Europe 1 with AFP 2:50 p.m., June 4, 2022
Sentences of up to twelve years in prison were handed down on Friday evening by the Paris Assize Court in the trial of the "cleansing" of the murder of a prostitute on the orders of her "boss", herself who died in the fire lit to cover the crime scene.
The facts took place in 2016 in Paris.
The verdict on the case of "cleaning up" the murder of a prostitute fell on Friday.
The heaviest sentence was handed down to Mourad B., 29, whom witnesses saw running away, badly burned after the explosion which blew up an entire floor of a peaceful Parisian building on August 3 2016. An accident, intentionally caused to cover up a crime scene.
During their intervention, the firefighters discovered the charred body of Maria, a 26-year-old Spanish madam.
The investigation had established that after an argument with one of her prostitutes who threatened to report her to the police for money matters, this same Maria had offered 20,000 euros to her occasional boyfriend, Moncef D. ., so that he "gets rid" of the young woman.
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Moncef D. and a friend, Kamel Z., then decide to pretend that they killed the girl -- whom they intend to let go -- and recover the money.
But once back in the apartment, Maria had already killed the prostitute in question with about thirty stab wounds.
The two men take fright and leave the place.
Maria offers 20,000 euros, this time for "cleaning".
Sentences pronounced for "concealment" and "non-disclosure"
A new operation is mounted, with Mourad B. and three other accomplices.
The "cleaners" try to erase the traces of blood but Maria finally decides to set fire to the apartment.
It was then that the explosion occurred which killed the young woman instantly and seriously injured Mourad B. The latter was found guilty of the fire which caused Maria's death and was sentenced, like the other "cleaners". ", for the transport of the body and the non-denunciation of the crime.
The others were sentenced to terms ranging from two years, one of which is firm, to three years' imprisonment for concealment of the body or non-denunciation.
An eighth man tried for having helped Mourad B. in his escape was sentenced to four months in prison suspended.
The penalty for concealing the corpse after a murder "is not very important but this offense says something about you", perhaps "contempt" for the human body, said President Dominique Legrand.
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Another prostitute, Leniska C., who was in the apartment with Maria when she killed Alixon, was acquitted of complicity in murder and sentenced to two years in prison, including six months suspended for failing to report the crime."We are relieved that her innocence, which she has been claiming for more than five years, is finally recognized", reacted her lawyers, Margot Pugliese and Clémence Witt.