Pont-de-Mertz: Mutilated body found laid out in ‘sign of the cross’, French authorities investigate homicide

Eloise Budimlich
The Nightly
Police made a grisly discovery on Monday, finding a severely mutilated dead body laid out on a sports ground.
Police made a grisly discovery on Monday, finding a severely mutilated dead body laid out on a sports ground. Credit: AAP

WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAILS.

Police were horrified to discover a severely mutilated dead body in a tiny village in France.

The body was found in a cross-shaped position in Pont-de-Metz, a picturesque French village with a population of just 2500.

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A horrified passer by made the grisly discovery on Monday morning and now police say the victim is believed to be a 33-year-old man who was living in Amiens, just a few kilometres away.

Local newspaper Le Parisien reported the corpse was horribly mutilated, with its throat slit and multiple stab wounds on the neck and back.

The man was known to frequent local parks in the evenings, going for regular walks at night in the surrounding area.

A judicial investigation has been launched into “intentional homicide” by the Amiens prosecutor’s office.

There were over 20 police officers on the blocked off site searching the area for evidence.

Near where the victim’s body was found, there were only a few houses close by as well as tennis courts and a river.

So far there are no known witnesses, but investigators have accessed CCTV footage from the cameras near the park entrances, and surrounding local areas like the nearby town hall.

The investigation is ongoing, with the autopsy set to be conducted on Tuesday.

The grisly find comes after two men were charged with murder when a young bride was shot dead at her wedding party in Goult, a hilltop village in France on June 21 this year.

Four masked men allegedly fired gunshots at the bride and groom as they were leaving their wedding celebration in a car, with a 13-year-old child onboard, Le Figaro reported.

The 27-year-old bride was fatally wounded, and died alongside one of the four gunmen.

The 25-year-old groom, the child and the groom’s sister were injured and taken to hospital

An investigation into “murder and attempted murder by an organised gang” has been launched, and is being overseen by the Marseille inter-regional specialised jurisdiction.

One of the four alleged shooters remains on the run, and an active manhunt is still underway.

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