Paris
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The French man was taken into custody on suspicion of murder after four bodies were found on the Seine River in Paris earlier this month.
The suspect, described by prosecutors as “homeless man in his 20s,” was brought to court on Sunday, Kraiteuille’s Office said in a statement to CNN.
He is being investigated for “multiple number of murders” in regards to the four casualties, according to the prosecutor’s office.
On August 13, the bodies of four men were found in Paris municipality in Choisysyrouis in various disassembly conditions.
According to public broadcaster Frenchford, the alarm was raised after seeing passengers on the train floating in the water overlooking the river.
The body of one man, later identified as a 48-year-old French citizen, was recovered in a “relatively unharmed” state, the Kraiteuille prosecutor’s office said. An autopsy revealed injuries suggesting he was strangled. He was found wearing a T-shirt, but was naked from his waist.
The other bodies found were in “a very advanced state of decomposition,” which made it difficult to determine the cause of their death, prosecutors said.
The second body of the 21-year-old Algerian national showed injuries consistent with strangulation. He was reported missing by his relatives the week before his body was discovered.
The other two victims were identified as homeless men who regularly visited areas near where their bodies were found. Neither of these have been heard since late July. One of the men was a 21-year-old Algerian national and the other was a 26-year-old Tunisian national, the Cretir prosecutor’s office said.
According to prosecutors, investigators were unable to establish whether all four of them knew each other, but they were all linked to the area where their bodies were found.
The area is frequented by homeless people and is “known as a place for casual same-sex encounters,” the prosecutor said.
After reviewing CCTV footage and analysing phone data, investigators focused on the suspect, and “usually existed” in the area, prosecutors continued.
Before the body was found, he was arrested while in possession of documents belonging to one of the victims. He was also stopped by a police officer the day the body was first discovered, and a week later he was taken into custody.
Investigators were able to confirm the suspect’s relationship with the victim at one time with the loss of anapled at the same time,” the prosecutor’s office said.
The suspect refused to answer questions about the crime he was accused of, and gave a simple answer only when asked about something else, according to the Creteil Prosecutor’s office.
The crime investigation will continue, the office said.
