France: A middle school student confesses to killing an elderly woman out of "a need to hurt"

Seized by a "visceral need to cause pain", a 15-year-old "with no prior record" was charged after confessing to the brutal murder of an octogenarian in the south of France, whom he targeted at random, citing a difficult family situation.

Jacqueline, an 86-year-old grandmother, lived near Nîmes (south) and used to stay in the summer season at a campsite in Grau-du-Roi, a seaside resort about forty kilometers from her home.

Just a week ago, on June 11, she was returning from an end-of-day walk along a pond, not far from the dunes of a wild beach in the Camargue region of Gard.

The body of the octogenarian, showing signs of a very violent attack, was discovered around 7:30 PM not far from his campsite, and the criminal theory was immediately favored.

The arrest of the suspected murderer five days later caused a shockwave: a 15-year-old teenager who until then had been "without any problems", "rather a very good student" and living not far from there, with his family and surrounded by friends, explained the prosecutor of Nîmes (south), Cécile Gensac, to the press on Thursday.

Witnesses spotted a young man behaving strangely, wearing a surgical mask and carrying a drill. Surveillance camera footage showed him riding a small motorcycle, leading to his identification and arrest on June 16.

The suspect explained that he "grabbed the victim from behind, struck him with a drill, then kicked and punched him, before strangling him," the prosecutor reported.

The teenager indicated that he "planned this attack on the same day", by "hiding in a bush" the drill taken from the family equipment, "before coming to retrieve it wearing a mask and gloves".

"There is no link between him and the victim, who was chosen at random for his planned attack," according to the prosecutor.

As an explanation, the young man mentioned having a "visceral need to hurt" because he suffered from a feeling of profound injustice towards him, particularly within his family environment.

"A more recent episode of romantic breakup had also disturbed him," the prosecutor also explained, adding that the parents, "sensitive to his difficulties," had tried in vain to find a psychologist or psychiatrist to support him.

The accused faces a sentence of 20 years in prison, provided that his criminal responsibility is established.