During a tribute to the four murder victims in Choisy-le-Roi (southern Paris suburbs), on September 19, 2025. BERTRAND GUAY/AFP
The mystery around the serial killer in Choisy-le-Roi, a southern Paris suburb, could be close to being solved after the suspect, a young Tunisian homeless man, was detained. Investigators are struggling to understand the suspect's motivations, who is believed to have killed four victims in less than 16 days within the same area along the Seine's riverbank, where he was squatting near an abandoned building.
One theory for his motivation was homophobia, with religious undertones; the murders took place near a gay meeting spot, where at least one victim is believed to have gone for a rendezvous. According to a friend, the suspect had recently adopted a newfound religious zeal. But this motive is less clear given the first two victims were his homeless companions – an Algerian and a Tunisian – who, like him, were living precariously and shared his squat, a former utility building regulating the Seine's flow.
After a psychiatric assessment, submitted to the investigating judge on May 11 and seen by Le Monde, found that the suspect did not have the ability to discern right from wrong, he could not be held criminally responsible. The suspect, Monji H., now 28 and under investigation for "multiple murders," "displayed, at the time of the events, pervasive psychotic symptoms characterized by a loss of connection with reality and severe judgment impairment [and he] is not fit to face criminal sanction," the expert wrote.
