A 23-year-old man has confessed to murdering an 11-year-old girl in a frenzied knife attack in woods as she made her way home from school, saying he was enraged after losing at the Fortnite video game.
The 23-year-old, named as Owen L, lived with his well-to-do parents but was unemployed and had a police record for petty crime. His sister had reported him to police for allegedly beating her up. He now risks life imprisonment if convicted of murder.
Described as a video game addict, he is said to have exploded in fury after a marathon gaming session and stormed out of the family home. His girlfriend, who has not been named, told detectives that he often became uncontrollably angry while playing violent action and shooting games such as Fortnite.
“While playing Fortnite, he had an altercation online with another player who insulted him,” Grégoire Dulin, the public prosecutor, said. “Very angry, he stopped playing and went out to calm down.”
He took a knife, “intending to mug or rob someone”, the prosecutor said.
He encountered Louise when she had nearly reached her home, in the same normally tranquil neighbourhood as his, a ten-minute walk from the school which they both attended, although not at the same time.
“He met Louise, whom he did not know, by chance,” the prosecutor said. “He spotted her mobile, which she was carrying on a cord around her neck, and decided to follow her.”
He then persuaded her to accompany him into nearby woodland on the pretext that he had lost something there, he told investigators.
“When they reached a quiet spot, he told her he was going to search her things to steal money, while threatening her with a knife,” Dulin said. “She started screaming. Panicked, he pushed her to the ground and stabbed her.”
Investigators made a series of arrests on Monday, including a 23-year-old man who is being questioned in relation to the murder of a minor under the age of 15.
The man’s mother, 48, father, 49, and girlfriend, 23, have been arrested and accused of “failure to report a crime”, Le Parisien reported.
All four were initially questioned as witnesses, but after inconsistencies were noticed in their statements police turned their investigations towards the family, according to the French outlet.
The mother and girlfriend have also been accused of providing a false alibi. Continue reading
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