Paris Hotel Heist Turns Deadly: Ex-Soldier Sought in Morocco for Night Watchman’s Murder

Three suspects have been indicted in this case. One of them is named Najib. This 36-year-old former soldier was indicted on January 10, 2025 for organized theft and criminal conspiracy. He is said to have remotely controlled a team of thugs who, in June 2024, strangled the night watchman of a social hotel in the 11th arrondissement of Paris during a burglary. The team had tied up the 64-year-old man to steal the safe of the establishment, which would contain gold ingots. On Tuesday, Najib requested his release before the investigation chamber of Paris, reports Le Parisien. "I did nothing. I am totally innocent and I want the nightmare to end," he said in the box of the court of appeal.

The judges do not believe him. Following the requisitions of the public prosecutor, they keep him behind bars. "There are in this file many serious and consistent clues that justify the presence of this gentleman in prison. His criminal record, with three convictions for aggravated violence and vehicle trafficking, shows that there is a risk of recidivism," the public prosecutor assured during her requisitions.

Another element: the former soldier’s fingerprints were found in the car abandoned by the thieves and his phone was pinging in the area at the time of the events. His lawyer, Laurence Mariani, rejects the accusations. According to her, her client is not the sponsor of this theft. "This is a file that is built backwards on the basis of an anonymous piece of information itself based on hearsay," she believes. "My client is a former soldier who served the Republic for fifteen years. His fingerprints are found in the Renault, it’s normal because he used it to do work." According to her, the phone pinging is explained by the fact that "this father of three children who lives in Essonne is the co-manager of a shisha bar located in the same area as the hotel."

The investigations will continue in the coming months. The investigating judge intends to conduct confrontations between the three suspects arrested in this case. It is not excluded that the content of Najib’s phone, which he broke during his arrest, will be exploited.