The prime suspect in the murder of an 11-year-old French schoolgirl, who was found in the woods with multiple stab wounds after going missing, has confessed to the crime, prosecutors said on Wednesday, February 12.
In a killing that sparked shock in France, a girl, named as Louise, was found stabbed to death south of Paris early on Saturday. Louise had been missing since leaving school, in the town of Epinay-sur-Orge about 20 kilometers south of Paris, on Friday afternoon. She was found just a few hundred meters from her school.
French police late on Monday arrested a man aged 23 in Epinay-sur-Orge, and his DNA was found on Louise's hands, according to the public prosecutor's office. "The main suspect admitted to the charges against him while in custody," prosecutor Gregoire Dulin said in a statement on Wednesday.
A source close to the case said the young man had confessed during the night to having killed Louise. The man's parents and girlfriend, 23, had also been detained on suspicion of failing to report a crime, the prosecutor's office said.
"The whole establishment is in shock," Education Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Tuesday during a visit to an elementary school in Paris. Flowers and candles have been placed in front of the Andre Maurois school that Louise attended, and a unit providing psychological support has been set up in the town hall.