• On June 19, 2018, Mathieu Danel assassinated Claire Reynier with 17 stab wounds, to experience "the feeling of killing".

  • Sentenced to life imprisonment with a 22-year security sentence, he decided to appeal.

  • This second trial opens before the assizes of Lozère, without the presence of his family, disgusted by his total lack of remorse.

“I regret that it was not more pleasant.

I know that killing does absolutely nothing to me.

Depending on the context, I could well take action again.

“His lack of emotion had frozen the Assize Court of Gard, in January, in Nîmes.

The appeal trial of Mathieu Danel, a 26-year-old man sentenced to life imprisonment with a 22-year security sentence, opens on Monday before the Lozère Assize Court.

The court found him guilty of premeditated murder and found him responsible for his actions after only an hour and a half of deliberation.

“A penalty of elimination” as Advocate General Stéphane Bertrand had requested in his indictment, considering that “he should not think that he has a possibility of leaving”.

“Your state of danger is extremely worrying.

You have the opportunity to progress, but it depends on you, and we cannot take this risk, ”explained the president of the assize court, Eric Emmanuelidis.

Victim stabbed 17 times

Despite his lack of remorse, Mathieu Danel decided to appeal this maximum sentence.

He will be tried again for the murder on June 19, 2018 of Claire Reynier, 39 years old.

He had taken her hitchhiking, before taking advantage of being alone with her in an isolated place to stab her 17 times.

He then reported himself to the police station in Montélimar, his hometown.

To the police, as to the judges throughout the investigation, or in front of the jurors, he had explained "want to know the feeling of killing".

Jérôme Arnal, his lawyer, hopes his client will be able to "get back on track" in reality, thanks in particular to this appeal trial.

The victim's family, horrified by the behavior of a man that experts have detected as having the profile of a serial killer, decided not to attend.

The trial is expected to last all week.


Justice

Gard: Life imprisonment for the murderer who wanted to "know the feeling" of killing

Justice

Trial: "It was an opportunity to kill ..." In Nîmes, a free assassination in front of the assizes

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