A team of gendarmes mobilized to find Victorine, September 28, 2020. -
ANTOINE MERLET / AFP
Tuesday afternoon, a 25-year-old man, living not far from Victorine, in the Fougères district in Villefontaine (Isère), was arrested by the GIGN.
Suspected of having killed the young girl found dead drowned in a stream on September 28, 2020, this father, known to the courts, explained that he had strangled Victorine after a chance encounter which "went wrong".
On the other hand, he denied any sexual motive, which did not convince the Grenoble prosecutor's office.
The investigation, which promised to be of great complexity, progressed rapidly.
Fifteen days after the discovery of Victorine's body, this 18-year-old girl found dead drowned in Villefontaine (Isère) on September 28, a 25-year-old man was indicted on Thursday for "kidnapping, forcible confinement and murder preceded by" a crime ”, in this case of attempted rape, indicated the Grenoble prosecutor's office.
Ludovic Bertin, a young father living in Villefontaine in the Fougères district, a few hundred meters from Victorine's family, was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier by the GIGN, on a station area -service.
His arrest came following the testimony of one of his relatives, who told the gendarmes during the investigation to have received confidences from the suspect, said on Thursday the deputy prosecutor of Grenoble, Boris Duffau.
Sentenced to ten times
During the various hearings carried out during his 48-hour police custody, the man, already convicted about ten times in the past for “common law” acts, “recognized his involvement in the murder of Victorine” , said Eric Vaillant, prosecutor of the Republic of Grenoble.
According to his version of the facts, he would have crossed paths with the young girl on September 26 at 7 p.m., the evening of her disappearance, near the Stade de la Plaine, in Villefontaine, while she was returning home.
He was jogging.
According to the suspect, manager of a company, "an argument would have broken out between them, after an involuntary stampede", adds the prosecution.
Ludovic Bertin explained to investigators "having seized the neck" of the victim, "by squeezing it very tightly", then having deposited Victorine's body in the stream "to hide it", specifies Boris Duffau.
An attempted rape?
He then claims to have returned home after abandoning the body, taking a shower, and then coming out to throw his clothes in a container.
Clothes found on his indications Wednesday by the gendarmerie services.
The suspect, whose version is based "on a chance meeting that went wrong" with Victorine, "disputes any sexual motive," added the deputy prosecutor.
A point that does not convince the investigators or the prosecutor's office in Grenoble, which took a supplementary indictment on this subject.
When the victim's corpse was discovered, the girl's pants were found next to the body.
“The family remains in a state of bewilderment and has many questions.
She is still waiting for answers.
We can not be satisfied with the responses of the indicted at the end of his custody, said Thursday evening the lawyer for Victorine's parents, Kelly Monteiro.
If this indictment was taken, it is because the sexual motive is not ruled out for the time being and everything suggests that his intentions were these before he strangled the victim ”.
"Relief" from the family
The lawyer however recalled the "relief" of the family of the girl.
“We now have the name of this murderer.
We can enter this phase of mourning that the family has a right to expect, ”declared Mr. Monteiro.
The suspect's lawyer, who refused to have his name communicated by the Grenoble prosecutor's office, did not wish to speak for the time being.
His client is expected to be remanded in custody that evening.
On September 28, at the end of the morning, the lifeless body of the student, then missing for two days, was discovered in a small stream located about two kilometers from her home, in an area that is difficult to access.
On October 5, the Grenoble prosecutor's office announced the opening of a judicial investigation and the creation of the HomeRoche unit, made up of ten investigators mobilized full time to advance the investigation for "kidnapping, kidnapping and murder".
A toll-free number had also been activated to collect all the testimonies likely to help the gendarmes in their investigations.
Society
Death of Victorine: A neighbor of the family arrested and placed in police custody
Society
Death of Victorine: An open judicial information and an investigation cell created a week after the discovery of the body of the student
Lyon
Society
Murder
Rape
Gendarmerie
Investigation
Villefontaine