Suspect Confesses to Murder of French Student in Bois de Boulogne

On Wednesday, the Moroccan Taha O., the main suspect in the murder of Philippine, the student found dead in the Bois de Boulogne in September, confessed during his hearing at the Paris judicial court by the investigating judge in charge of the case. The 22-year-old Moroccan national, who had been arrested in Switzerland before being extradited to France, acknowledged having killed the 19-year-old student whose body had been found partially buried and not far from her mobile phone, on September 21, in the Bois de Boulogne, west of Paris, reports Le Parisien, specifying that the autopsy concludes that the cause of death was asphyxiation. This young Moroccan "with a chaotic background, marked by abandonment by his father in Spain and placements in foster homes," however, claims to be unable to remember the facts.

Arrested on September 24 last at the main station in Geneva as the main suspect in the murder of Philippine, the 19-year-old student found dead in the Bois de Boulogne, in western Paris, on September 21, the 22-year-old Moroccan has been extradited to France. The Paris prosecutor’s office had opened a judicial investigation for rape and homicide. He "is subject to a measure of obligation to leave French territory (OQTF). But this had not been executed at the time of this chance encounter with Philippine," the same source said.

The sexual motive is favored due to Taha O.’s criminal record. He had been tried for a first rape on another student in the Taverny forest (Val-d’Oise). For now, the investigating judge has retained the charges of rape. The suspect should continue for several months with various expert assessments, including psychiatric ones, to understand the reasons for his act and his recidivism. Taha O.’s relatives who sometimes housed him in France are, for their part, subject to an OQTF with a view to expulsion to Morocco, their country of origin.