Paris, May 3, (dpa/GNA) – The trial of a man accused of murdering a soldier began in France on Monday amid huge media interest, with the accused suspected of other high-profile crimes across the country.
Nordahl L admitted in court in Chambery on Monday to killing the soldier, French media reported from the courtroom. However, he said he did not do it intentionally.
The case has been causing a stir in France for some time, as the 38-year-old defendant is also suspected of kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old girl in south-eastern France.
Investigators are looking into other unsolved cases in France to see if the former dog handler might have been involved.
The current trial only deals with the murder of the soldier, who disappeared in April 2017.
Mobile phone data led to Nordahl L. During the investigation, the Frenchman claimed that a fight with the 20-year-old soldier caused a fatal fall.
“He had the right to live … and you killed him,” the broadcaster Franceinfo quoted the lawyer of the victim’s family as saying.
The lawyer of the accused, Alain Jakubowicz, referred to the presumption of innocence and criticized the media hype surrounding the case.
A separate trial, probably next year, will deal with the case of the girl, who disappeared from a wedding party in 2017.
DNA traces and camera footage put police onto Nordahl L, who eventually led investigators to the girl’s body.
The ex-soldier is also accused of sexual assaulting his cousins.
GNA