security in Val-d’Oise. Reached by telephone, the victim’s mother assured that her daughter was upset by Philippine’s murder. Taha O. was sentenced to seven years in prison for the rape committed in 2019 and was released five years later, benefiting from automatic sentence reductions that the law allowed at the time.

Watch the full report in the video above.