Former Cop Charged in Paris Hotel Guard Murder Case, Remains in Custody

Indicted on July 10, 2024 in Paris for "organized gang murder, kidnapping, sequestration, and criminal association," Nicolas D. was incarcerated. The former police officer is being prosecuted for his alleged involvement in the murder of the night watchman at the Nouvelle France social hotel located in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, strangled to death by a group of thugs in June 2024. The case dates back to the night of June 21-22, when a police patrol discovered a large safe abandoned on rue Keller (11th). The manager of the nearby social hotel approached the police and declared that it was his safe. Inside the establishment, officers found the lifeless body of the 64-year-old guard, tied up on his bed in his lodge. The autopsy revealed that the victim died of asphyxiation, reports Le Parisien.

When questioned, Jean-Michel, the hotel owner, assured that the safe contained only a few thousand euros, watches, and checkbooks. But in 2022, he kept 15 one-kilo gold bars there, worth about one million euros. Curiously, the hotel had been the target of an attempted burglary a few days earlier. Nicolas D. is among Jean-Michel’s acquaintances who were informed about the contents of this safe. The former police officer had participated in a search of the hotel. "The two men are very close. They regularly had lunch together and Jean-Michel continued to support him when his friend was in prison and would have even helped pay for his lawyer," it is specified, adding that the two even had a drink together in a neighborhood bar on the evening of the incident.

It was thanks to an anonymous tip that judicial police investigators discovered Nicolas D.’s involvement in this case. Threatened by one of his accomplices in the car trafficking case who was blackmailing him, the ex-police officer allegedly provided information about this safe. Unfortunately for the thieves, the operation turned tragic. The criminals are reportedly on the run in Morocco. Nicolas D. has always denied the facts. "It’s a crazy story. I’ve gone from being a victim to being a perpetrator. It’s incredible and implausible. For ten months I’ve been banging my head against the walls and I’m not being heard," he exasperates on Tuesday during his appearance. His lawyer, Me David-Olivier Kaminski, pleads for his release. But the court ordered his continued detention.