Daughter Finds Relief as Suspect Arrested in 24-Year-Old Cold Case Murder

"Finally! Finally. That’s the first word that came to me when we learned of the arrest of the alleged murderer of my mother," sighs Dounia, 46, to Le Parisien. She believes that "the heaviness that has been in our hearts for so long has instantly vanished, we will finally have an answer." When the information came out, Dounia says she didn’t even try to find out who it was.
"The only thing that mattered to me was that justice could be done. After 24 years of fighting, 24 years of tears, 24 years of hope, here it is," she adds. The one whose brother and sister died too soon to know the moment of justice, hopes to have an answer before her death.

Dounia wanted to salute the work done by the "cold case" unit: "the ’cold case’ unit performs miracles and soothes hearts by finally providing answers". Mohammed C. had been arrested on Monday, November 25 and placed in police custody at the Grenoble search section headquarters due to the presence of his DNA at the crime scene of Leïla’s murder. After being released from custody on Friday morning, he was brought before a judge of liberties and detention of the Dijon judicial court, who placed him in detention, pending his transfer to Nanterre. On Monday, the former Renault worker was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention by an investigating judge from the cold case unit of the Nanterre court.

Dounia knew the Moroccan retiree. "Unfortunately, we grew up next to the murderer (7 km separated the homes of Leïla and Mohammed C.). From Bourgoin-Jallieu to Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, everyone knows each other, especially within our Moroccan community. I know Mohammed’s daughters, my mother knew his ex-wife. We saw each other at weddings, birthdays... But I didn’t like to rub shoulders with this man. I avoided him, he didn’t reassure me. He even scared me," she recounts. Leïla’s daughter was far from imagining that Mohammed C. would be the alleged murderer of her mother.

"I found him weird. His gaze, his behavior, his habit of following girls, of offering to drive them home... I always refused to get into his car, he frightened me. Even if Mohammed was scary, no one could conceive for a second that he would kill several times. Rapist, maybe, but not that! He’s a barbarian. Do we have a Nordahl Lelandais times ten?" she continues. She asks herself a thousand and one questions: "She (Leïla) always fought for her children. She was known in the neighborhood for walking around with her shopping bags in a small cart. Moreover, Mohammed C. had approached her several times, offering to drive her. Did she end up getting into his car, did he force her?"

Dounia does not want Mohammed’s forgiveness: "I will not lower myself to show him our pain. 24 years ago, he saw us cry. We cannot expect any forgiveness from a monster who has never had any empathy. My mother was supposed to invest in apartments to financially protect us. Finally, when I was barely in my twenties, I had to work to feed my brothers and sisters when others were traveling, enjoying life... Mohammed C. ruined our lives."