The singer told investigators that he had shot himself while trying to “simulate suicide”, prosecutor Olivier Janson revealed on Thursday.
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The hypothesis of an attempted murder, once considered, is now excluded. The prosecutor of Mont-de-Marsan, Olivier Janson, gave a press conference on Thursday April 25, three days after the bullet wound of singer Kendji Girac. The magistrate spoke at length about the progress of the investigation opened for “attempted voluntary homicide”.
Hit in the chest Monday morning, the 27-year-old singer was transferred to the hospital in Pessac (Gironde) where he was operated on. His days are not in danger. The shooting occurred in a caravan, in the busy traveler area of Biscarrosse (Landes).
The hypothesis of a suicide attempt favored by investigators
Initially, the star pleaded the accident theory. A judged version “impossible” by ballistics experts. The prosecutor said he was leaning towards the hypothesis of a suicide attempt by the singer, against a backdrop of alcohol and drug consumption.
The magistrate confirmed that Kendji Girac was in the company of his wife and their daughter when the shot was fired early Monday morning. Income “drunk” in his caravan after an evening spent at the casino, the winner of “The Voice” woke up his daughter, provoking the anger of his partner. “She explained to him that, in these conditions, she had decided to leave and that she had to choose, that it would be either her or him, but one of the two would have to leave”related the magistrate.
Alone in the living room after this argument, the singer wanted “scare your wife” by simulating a suicide attempt.
“I wanted to make the trigger sound, I lost control.”
Kendji Giracduring his hearing by investigators
Before directing the cannon towards his chest, he would have omitted “to check whether the handgun’s magazine included ammunition”. This version of a simulated suicide attempt which accidentally resulted in a shooting did not convince the prosecutor, who said he had informed him of his “reserves”. Especially since, according to the testimony of his partner, Kendji Girac had mentioned in the past “that he was going to shoot himself or cut his throat in an argument.”
On the basis of the findings made, the prosecutor has also definitively ruled out the hypothesis of attempted intentional homicide. Inside the caravan, the gendarmes did not observe any “particular trace of struggle”. And the thesis of a shot carried out by a third person “is not compatible” with the layout of the premises.
“Great tensions” within the couple linked to alcohol addiction
Toxicological analyzes made it possible to confirm “massive alcoholism” of Kendji Girac, estimated at more than 2.5 grams of alcohol per liter of blood at the time of the shooting. A few hours earlier, he had gone to the Biscarrosse casino in the company of several young people from the camp. Before this escapade, the singer had “drank a lot throughout the day”said the prosecutor.
The artist suffers from an addiction to alcohol, according to the words of his partner reported by the magistrate: “His bouts were more and more numerous and longer and could last for 48 hours.” This alcoholism is the object of “great tensions in the couple”. Kendji Girac also claimed to have consumed “two small traces of cocaine on his return from the casino”. A statement confirmed by analyses.
A gun bought four days earlier, according to the singer
The semi-automatic pistol, a Colt 45, was found in a bush near Kendji Girac’s caravan thanks to his father’s instructions. Asked about the origin of the weapon, the singer initially assured that he had bought the 11 caliber pistol in a flea market in the region. “It is eminently doubtful“, reacted the prosecutor. According to Kendji Girac’s initial statements, the shot went off while he was handling the weapon. But for the prosecutor, “an accident, an untimely shot, is considered impossible”both because of the multiple safeties present on the pistol and the weapon experience of the singer, who practices sports shooting.
Questioned again on Wednesday, Kendji Girac changed his version, saying that the pistol had been purchased on April 18 in “a guy who went to camp” in exchange for 500 euros. Further investigations will be continued to “know where this weapon comes from”even if the singer’s version “will be very difficult to verify”according to the public prosecutor.
A probable classification without further action
Olivier Janson suggested that he was going to classify the part of the investigation opened for “attempted homicide”, in the absence of a criminal offense. “I told him [à Kendji Girac] that these explanations belonged to him and that the judicial work stopped, that it was up to him and his partner to find the resources” to overcome this tragedy, he explained.
Indeed, a suicide attempt or a failed simulation do not constitute sufficient grounds to pursue a criminal investigation. “Unless there is a new element, the nature of which I have difficulty understanding, this procedure should end with a classification”, said the prosecutor. Asked about the possibility of prosecution concerning illegal carrying of a weapon or the consumption of drugs, the magistrate said he did not envisage such consequences.