The police custody of the 69-year-old man, suspected of having killed three Kurds on Friday in Paris, had to be interrupted, after a short stay in the psychiatric infirmary of the police headquarters. His mental and psychiatric state may determine the rest of the procedure.
William M., suspected of having killed three Kurds and injured three other people by bullets on Friday, in the heart of Paris, must be presented this Monday to an examining magistrate for a possible indictment.
His police custody, which resumed on Sunday, had to be interrupted on Saturday at the end of the day because of his state of health. The 69-year-old former railwayman had indeed been transferred to the infirmary of the Paris police headquarters where he spent the night from Saturday to Sunday.
Criminal liability to be determined
The man, who described himself as “depressive” and “suicidal” in front of the investigators, admitted to feeling a “hatred of foreigners that has become completely pathological” since the burglary of his home in 2016. Early Friday morning, he indicated having armed himself in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) “to commit murders on foreign people”, related the Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. But, for lack of people and unable to easily reload his weapon “because of his clothing”, he gave up his project.
If the racist motivation of these acts is confirmed, his psychological state raises questions. “It will be necessary to determine if he is criminally responsible”, explains at the microphone of BFMTV the magistrate Evelyne Sire-Martin, member of the office of the League of Human Rights. In the event of an indictment, experts will have to determine whether William M. is considered responsible or not in court, which could change the nature of the sentence.
“It will be complicated because if he has mental problems, if he is declared partially or totally criminally irresponsible, if his discernment is abolished or altered, it will not be the same thing”, details the magistrate.
A sponsored act?
Another point of the file: the terrorist track which is, for the time being, discarded. The suspect thus explained “having attacked victims he did not know”, specifying that he was angry “with all the migrants” and “with the Kurds for having ‘constituted prisoners during their fight against Daesh (the Islamic State organization, Editor’s note) instead of killing them'”, as Laure Beccuau recounted. The Kurdish community is demanding that he be prosecuted in the context of a terrorist procedure, “which is much more severe” in terms of penalties.
Finally, William M., if he is found criminally responsible, did he act alone? “Everything is very mixed: the psychically disturbed character of this man obsessed with foreigners and the whole current period which carries a certain amount of racism (…) was he inspired by the spirit of the times, by a delusional disorder, or does he have a terrorist organization behind him?” Asks Evelyne Sire-Martin.
If finally the terrorist character was retained by justice, it will be judged by a special court. Conversely, if the track is still ruled out by the investigation, William M. will be tried by an ordinary assize court.
