Man Charged with New Year’s Day Murder of Ex-Partner in France

The events took place on the evening of January 1, 2022. During an argument that would have taken place as he was getting out of his car, in the garage, K., a Moroccan residing in France, strangled his 45-year-old ex-partner, Lisa T. According to his lawyer Benjamin Taieb, the sexagenarian admits the murder but denies any premeditation in the act. "He admits the murder. [...] He was even quite precise about the materiality of the facts. But the investigation contains many gray areas about the conditions before and after," he said in an interview with Nice-Matin.

After committing his crime, the alleged murderer hid the victim’s body in the trunk. But nothing could have predicted such a tragedy, as K. was a man with a clean criminal record - apart from a 500 euro fine - who had not shown any aggressive behavior. "Elements show that he had, according to him, no intention of reaching such a tragedy. And that panic followed the realization," added his lawyer. "He is deeply upset. There is a terrible awareness of what he has committed. He said: ’I will regret this gesture until the end of my days’," he continued.

The couple had two children and lived together for 22 years before separating. A separation that is not to the liking of the retiree. "I don’t believe in ’crime of passion,’ a misused term. But this occurs in a context of separation that was suffered, and not accepted, by the alleged perpetrator," explained Benjamin Taieb, adding that there is a strong medical issue in this case. According to him, the psychiatric assessments will be fundamental to see if there is an alteration or not of the personality of his client.