Marseille | Assize Court: He had killed "a disgusting pedophile"
For Matthieu R*., "riding the earth of a pedophile" was "a bit like a citizen’s duty"
Matthieu R., 18 years old at the time of the events, is accused of having killed a septuagenarian with whom he had prostituted himself. Accompanied by his 14-year-old younger brother, he almost decapitated his victim.
Aged 18 at the time of the events, the young man has been on trial since yesterday by the Bouches-du-Rhône Assize Court, in Aix-en-Provence, for the murder of a septuagenarian with whom he had prostituted himself in August 2023, in Marseille.
After a first meeting, he returned to the victim's home, in the 10th arrondissement, accompanied by his 14-year-old younger brother, acting as bait. Together, the boys stabbed the “disgusting pedophile” ten times before dragging him into the bathtub and giving him a final, deep cut, “close to decapitation”.
“Lost for lost, I will cut his neck”
“I recognize the facts and I regret them,” the accused told the court at the opening of the hearing.
Tried in May 2025, his younger brother was sentenced on appeal to fifteen years of criminal imprisonment. Arrested a week after the assassination, the two young men gave investigators a detailed account of the scene and their motivations.
The plan was well rehearsed.
After having had a first consensual and paid sexual relationship, Matthieu R. had acceded to the request of the septuagenarian who wanted to meet his younger brother.
The boys then went to the victim’s house with the intention of killing her “without the slightest pain”. But when the latter had thrown herself at the youngest to kiss him, the eldest had grabbed her by the neck so that she would release his grip. The stabbings then began to rain down.
“He's stabbed, so whatever we do, we're in a bad position. So we're going to limit the damage and we're going to make sure he dies as quickly as possible.”, the accused told investigators.
“So, I try to strangle and asphyxiate him so that he dies as quickly as possible. But I can't finish him off by strangulation. I said to myself lost for lost, I'm going to cut his neck so that he bleeds out more quickly.”
Three days after the assassination, the two brothers returned to the scene of the crime, in the 10th arrondissement of Marseille, equipped with a knife, a saw, gloves, trash bags and cleaning equipment in order to make the body disappear.
The boys planned to transport the limbs in backpacks and put the rest in the oven “to avoid smells.”.
Noticing that the shutters of the septuagenarian's apartment were open, they turned back.
Described as “generous” and attracted “by young people”, the victim was considered the “sweetheart” of a witness whom she hosted after having had paid relations with him.
A former prison visitor and football coach, he was fired from the club where he worked after sending messages to a 13-year-old minor.
“It feels absolutely nothing”
Expertised by two psychiatrists, the personality of Matthieu R. revealed “strong perverse elements”, as well as a fascination with “cutting flesh” for one, while the other, diagnosing an autistic spectrum disorder, considered that he presented “moderate criminological dangerousness”.
Passionate about weapons, the accused had received a “virilist” education just like his younger brother, suffering from Asperger's syndrome.
Declaring that he regretted the murder, but not for having killed a pedophile, the accused justified his act by his conviction that “pedophilia is the worst crime of humanity”.
As for the reason why he had not reported the septuagenarian to the police, the young man explained: “I wanted to know what it felt like. I was disappointed, it doesn't do anything. It feels absolutely nothing. Nothing.”
The verdict is expected at the end of the week, Matthieu R. faces life imprisonment.
* The law prohibits disclosing the name OF the accused In order to protect the identity of his brother who was minor at the time of the facts and also implicated in this case.