NÎMES, France — A man who became the subject of a days-long manhunt after shooting his boss and a colleague in southern France last week has been charged with murder, prosecutors said on Sunday.
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“Multiple elements” suggested the killings at a sawmill in the village of Plantiers were premeditated, Nimes prosecutor Eric Maurel said.
Valentin Marcone, 29, “was armed with a loaded gun ... as he arrived at work and said he had argued with his employer and a colleague that morning about payment for overtime,” Maurel said.
Gendarmerie colonel Bertrand Michel said that he may have decided to kill after overhearing “a conversation between his boss and the colleague about firing him for serious
misconduct”.
He “did not express remorse” when arrested and “presented himself as a victim reacting to an attack,” Michel added.
Maurel said Marcone had been wearing a bulletproof vest at work for almost three years and going armed for several months, fearing people he “may have clashed with” in the village.
Marcone surrendered peacefully on Friday after an 83-hour manhunt in the rugged terrain of the Cevennes region involving 350 police, helicopters, dogs, and
drones.
A pistol that Maurel said “could be the murder weapon” and parts of a rifle were found hidden during the chase, with Marcone telling investigators he discarded them as he “didn’t want to hurt the gendarmes”.
He had immediately admitted to the killings and later repeated the confession, Maurel said, calling him “a calm young man” speaking “logically and coherently”.
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