Death of Thomas in Crépol: new arrests, weapons seized, trail of racist motive… where is the investigation four months later ?

Thomas, 16 ans, a été tué à coups de couteau dans la nuit du 18 au 19 novembre dernier. MAXPPP – Fabrice HEBRARD

Quatre mois après la mort de Thomas, tué à coups de couteau lors d'un bal d'hiver dans le village de Crépol (Drôme) le 18 novembre dernier, l'enquête se poursuit. 

On the night of November 18 to 19, 2023, Thomas, a 16-year-old rugby player from Drôme, was stabbed to death during a village ball in Crépol. Four months later the drama, the investigation which is taking its course, and was marked by a new twist this Monday, March 11. 

According to information from Parisien, a new search carried out by the gendarmes of the Grenoble research section this Monday allowed the & #39;arrest of eleven new suspects, including a minor. All were arrested in Romans-sur-Isère or nearby, and placed in police custody, in particular for "homicide by an organized gang". The killer is Thomas, is he one of the new suspects ? 

Nine young people already indicted

Already nine people aged between 16 and 2 have been indicted previously in this case, but none of them admitted to being the author of the fatal blow given to young Thomas this fateful evening.

The searches carried out on the new dozen suspects allowed the gendarmes to seize several items of clothing targeted by the investigation, telephones and at least three bladed weapons, without the link between these knives and the tragedy that occurred in Crépol four months earlier is not confirmed. 

Remarks "hostile to white people"

For the moment, the motives for Thomas' death have not been established, and "are reduced to denunciations without proof", according to the Drôme public prosecutor, cited by our colleagues. 

The only certainty that the gendarmes seem to have, on the basis of numerous corroborating testimonies, is that "the murderer would have long hair". 

Remarks "hostile to white people" However, they were reported by several witnesses, according to the prosecutor, while others mentioned death threats. According to another source close to the investigation, a witness heard a young rugby player, friend of Thomas, "I want to hit the bougnoule". 

But before determining a motive, the investigators seek to understand in what context the remarks were made, before, during or after the brawl which broke out that evening. < /p>

A long and complex investigation

The complexity of the investigation also lies in the number of witnesses interviewed. The versions diverge and contradict each other, probably due to the massive consumption of alcohol during the ball. 

The crime scene was also trampled by the protagonists and the emergency services, and the absence of a video surveillance camera on the scene could not help the investigations.& nbsp;

However, the latest arrests "show that the investigation is continuing and that in-depth work is still being carried out by the gendarmes& ;quot;, according to the lawyer of one of the seriously injured that evening.