On the last Saturday in May, Suzana F. changed her mind. For several months, she had stopped inviting Christophe and Elodie (her first name has been changed) Belgembe to the lively, alcohol-fueled meals that she often organized at her home in southern France. According to her, the Belgembes, a couple of street vendors from the town of Puget-sur-Argens, near the French Riviera, drank too much. Elodie would fall asleep drunk in the middle of the party, while Christophe had "two personalities" when he was under the influence, Suzana F., a Portuguese woman in her forties, working as a sales manager in the construction industry, said, while being questioned by investigators from the DGSI, France's domestic intelligence agency. At first "cheerful" and "funny," she said Christophe really "set the mood" – until the moment when he would flare up, ranting about his aversions and obsessions. "The more time passed, the more he would talk about Muslim people. He went on and on about it, talking in terms that could seem racist," Suzana F. said.

She shared a memory: One day, she had introduced her cousin, a woman who had come to work in France without speaking fluent French, to the couple. Elodie had immediately complained, "Well, there you go, people wonder why there's unemployment, with all these foreigners taking jobs from the French." Suzana F. added, "I defended my cousin, and since [Elodie and Christophe] were drunk, I asked them to go home." After that incident, she decided not to invite them to her house anymore, until May 31, when they shared a lunch that stretched on all afternoon.

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