A 46-year-old woman died in mid-January at the Paris Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital. Blood tests showed unusually high levels of mercury. An investigation was opened for poisoning.
A 50-year-old man has been in police custody since Tuesday at the premises of the Paris judicial police as part of a criminal investigation into the death of his ex-companion, who died last week at the Paris hospital of the Pitié-Salpêtrière, learned BFMTV.com from a judicial source confirming the information of the Parisian. Investigators suspect poisoning of this woman with mercury.
A judicial investigation was opened on January 18 on the counts of “premeditated poisoning” following a report from the hospital located in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The patient, a 46-year-old woman, has been hospitalized there since October. Despite the treatments, his state of health did not improve, the doctors not being able to find the origin of his illness.
An abnormally high mercury level
A toxicological analysis is carried out: the patient has an abnormally high level of mercury. The health of the forties is irreversible and she will eventually succumb to her symptoms. The investigation must determine how this woman could have been exposed to mercury. The investigation is moving towards a possible involvement of the former companion, against the background of a complicated break-up.
The search of the victim’s home, which she shared with the couple’s two children, and her former companion before their separation, revealed, according to Le Parisien, a dead cat and bottles of product bearing the mention “Methylmercury” . The suspect should be referred during the day for a possible indictment.
