Teenager admits stabbing girlfriend to death in eastern France
A 14-year-old has admitted to stabbing his girlfriend to death in eastern France, prosecutors have said.
The victim's body was found early on Thursday, near her former primary school in a village north of Lyon, according to police.
Investigators believe the pair may have recently broken up, a source familiar with the case told AFP.
The girl went missing late on Wednesday and police were deployed around Clesse, a wine-growing village of 800 inhabitants.
"(The suspect's) first statements confirm that he committed murder," local prosecutor Eric Jallet told a press conference.
He admitted to stabbing the girl several times, including in the neck, when they met in the night, Jallet added, without giving a motive.
The teenager's friends "said the suspect had in the past made worrying statements, talking about wanting to kill someone, in particular his girlfriend," Jallet said.
He said friends had not taken the boy's threats seriously, although they had been worried about him.
Regional schools chief Pierre N'Gahane said the girl was a pupil at a collège in nearby Lugny.
"What's happened is totally incomprehensible," he told broadcaster BFM television.
There had been "no reports of bullying" at the girl's school, he added, and described the victim as a good student.
N'Gahane was unable to confirm reports that the girl and the suspect had recently split up, but said it was "possible".
The primary school in Clesse, near where the girl's body was found, was closed with a bouquet of white and pink roses attached to a barrier. Bloodstains were visible on the ground outside.
"This is a horrible day," Clesse mayor Jean-Pierre Chevrier said, adding that the girl's family was, "well liked", and that the family's only child had been, "very kind, just like her parents".
Police initially said the girl was 13 but later revised her age to 14.
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The victim's body was found early on Thursday, near her former primary school in a village north of Lyon, according to police.
Investigators believe the pair may have recently broken up, a source familiar with the case told AFP.
The girl went missing late on Wednesday and police were deployed around Clesse, a wine-growing village of 800 inhabitants.
"(The suspect's) first statements confirm that he committed murder," local prosecutor Eric Jallet told a press conference.
He admitted to stabbing the girl several times, including in the neck, when they met in the night, Jallet added, without giving a motive.
The teenager's friends "said the suspect had in the past made worrying statements, talking about wanting to kill someone, in particular his girlfriend," Jallet said.
He said friends had not taken the boy's threats seriously, although they had been worried about him.
Regional schools chief Pierre N'Gahane said the girl was a pupil at a collège in nearby Lugny.
"What's happened is totally incomprehensible," he told broadcaster BFM television.
There had been "no reports of bullying" at the girl's school, he added, and described the victim as a good student.
N'Gahane was unable to confirm reports that the girl and the suspect had recently split up, but said it was "possible".
The primary school in Clesse, near where the girl's body was found, was closed with a bouquet of white and pink roses attached to a barrier. Bloodstains were visible on the ground outside.
"This is a horrible day," Clesse mayor Jean-Pierre Chevrier said, adding that the girl's family was, "well liked", and that the family's only child had been, "very kind, just like her parents".
Police initially said the girl was 13 but later revised her age to 14.
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