According to a public prosecutor, French police have arrested a 33-year-old man suspected of murdering his wife and four children in a knife attack early on Christmas Day.
Overnight from Sunday to Monday, the mother, 35, and two daughters, aged seven and ten, were repeatedly stabbed, according to a statement released by prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier on Tuesday.
Bladier stated that the two youngest sons, aged nine months and four years, perished by suffocation or drowning.
The prosecutor stated that when police entered the ground-floor flat through a bedroom window, they discovered a “very violent crime scene” drenched in blood.
On Monday night, an apartment in Meaux, located 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Paris, was discovered bereft of corpses following the sounding of the alarm by family and friends.
The underlying motivation for the murders remained unknown.
The prosecutor said the suspect was arrested near his father’s home northeast of Paris on Tuesday.
Bladier said he told police he was imprisoned for an obvious cause and was despondent. He was undergoing medical attention for hand injuries.
Suspect’s Troubled History and Tragic Family Background Unfold
The prosecutor stated that although the suspect had previously stabbed his partner while she was pregnant with their elder son in 2019, the investigation was dismissed due to his mental incapacity at the time of the attack. In 2017, he was admitted to a psychiatric facility and made an additional suicide attempt.
Bladier stated that the couple had been together for fourteen years and had known one another since high school. They had four children prior to their October wedding.
Criminologists were informed by neighbours who had witnessed screaming in the wee hours of Christmas Day. Subsequent to the morning, the alarm was sounded when the family failed to respond.
According to French law protecting young criminals, family members’ identities were kept secret.
The prosecutor also stated that authorities are commencing an investigation into five homicides. The suspect will be evaluated psychiatrically to determine the next steps.
In France, one female is murdered every three days on average. In France, some 118 women were murdered by a current or former companion in the previous year.
