Cold cases. Could Toulouse serial killer Patrice Alègre have murdered other women?
By Laurent Derne
Published on
He is serving his sentence lifetime sentence at the ultra-secure Moulins-Yzeure plant (Allier). The youngest of our readers may not know it, but the simple surname of Patrice Alegre aroused to Toulouse chills and rejections in the late 90s.
Five murders, six rapes
Now aged 54 years oldthe serial killer was convicted in 2002 for five murders (and an attempt), as well as for six viols, to the maximum penalty provided for by the penal code. All of this with a security period of 22 years.
Before the revelation in broad daylight of its criminal impulsesPatrice Alègre nurtured in his hometown – and main “hunting ground” – an image of “beautiful kid” with the fairer sex.
A family where daily violence reigned
Born of a policeman father and one mother hairdresserthe child grew up in a home that would today be described as dysfunctional where there was daily violence. At 13, his grandmother took him in to her home in Les Izards.
Theft, drug trafficking… It turns into little guy of city. Patrice Alègre commits his first sexual assault three years later. Attractive, he does not seem to be able to bear, on the other hand, that his potential conquests resist him. When he was arrested in September 1997, he left in his wake the corpses of women, devastated familiesa field of ruins.
“Lack of empathy and feelings of guilt”
Because Alègre is cold. A recent psychiatric reportdated 2021, does not waver when establishing the diagnosis:
“He exhibits a psychopathic personality with a history of alcoholism, polydrug abuse with an absence of empathy and any real sense of guilt.”
A time bomb who plans to eventually seek a modified sentence, after having already served 25 years behind bars for his crimes.
A seven-year-old “suspicious hole”
It is in this context that the brand new national judicial center dedicated to cold cases (based in Paris) decided to deepen his knowledge of the criminal course of the Toulouse serial killeraccording The Parisian.
Her only victim couldn’t stand her
Raped and the target of an attempted murder, in 1997, in the Pink City, Emilie Espès, 21 years old at the time, was the only known survivor of the victims of the serial killer. She had met him in a bar in Toulouse, before accompanying him to an evening of electronic music organized in Plaisance-du-Touch. She succumbed to a suicide attempt in 2006, at the age of 30.
The name of Patrice Alègre is also linked to a supposed politico-sex scandal involving the former mayor of Toulouse, Dominique Baudis, as well as police officers and a magistrate. Scandal fabricated from scratch by false witnesses around “fine parties”, the “murder of prostitutes” and the supposed “protection” which Alègre would have provided on the part of highly represented friends. The plot will be foiled. But the mayor of Toulouse has released the wash of this press campaign against him. “A legal fiasco”, slice this Thursday, September 22, 2022, the lawyer of Alègre, Me Pierre Alfort, of the bar of Toulouse.
In particular, between 1990 and 1997, a rather surprising “gap” of seven years in view of his pedigree of serial killer. Because Patrice Alègre was condemned for the murders and rapes of Valerie Tariote21 years old, fr 1989 In Toulouse ; Laure Martinet19 years old, fr 1990in Saint-Geniès-Bellevue (Haute-Garonne); Martine Matias29 years old, in February 1997In Toulouse ; Mireille Normand35 years old, fr 1997, in Verdun (Ariège); and Isabelle Chicherie29 years old, fr 1997in Paris (15e).
![Maître Pierre Alfort, from the Toulouse Bar, is the lawyer for serial killer Patrice Alègre](https://static.actu.fr/uploads/2022/09/maitre-pierre-alfort.jpg)
Justice gives itself the means
Where is he between 1990 and 1997 and what did he do? Did his streak really come to an end? Investigators never believed it. Could the criminal course of Patrice Alègre count other female victims? This is what justice seeks to establish. By transferring the means there.
Asked by Toulouse Newslawyer son, Me Pierre Alfort, of the Toulouse Bar, takes note of this decision. He laughs:
“For 23 years they have been promising Patrice Alègre to unearth new facts during this famous period 90-97. They have searched, and for the moment, they have found nothing, including with the Anacrim* software. And yet, from memory, a dozen gendarmes worked full-time for Cell Homicide 31 (dedicated to the Alègre affair, editor’s note). indicate very quickly, during his arrest, the murder of Martine Matias when there was no link between the victim and him. He is someone who has always assumed “.
“Too easy to blame everything on Alègre”
Some sources mention dozens of unsolved crimes in the Toulouse region. The lawyer rears up. “That there are unsolved cases in the Toulouse region, or in France, I do not dispute it. Corn we can’t blame everything on Alègre. It’s a little too easy. It is not just Patrice Alègre who is likely to commit crimes”.
The last request for sentence adjustment by Patrice Alègre dates from September 2019. According to Me Alfort, who has “not yet been able to discuss with [son client] », no new application is currently in the pipeline. But in view of the latest developments, the two men will inevitably contact each other. “I planned to write to him…”.
*The Anacrim software helps investigators establish criminal links between cases that are sometimes very far apart in time or space, based on recurring clues, behaviors or operating methods…
Was this article helpful to you? Note that you can follow Actu Toulouse in the My Actu space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.