Toxic Love and Torture: Childhood Trauma Shadows Murder Trial

Jérémy B. and his former girlfriend Agnès M., both in their thirties, are accused of having tortured and then strangled to death Marwane, 25 years old, on September 26, 2022. The victim’s body, originally from Lagny-le-Sec (Oise), was discovered two months later inside a trunk under an elevator in Rives-en-Seine (Seine-Maritime), recalls Le Parisien. The psychological profiles of Jérémy, prosecuted for murder with an act of barbarism, and that of his accomplice Agnès, were drawn up by an expert during the first day of the trial before the Essonne Assize Court in Évry-Courcouronnes.

The latter went back over Agnès’ childhood, the second child of a family of four children. The young woman lived this stage of her life in great precariousness, with a father in an irregular situation, unemployed, alcoholic and violent. According to the expert, Agnès was several times a witness to the violence of her father towards her mother, which affected her life as a young woman. "Agnès has an emotional problem. She can thus lack discernment in the face of a man, and quickly find herself under his control," explains the personality investigator. As soon as she meets Jérémy, at her workplace at Orly airport (Val-de-Marne), she agrees to accommodate him in her apartment in Saint-Germain-lès-Arpajon (Essonne). Over time, the relationship becomes toxic. The young man isolates her from her family to better control her. He initiates her to hard drugs, including 3-MMC.

As for Jérémy, he had a relatively happy childhood, despite disputes. The thirty-year-old says he was introduced to hard drugs at the age of 11 and that he had a complicated relationship with his family, especially his sister. In his adolescence, he was the victim of a fall from an 8-meter-high roof. Seriously injured, he remained in a coma for nearly a month. "Brain disorders and lesions create a reorganization of faculties, and can lead to delusions," explains a psychiatrist at the bar. However, Jérémy did not lose his sense of discernment, assures the expert who adds that the young man was also marked by his father’s suicide attempt, which he said he discovered "with a rope around his neck, sitting on a chair".

Marwane, Jérémy’s childhood friend, is regularly beaten during his stay at the home of the two accused. According to testimonies, Jérémy would have convinced Marwane that he was possessed, and that "making him bleed makes his demons come out". But the situation turns tragic on September 25, 2022. After having "copiously" beaten Marwane, according to Agnès’ account, Jérémy would have stuffed a glove in his mouth, then tied him to a chair with tape before wrapping a string around his neck and attaching it to the bathroom door handle. He pulls the rope several times to strangle Marwane, who eventually dies. The forensic doctors testified on Tuesday about the cause of death. The verdict is expected on Friday.