Serial murders in Essonne

The serial murders in Essonne were a series of four murders that occurred from November 2011 to April 2012 in an area of ten square kilometers in the north-east of the department of Essonne, France. The main suspect, Yoni Palmier, was charged on April 16, 2012.

Features

All four victims were shot with the same weapon, a 7.65 mm semi-automatic gun, suggesting to the authorities a lone killer.

The murders

On November 27, 2011 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Nathalie Davids, an employee of the laboratory of thirty-five years, was in the parking of her residence, located at 4 rue Pasteur. Her neighbor found her body and alerted emergency services. She died a few hours later in hospital. Nathalie Davids received seven bullets in her body, including one in the head. A week later, her last partner, Michel Courtois, was arrested. He recognized the facts before retracting. He was charged and remanded in custody in the prison of Fleury-Merogis.

On February 22, 2012, Jean-Yves Bonnerue, a fifty-two-year-old technical framework was shot in the same parking lot. He was shot in the head from behind when he was trying to rid of the boot of his car. Moreover, the victim was the person who discovered the body of Nathalie. Both victims were neighbors and belonged to the same union council of condominium. They knew each other. It was he who would have provided guidance for the police to find the trace of the last partner of Nathalie.

On March 17, 2012, in Ris-orangis, Marcel Brunetto, a retired banker eighty one years old, was killed by a bullet in the neck in the hall of his building at 48 rue Pierre-Brossolette.

On April 5, 2012, in Grigny, Nadjia Lahsene, forty-eight, was killed when she enters in the hall of her building at 1 rue Ravin. The killer shot her three times in the head. This woman of Algerian origin lived alone with her eighteen-year-old-son since the death of her companion. She worked at the Paris-Orly airport.

The investigation

The weapon used to kill Grigny was the same that killed three other people in the same region of Essonne in November, February and March. One hundred investigators mobilized to try to unravel the mystery of a series of four crimes in less than five months in the department. The police launched, Friday, April 6, 2012 in the evening, a call to witness. She wanted to trace in "Parisian west", a blue and white Suzuki motorcycle type GSX- R 750, a model year 2001 or 2002. The craft would have a passing white rear wheel hull and the rear seat cowl also white. Two lights are embedded in the wheel. The exhaust is black. This bike would have been used by the serial killer to flee. The murders were committed with the same weapon: an automatic pistol of 7.65 mm caliber. On April 16, 2012, Yoni Palmier, born December 24, 1978 in Montmorency, Val-d'Oise was arrested. Indications on the weapon were found in a box in Draveil. On April 27, 2012, Yoni Palmier was indicted for murder for three murders mainly because of the following elements:

• Yoni Palmier rented a box in the garage of the building where Nathalie Davids was killed on November 27, 2011 and Jean-Yves Bonnerue on February 22, 2012 in Juvisy-sur-Orge.
• Yoni Palmier resided until 2005; rue Pierre-Brossolette to Pasir Ris. An address close to the scene of the murder of Marcel Brunetto, 81, killed in the street.

Finally, the building in which Grigny was shot Nadjia Lahcène is less than 800 meters leased by Yoni Palmier Viry-Chatillon box. A box where a Suzuki GSX -R motorcycle, a scooter, a helmet and a jacket were found. These two-wheelers and those corresponding to those of the Essonne killer's clothing, according to several witnesses.