A 22-year-old man, suspected of having strangled his employer, a woman whose body was found buried under branches in Malesherbes (Loiret), was brought before an investigating judge with a view to his indictment, a announced Thursday the prosecutor of Orleans.
The body of the victim, aged 48, was found overnight from Monday to Tuesday by the gendarmes, alerted by a witness. He showed “traces of injuries”.
A suspect, known “under different identities by the police and gendarmerie services”, was arrested and placed in police custody on Tuesday morning, Orléans prosecutor Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren said in a statement, specifying that the motive of the crime was yet to be determined.
Pre-trial detention required
The autopsy revealed “traces of strangulation”. Additional expertise must still establish “with certainty the causes of death”.
During police custody, a woman also revealed that she had been raped on Monday by the respondent.
The prosecution opened a judicial investigation of the counts of “murder” and “rape” and requested his placement in pre-trial detention. The investigation will have to determine if there are links between the facts of murder and rape as well as between the defendant and the two victims, specified the prosecutor of Orleans.