What we know about the triple infanticide in Alfortville after the confessions of the children’s father

A 41-year-old man presented himself at a police station in Dieppe, in Seine-Maritime, on Sunday and confessed to having killed his three daughters at his home in Val-de-Marne.

He confessed to the murder of his three daughters. A 41-year-old man, already convicted of domestic violence, went to a police station in Dieppe (Seine-Maritime) on Sunday afternoon to report that he had killed his three children aged 4, 10 and 11. years old, at his home in Alfortville (Val-de-Marne). The Créteil public prosecutor’s office, which has territorial jurisdiction, confirmed this triple infanticide.

The public prosecutor of Créteil, Stéphane Hardouin, clarified during a press conference, Monday November 27 at midday, the elements observed at the crime scene and the family context in which this triple murder took place . Tuesday, the prosecutor announced the opening of a judicial investigation for assassinations, due to“new elements likely to characterize premeditation”. Here’s what we know.

The bodies of three girls discovered at their father’s home

Following the confession of this 41-year-old man at the Dieppe police station, where he declared having killed his three daughters, a judicial police officer from the Alfortville police station went to the suspect’s home. The policeman discovered at the scene “the lifeless bodies of three little girls, aged 4, 10 and 11, dressed in their pajamas”explained Stéphane Hardouin on Monday.

The eldest was “in the only bedroom of the apartment”, with “deep chest wounds”without there being any “defensive wounds observed at the time”, said the prosecutor. The body of the second girl was “lying on the living room sofa”also with “chest wounds”, “as well as tusk wounds on the hands, suggesting the seizure of a blade”. Finally, the youngest was “found on the second bed of the only bedroom”without “no wound”. However, “his cyanotic face evoked a notion of asphyxiation”. Emergency services tried to resuscitate her, without success. The Créteil prosecutor specified that“no lesions of a sexual nature” had not been observed “At first glance”.

The results of the autopsies, communicated by Stéphane Hardouin on Tuesday, confirm the use of a knife and the strangulation of the youngest girl. At the start of police custody, the suspect spontaneously declared “having acted alone, without witnesses, and having used knives”. Subsequently, during his hearing, he claimed to have “considered committing suicide”before going to Dieppe, a chosen city “by chance”. The examination conducted on Monday did not reveal any psychiatric illness. However, “more complete expertise” proves “necessary”, according to the prosecutor.

Parents going through a divorce

The victims’ parents, married in July 2011, were in the process of divorcing, explained the prosecutor. In this context, visiting and accommodation rights were “exercised amicably, pending a hearing before the family court judge scheduled for December 12.” The three girls therefore spent certain weekends with their father. The mother had reported, “twice by handrail, difficulties linked to handing over the children”but “without mention of violence” at those times, said the magistrate.

Heard on Monday, the man explained that he picked up his three children around 3 p.m. on Saturday to spend the afternoon with them. He mentioned “the fear of no longer seeing them” and exchanged “in the evening conflicting emails with the mother and at that time took the decision to end her daughters’ lives”, specifies the Créteil prosecutor in his press release published Tuesday. The magistrate adds that the accused administered sleeping pills in the drinks of the three little girls “without their knowledge”, then he “waited for them to sleep to kill them”. Boxes of sleeping pills and a kitchen knife were found at the father’s home.

A man already convicted of domestic violence

The father of the three girls was sentenced, on April 29, 2021, to a sentence of 18 months in prison, including 12 months with a probationary suspension of two years, for acts of “violence by spouse”, with “a stick” and in the presence of his two eldest daughters, as well as for acts of violence against the youngest. “As part of this probationary suspension, a measure banning contact with the victims and appearing at the family home was ordered by the court”, revealed the public prosecutor of Créteil. However, this ban was lifted on September 30, 2022, “in order to enable the implementation of parental rights according to the wishes of the parents”.

The man had executed “without difficulty” part of his sentence by wearing an electronic bracelet, observed Stéphane Hardouin. He had respected his obligations, “in particular those of completing a course of parental responsibility and psychological monitoring”. “In these conditions”, the probationary stay ended on August 28. In addition, he had been the subject of an investigation for spousal rape, but this was dismissed on July 5, 2021, “on the grounds that the offense was insufficiently characterized”. “At the time of the facts, the accused was therefore no longer the subject of any judicial follow-up”, stated the prosecutor. He was following work-study training and was on sick leave.

However, during her hearing on Sunday evening, the girls’ mother reported further violence in August 2022, against her and one of her daughters. “These facts had not been brought to the attention of the police or the courts.explained Stéphane Hardouin. “It will be up to the investigation to establish precisely the reasons why she had not filed a complaint at that time”underlined the magistrate.

Mother’s home burglarized during her hearing

While the mother of the three girls was answering police questions, a few hours after the children’s father’s confession, her home was burglarized. He “was visited, this very night, during his hearing before the investigation service”, confirmed the Créteil prosecutor. Stéphane Hardouin immediately clarified the opening of an investigation into burglary and home invasion. It is entrusted to the Boissy-Saint-Léger police station, in conjunction with the Val-de-Marne departmental judicial police service, which is handling the criminal case. “Significant resources are being used to confuse the perpetrator(s) and to establish whether this intrusion has a link with the impact of this family drama”added the magistrate.