A 48-year-old caretaker was charged with the rape and murder of an 85-year-old woman. The victim's body, mutilated and in a state of advanced decomposition, was found in early June 2019 by walkers.

A 48-year-old man was indicted on Thursday for the rape and murder of an octogenarian who disappeared in May 2019 in Charente-Maritime and whose headless and handsless body was found three weeks later, indicated on Thursday on parquet floor of La Rochelle.

The suspect has admitted the facts

This man, caretaker of the seniors' residence where the victim lived, is prosecuted for "murder preceded by another crime and attack on the integrity of a corpse". Arrested Tuesday, he acknowledged the rape and murder of the octogenarian and was placed in pre-trial detention. "In a panic, he allegedly mutilated the body to delay his identification," wrote the prosecution in a statement.

"Suspicious behavior when the death was announced"

The gendarmes of the Poitiers research section and the Rochefort research brigade explored many avenues during the investigation, but were particularly interested in the concierge because he "had adopted suspicious behavior when the death was announced. "and because his DNA was found at the home of the deceased, said the prosecution. The victim's body, mutilated and in a state of advanced decomposition, was found in early June 2019 by walkers in a forest in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Prée, three weeks after the disappearance of this 85-year-old woman.