On the night of 28 July, 2008, 11-year-old Valentin Crémault from Lagnieu, France, was enjoyi
On the night of 28 July, 2008, 11-year-old Valentin Crémault from Lagnieu, France, was enjoying riding his bicycle around the streets. However, his enjoyment would be short-lived. While riding his bicycle, Valentin was abducted and stabbed a total of 44 times. His corpse was found at midnight the same evening. At first, investigators thought that Valentin may have been involved in a traffic accident or dog attack. When the medical examiner performed an autopsy on Valentin’s body, it was uncovered that he had actually been a victim of a brutal murder. A few hours later, when the sun began to come up, bloodstains could be seen at the crime scene as well as several metres away which showed the direction the attacker had escaped. The analysis of the blood established unknown male DNA which indicated that the criminal had possibly injured himself during the attack. The various testimonies collected by the investigators and the continuous viewing of a surveillance camera located in Lagnieu allowed the establishment of a robotic portrait of two outsiders; a man and a woman.On 3 August, 2008, 42-year-old Stéphane Moitoiret and his female companion 52-year-old Noella Hego were arrested in Ardèche, France. The DNA found on Valentin’s sportswear matched that of Stéphane. The pair first denied the crime but later confessed. Stéphane claimed that he was overcome by a moment of madness, but psychiatric experts declared him fully sane at the time of the murder. In October 2009, Stéphane was charged with premeditated murder, the murder of a minor under age 15, including acts of barbarism, and Noella was charged with the failure to prevent the commission of a crime, failing to report a crime and concealing evidence. The couple’s trial began on 5 December, 2011. Both were found guilty. Stéphane Moitoiret was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 22 years before being able to apply for parole. However, his sentence was later reduced on appeal to 30 years, with the possibility for parole after just 20 years. Noella Hégo was convicted of failing to render assistance to a person in danger and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. -- source link
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