An 88-year-old man, who was brutally attacked by brothers Mohamed K. and Hichem K. in the cellar of his apartment building in France, has died of his injuries. Both brothers have been known to the police for years, and one has been charged with manslaughter after confessing to the crime.
The victim, known as Jean T. was assaulted on the evening of Monday, Dec. 5, with the incident first reported by the victim’s wife after she found her husband unconscious and bleeding in the common area of their residence, Le Parisien newspaper reported.
The elderly man was discovered with multiple blows to the head, a fractured jaw, and injuries to his legs. However, ambulance personnel initially concluded that his injuries were due to a fall, and the police logged the case an accident.
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The son of the man, however, was unsure the case was an accident. First, the injuries did not appear to be the result of a “fall,” and second, his father’s keys and glasses were missing when the body was found.
The son had a doctor inspect the elderly victim. He agreed that the injuries did not appear to be the result of a simple fall. Forensic technicians at the scene also found the victim’s glasses and traces of blood quite a distance away from where the alleged accident took place.
The case also had another lead.
On the day of the incident, the wife of Jean T. said she saw a man sitting on a discarded couch in another area of the building, which was just a few meters away where the battered body of Jean T. was found.
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It turned out the man the wife saw was 30-year-old Hichem K., a man with French citizenship who has a long criminal history related to drug trafficking and violence.
When police arrested Hichem K., they also searched his home. There, they found his shoes soaked in the blood, which testing confirmed was the blood of the 88-year-old victim.
During a police interview, he initially denied he was involved in any assault. However, when confronted with the fact that the blood on the shoes was of the victim, he began to breakdown and confessed to the entire assault. He also indicated that the beating began after the elderly man made a comment about the two brothers being in the common area.
His brother Mohamed is also suspected of participating, but he has not been charged as he was hospitalized in a psychiatric institution after giving incoherent remarks to police.
According to BFMTV, the mayor of Bezons, Nessrine Menhaouara, denounced an incomprehensible “act of barbarism.”
She referred to a “quiet residence, relatively well maintained in a HLM (low-income housing) estate” where “a homogeneous public” lives.
