Priest killed in Vendée: opening of a judicial investigation for "assassination"

A judicial investigation for "assassination" was opened Thursday following the death of the priest Olivier Maire on the night of August 8 to 9, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, in Vendée, announced in a press release the parquet floor of La Roche- sur-Yon.

"The prosecution of La Roche-sur-Yon today opened a judicial investigation against X on the count of assassination," said the prosecution in this press release.

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Following the death of the priest, an investigation had been opened for "intentional homicide" and the autopsy had revealed that the victim had died following "violent blows" to the head, but the examination had not allowed to determine the murder weapon.

The alleged murderer hospitalized in psychiatry

The alleged perpetrator, Emmanuel Abayisenga, who is also the alleged arsonist of Nantes cathedral in July 2020, himself went to the gendarmerie on August 9 and accused himself of the murder.

Emmanuel Abayisenga "placed in police custody within the framework of this investigation before being the subject of a measure of hospitalization in a psychiatric environment at the request of the representative of the State, is currently still hospitalized under this regime", specifies the floor.

Emmanuel Abayisenga was released on July 29 from hospitalization in psychiatry for more than a month. He had previously been imprisoned from July 20, 2020 to May 31, 2021, as part of the investigation into the fire in Nantes cathedral on July 18, 2020. On his release from prison, he was placed under judicial supervision, with an obligation of residence within the religious community of Montfortians, of which the priest Olivier Maire, 60, was the provincial superior.