The father of Achille and César, two brothers aged 4 and 7 discovered dead in a car he is suspected of having set fire to in mid-March in Vaudricourt in the Pas-de-Calais, committed suicide in prison, a learned AFP Wednesday from the prosecution. “The lifeless body of this man was discovered early this morning in the room of the psychiatric unit of the Sequedin penitentiary center which he occupied,” said a spokesman for the Lille prosecution. “The first findings lead to the conclusion that the detainee ended his life,” he added. “Now we’re going to think about us, we’re not going to think about him anymore. We’re going to think about the little ones, always in our heads,” said a family member.
Several versions on the causes of death
Monday morning, March 14, the bodies of the two children were found in the back of their father’s burning vehicle. The man, who had custody of his sons for the weekend and had to take them to school, was discovered near the vehicle, seriously burned. He then explained “having set fire to the vehicle, getting into it before changing his mind and leaving the vehicle in flames alone”, indicated the day of the events the public prosecutor of Béthune, Thierry Dran.
The man was hospitalized and on May 3, the improvement in his state of health allowed him to be placed in police custody. At the end of his police custody, he was indicted on the count of “murders of minors aged fifteen by ascendant” and placed in pre-trial detention.
A hearing was to be held in June
Separated from him for more than a year, the mother of the two boys, a psychiatric nurse, explained to AFP during a white march at the end of March that she had requested sole custody of the children. But his ex-companion had obtained in summary custody rights for the weekend.
A hearing of the family court judge was to take place in June.