As Thomas’ funeral takes place this Friday, November 24, the investigation continues. Some suspects in the Crépol attack, still in police custody, gave their version of the facts.
The nine suspects in the Crépol attack are still in police custody this Friday, November 24, the day of Thomas’ funeral. All were arrested on Tuesday November 21 as part of the investigation for “murder” and “attempted murder by an organized gang” opened after the death of Thomas at the ball in the village of Drôme, on the night of Saturday 18 to Sunday November 19.
One of the nine suspects was “formally designated as the perpetrator of the fatal stabbing” of Thomas. The latter, however, denies having carried out the blow, as reported by BFMTV this Friday, confirming information from CNews. According to the Valencia public prosecutor’s office, this 20-year-old individual is already known to the police and has been convicted twice for cases of “concealment of theft” and “carrying a bladed or incapacitating category D weapon without legitimate reason “. The investigation continued on Thursday, November 23, with searches of six homes in Romans-sur-Isère, including five located in the Monnaie district, reported Le Dauphiné Libéré.
The fatal attack occurred on the night of November 18 to 19, while between 300 and 400 young people had gathered in the village hall of Crépol, in Drôme, for the winter ball. During the evening, a group of around ten people interrupted the event after injuring a security guard present at the entrance to the room with a knife. A fight, first described as a “brawl”, took place following the intrusion, creating a panic. The events unfolded very quickly according to the various testimonies. In Le Dauphiné Libéré, a friend of Thomas says that between “15 and 20 people surrounded the village hall”.
The firefighters intervened around 2 a.m. and took care of around twenty people according to the authorities. According to the latest report, 16 people aged 23 to 28 were injured and two were in absolute emergency without life-threatening conditions. Thomas, a 16-year-old young man, was the only deceased victim. He succumbed to his injuries after receiving a “stab wound” to the heart and then the throat. The 28-year-old victim, released from hospital, told RTL on Thursday, November 23, “Two, three people came at me and that’s when I got stuck in the back. It slightly hit my lung , it broke my rib.”
During their custody, several suspects gave a version clearly different from that put forward by the prosecution and by witnesses. RTL reports that according to one of the four people in custody, the young people partying at the ball hit them first. He claims to have been stabbed, and relies on “a medical certificate” to attest to this. He assured that following this act of violence, friends of his came to help them, armed with knives. RTL also indicates that one of the suspects, “present at the evening for several hours”, would have suffered “mocks from a group of rugby players”. The media points out mockery about “his physique, in particular his long hair, and calling into question his virility”.
Thomas’ funeral will be held this Friday, November 24, from 10 a.m., in the town of Saint-Donat-sur-l’Herbasse. Le Dauphiné Libéré specified this Friday morning that many people were present at the church where the ceremony took place. Chairs and speakers were set up outside the church so that the crowd present could watch the ceremony.
Thursday evening, a funeral wake was organized at the Crépol church. A vigil organized at the initiative of the parish, but with the agreement of the family. According to information from the BFMTV reporter, more than 200 people gathered on Thursday evening, including around fifty who remained outside, in front of the church, for lack of a place inside. A vigil which was intended to be “a moment of hope, in the midst of tragedy and pain”, according to Father Dominique Fornerod, the parish priest.
On Wednesday, a white march was organized by his family in Romans-sur-Isère and brought together 6,000 people. In the columns of Paris Match, Thomas’ mother denounced the attack against her son and shared her pain: “They took away my Thomas. All of this is furious madness.”
Of the nine suspects arrested, one was identified as the main suspect responsible for Thomas’ death. He is a 20-year-old man of French nationality. He was “born in Romans-sur-Isère to a mother also of French nationality and residing in the center [of Romans-sur-Isère], and not in the Monnaie district” as was initially assumed. time, according to a press release from the Valencian Public Prosecutor. He has already been convicted of concealment of theft and of carrying a category D bladed weapon. Above all, since September 25, he has been banned from carrying a weapon for two years.
Concerning the other suspects, they are aged between 19 and 22 years old, except three of them who are minors over 16 years old. Among them, no conviction mentioned in the criminal record, according to the Valence prosecutor’s office reported by Le Figaro. Of the remaining five, two are 19 years old. One was born in Romans-sur-Isère, the other in Italy. No trace of conviction also in their record. RTL announces this Friday that some of the suspects in police custody are giving their version of the story. One of them, present at the evening before it took a tragic turn, talks about being teased about his physique by a group of rugby players. A first fight then allegedly took place and another suspect claims to have been stabbed. The sequence of events is now known.
Among these five remaining there is also a 20-year-old man, born in Romans-sur-Isère, whose criminal record is a little more extensive, including a sentence to community service “for an offense against the legislation on narcotics” and a “penal fine for a misdemeanor offense under the Highway Code”. A native of Romans-sur-Isère, aged 21, has two convictions in his record, including a prison sentence with a probationary suspension of two years, for acts of aggravated violence. The last man, aged 22, also has two mentions in his criminal record, including a sentence of “suspended imprisonment for acts of contempt and threats against holders of public authority and conduct of a vehicle without a license. As for the 21-year-old young man, the second mention refers to traffic offense(s).
All the suspects seem to know each other, seven of them were arrested near Toulouse during a possible escape attempt to Spain and the last two were arrested in Romans-sur-Isère. According to several testimonies, the group came “to fight with the people present at the evening”. The lawyer for four of the suspects assures however that his clients went to the Crépol ball to party and that the evening degenerated, thus refuting the hypothesis of a premeditated attack.
The investigation entrusted to the research section of the Grenoble gendarmerie must continue to determine the possible premeditation of the attack in Crépol. Investigators must also establish the suspects’ motives. In the first days of the investigation, the public prosecutor confided to Dauphiné Libéré that “the facts would amount to a settling of scores”.
