A 77-year-old woman was beheaded in the south of France.
Security forces found the elderly woman's body in her apartment in Agde, southwest of Montpellier, as French investigators announced on Thursday.
After the perpetrator was initially on the run, a 50-year-old man suspected of the crime was arrested on Thursday evening.
One of her sons called the police after failing to reach his mother despite the daily contact.
The woman had lived alone for two years.
The act is particularly cruel.
According to information from the French news channel France Info, police officers found the body on Wednesday evening around 10 p.m.
The head is said to have been on the table.
The officers found battle marks in the apartment in the coastal town.
It is believed that the perpetrators did not break into the apartment: the door to the apartment was closed, but not locked.
The police investigated the area “all night”, it said.
On Thursday evening, France Info reported the arrest of a suspect.
It was a man in his fifties who did minor work for the pensioner.
The retired elementary school teacher has lived alone since the death of her husband two years ago, according to the broadcaster.
Nothing was known about the details of the crime.
According to information from the broadcaster BFMTV, the suspect stole a bank card from the senior citizen and withdrew 1000 euros with it.