Moroccan Man Arrested in Montpellier for Murder of 80-Year-Old Partner

The Moroccan’s arrest took place on Wednesday shortly before 7:30 pm. While he was on the roof of a building, rue de Claret, and threatened to "throw himself into the void", he was slowed down in his momentum by police officers from the anti-crime brigade (BAC). Information confirmed by the Montpellier prosecutor’s office in a press release published on Thursday. As the police were taking him to the police station, Hassan A. R. confessed to the police that he had killed his wife that same morning, according to a source close to the case. The firefighters found the victim’s body, lying on the floor of a bedroom with a pillow on her head, in her apartment. The investigators, for their part, found significant traces of blood at the victim’s home. The autopsy reveals that the 80-year-old woman would have been stabbed 26 times. The wounds are compatible with blows inflicted with a bladed weapon, indicates the Montpellier prosecutor’s office.

"The couple had met in Morocco several years ago before getting married," the public prosecutor’s office said, specifying that Hassan had been arrested on June 25, 2023, for having, during the night, threatened to kill his wife while he was intoxicated. He had been notified by the justice system of a ban on appearing at his wife’s home and a ban on contacting her for six months. On July 10, 2023, the victim had informed the police of her wish to withdraw her complaint.

The forty-year-old had ingested a large quantity of paracetamol, which required his admission to a hospital in the evening of Wednesday. Currently, the Montpellier police station is conducting a flagrante delicto investigation on the charge of murder committed by the Moroccan.