The facts date back to October 12. And even today, the circumstances surrounding the death of a man in L’Escarène, a town of 2,500 inhabitants in the hinterland of Nice, remain unclear.
Suspected of burglary, a thirty-year-old was beaten up by several residents. He died of his injuries two days later. Saturday, December 3, the Nice prosecutor’s office announced that it had opened a judicial investigation. We take stock of this case.
What are the circumstances?
This Wednesday, October 12, in the evening, a resident of L’Escarène comes face to face with a man in the living room of her apartment. She shouts, the burglar flees after having stolen a credit card and cash. Alerted by the cries, neighbors set off in pursuit of a suspect through the steep streets of the village.
“He was trying to escape. There were a lot of people “, tells a neighbor of the robbed woman at the microphone of BFM TV . about thirty people, ” a lot of young people “, allegedly chased the supposed thief, beating him and throwing dogs at him.
They manage to arrest him in a kindergarten, undress him and beat him to death. Clothes torn, barefoot, the man sees his ordeal end thanks to the intervention of other inhabitants of the village, who called for help and gendarmes. Too late. He died two days later at CHU Pasteur 2 in Nice.
Who is the victim ?
The lynched man, aged 39, a father, was a professional mover. A native of Nice, he lived in La Colle-sur-Loup, another village in the hinterland, but came regularly to L’Escarène where his companion lived.
Those close to him speak of a caring dad, a loving brother and son. “He liked to dance, rap and football”, entrusts one of his friends in Nice Matin . Passionate about football, he frequently went to the PMU bar in the village to do sports betting there.
It was his companion who found him, his clothes torn, without shoes. “At the hospital, he told me he didn’t steal anything. Moreover nothing was found, it is a proof. Nor the things he’s accused of taking (a credit card and 45 €)nor his backpack and his phone, she tells Nice morning . But whether he stole or not, you don’t kill someone. We let justice do its job. »
Where is the investigation?
The investigation, entrusted to the research brigade of the Nice gendarmerie under the authority of an examining magistrate, is carried out for the head of “willful violence having caused death without intention to give it”.
In the village, omerta reigns. “You shouldn’t worry about it”, “It’s private, it’s none of my business, I don’t want a story”, do we explain to the journalists of Nice morning on the spot. A month and a half after the events, no one has yet been arrested.
The investigators, who are trying to identify the perpetrators and determine their involvement, have however viewed the images from the town’s CCTV cameras. And at least one of them would have been identified. He would be on the run abroad and an arrest warrant would have been issued. The perpetrators risk up to 20 years in prison.
