Abandoned body: a man accuses himself of murder

As is often the case in criminal cases, the investigation started off in a hurry. A fisherman who used to launch his line in the portion of the Ill between Ostwald and the Strasbourg district of Elsau makes a macabre discovery on July 21 in the late evening. A woman's body in a state of advanced decomposition lies in the middle of corncobs, in a field bordering the river at the edge of the forest, near Gerig Pond in Ostwald.

Substance abuse and prostitution

The first findings on the corpse and in the surroundings do not provide any evidence to guide the investigations. The autopsy that will be performed the following days at the institute of forensic medicine of Strasbourg will be hardly more conclusive: impossible to determine precisely the date, nor the causes of death. The body does not reveal any trace of violence but it is so damaged that the law clerk is reserved.

The formal identification of the victim will advance the work of officials of the judicial research unit of the Departmental Security of Bas-Rhin (SD). Céline Tanzi, 41, lived a marginal life. Originally from Marlenheim, she had moved away from her family, bathed in narcotics and sometimes engaged in prostitution to pay for her doses.

The police presume an overdose or a pass that went wrong, but without being able to explain the presence of the body in this isolated place, accessible by a small path in the extension of the last houses of the Rue de la Forêt, Ostwald . The investigations are therefore focused on the deceased's entourage, with the obvious obstacles induced by a relatively unstable lifestyle.

Against all odds, it is a case without any connection that will tip the course of the investigation. On August 17, a 49-year-old man was seriously wounded with knives in his flat in Strasbourg's Gare district. His attacker is quickly arrested in possession of a knife, the T-shirt stained with blood. In custody, the man evokes an altercation related to the repayment of a debt of cocaine. Presented to an examining magistrate on 19 August, Sébastien Meigel is indicted for attempted extortion with weapons and placed in pre-trial detention at the Strasbourg prison.

The knife and the bag of the victim found thanks to the indications of the suspect

But the 35-year-old drug addict made further revelations to the police shortly before the end of his 48 hours in police custody. During one of his last auditions, he spontaneously confided to them that he had killed a woman a few weeks before and that he had abandoned the body in a field in Ostwald.

After a night in detention, the man with a heavy judicial past (see box) is again heard at the police station in Strasbourg on the premises of the SD. He reiterates the confessions made the day before and agrees to lead the investigators to the place of the facts. Through his indications, they discover business belonging to Celine Tanzi, including a handbag, in an undergrowth. The suspect also leads them to the exact location where he got rid of a knife.

According to his statements, Sébastien Meigel would have made an appointment with the victim near l'Ill in Ostwald to discuss. He stabbed her again and again after a dispute provoked by his own jealousy: he did not accept that the forty-year-old, with whom he had once formed a couple, went to other men. The murder dates back to July 12, when Celine Tanzi's phone stopped broadcasting. After his act, the man fled to Switzerland, but soon returned to France eaten away by remorse.

Sébastien Meigel was also imprisoned in this case, for which he is now indicted by the count of homicide by spouse or former spouse.

A second murder?
Upon his arrival at the Strasbourg prison, Sébastien Meigel was the subject of a personal interview with two supervisors. This is a classic measure intended to evoke his possible health problems, his needs or his relationship difficulties with other prisoners. The man spoke in detail about the murder of Céline Tanzi. During the interview, he accused himself of another homicide against an addict who was close to the victim. He said he got rid of the body. While there is no material evidence to support this point at this stage, the investigators, who interviewed officials of the prison service, are cautious and are continuing the checks.

A heavy judicial past
About 20 convictions appear in the criminal record of the alleged murderer, who has had several incarcerations. In 2008, he was sentenced to two years in prison for robbery with sequestration: he had organized a punitive expedition with four other individuals in the Gare district in Strasbourg. In 2013, he was imprisoned for eight months after stealing a bag in a car. In 2014, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for extortion to the detriment of a teenager whom he had forced to give him his phone and his money.