Category: Location: France

57-year-old woman

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: June 5, 2024.
Age at death: 57.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Nommay, Doubs, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
This woman’s mother found her lying on the ground, unresponsive, head covered with a plastic bag and a ligature. Her husband was trying to hang himself nearby; she reacted quickly, cut the rope, and called emergency services. Authorities say that when they questioned the father, he admitted to having already tried to strangle his daughter two days before because he thought that she was too much of a burden for him and his wife.

Case Status:
Her father, age 87, was charged with murder.

Sources:
Doubs : un homme de 87 ans mis en examen pour l’assassinat de sa fille autiste
France: Inculpé à 87 ans pour l’«assassinat» de sa fille autiste
Doubs : un homme de 87 ans mis en examen pour l’« assassinat » de sa fille autiste
Autism Memorial: 57-year-old woman

28-year-old woman

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: January 15, 2024.
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Saint-Herblain, Nantes, Upper Brittany, France.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
This 28-year-old woman, who had just lost her mother, was killed by her father in a murder-suicide. He left a note stating that he killed her because he did not want her siblings to have to care for her.

Case Status:
Her father, deceased.

Sources:
Un père tue sa fille handicapée de 28 ans puis se suicide près de Nantes
Un homme tourmenté étrangle sa fille handicapée avant de se suicider à Saint-Herblain

11-year-old boy

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: October 29, 2022.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Stab wounds, head injury.
Location: Marseille, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
This 11-year-old boy’s mother told police she had lost sight of him and he had gotten lost; but the next day, his body was found on the banks of a river; he had been murdered. Police, who suspected his mother of killing him, arrested her and soon reported that she had admitted to killing her son because she “couldn’t deal with him anymore”.

Case Status:
His mother, age 39 (Arrested).

Sources:
11-year-old boy
Mum ‘admits killing’ autistic son, 11, after dad found his body on riverbank
12-year-old autistic child found dead in Marseille: mother admits killing him
Enfant autiste de 11 ans tué à Marseille : la mère mise en examen pour “meurtre sur mineur”
Enfant autiste tué à Marseille: la mère mise en examen pour meurtre
Infanticide à Marseille : la mère du garçon de 11 ans mise en examen

78-year-old woman

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: March 2021.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Bludgeoned.
Location: Saint-Joseph, Reunion, France.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
This woman’s husband bludgeoned her to death with a sledgehammer, then killed her caregiver as well. In court, the perpetrator, who had a history of violent behavior, claimed it had been a “compassionate killing.”

Case Status:
Her husband was convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years.

Sources:
Man, 88, jailed for killing wife who lived with Alzheimer’s
Husband jailed for ‘compassionate killing’ of wife with sledgehammer

Gwenn Michelin

No PhotoName: Gwenn Michelin.
Died: June 8, 2018.
Age at death: 22.
Cause of death: Head injury, drowning.
Location: Vivoin, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Gwenn, his mother, her partner, and his little brother were camping when his mother’s partner got drunk and got angry at him. Gwenn was badly beaten and thrown into the water even though his assailant knew he couldn’t swim. His family, terrified because of Gwenn’s stepfather’s history of violence and domestic abuse, didn’t feel free to come forward and tell the authorities what had happened to Gwenn until after the killer had been arrested.

Case Status:
Rémy Pichot (Mother’s partner), convicted of murder of a vulnerable person, sentenced to 30 years.

Sources:
Sarthe – Meurtre d’un jeune autiste à Vivoin : le beau-père condamné à 30 ans de réclusion criminelle – France Bleu
Un Sarthois jugé aux assises pour le meurtre de son beau-fils, un autiste de 22 ans, en 2018 – France Bleu
Il déboule au camping et tue son beau-fils infirme
Procès du meurtre de Vivoin : placé face à ses contradictions, l’accusé se mure dans le silence – France Bleu
Sarthe. Mis en examen pour avoir tué son beau-fils autiste
Sarthe. Mis en examen pour avoir tué son beau-fils autiste
Exclusif. Vivoin : mis en examen pour le meurtre de son beau-fils autiste
Sarthe. Trente ans de réclusion criminelle pour le meurtre d’un jeune autiste

Frédéric Leclerc

No PhotoName: Frédéric Leclerc.
Died: September 21, 2016.
Age at death: 14.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Landres, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Frédéric’s mother tried to poison him with medication, but when he threw it up, she stabbed him to death. She also killed his dog.

Case Status:
Séverine Michelin (Mother), sentenced to 16 years.

Sources:
Nancy : une mère condamnée à 16 ans de prison pour avoir tué son fils autiste
justice. Ado autiste tué à Landres : la mère en prison

40-year-old man

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: April 22, 2013.
Age at death: 40.
Cause of death: Drugged and asphyxiated.
Location: Poissy, France.
Disability: Autism, hypoxic brain injury.

Details:
This 40-year-old man was found dead, drugged and smothered with a plastic bag over his head. His father was found unconscious but alive in a similar state.

Case Status:
His father was charged with murder.

Sources:
Poissy : désespéré, il tue son fils autiste
Autisme : les entendre vivants, ou les comprendre… morts ?

7-year-old girl and 6-year-old boy

No PhotoAge at death: 7.

Age at death: 6.

Names Unknown.
Died: November 12, 2011.
Cause of death: Murder-suicide.
Location: Martiguez, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
These two siblings were killed by their mother in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
Their mother, deceased.

Source:
Autism Memorial: 6-year-old male, 7-year-old Female, Name Unknown

Pierre Pasquiou

No PhotoName: Pierre Pasquiou.
Died: December 28, 1998.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Saint-Brieuc, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Pierre was drowned by his mother; she pushed him off a pier into the Atlantic Ocean.

Case status:
Annie Pasquiou (Mother). Given a three year suspended sentence; served no time.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Pierre Pasquiou
Solomon, A. (2014). Far from the tree: Parents, children and the search for identity. Scribner Classics.
Life with Aspergers: Murdering Disabled People

Sophie Préfaut

No PhotoName: Sophie Préfaut.
Died: August 7, 1994.
Age at death: 23.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Montpellier, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Sophie’s mother drugged her, then smothered her to death. She said that she had done it because Sophie did not want to go back to the hospital, where she had been subjected to neuroleptics and electroshock.

Sophie was an intelligent young woman with a good sense of humor, who could solve cube roots in her head.

Case Status:
Jeanne-Marie Préfaut (Mother), convicted of premeditated voluntary homicide, sentenced to 5 years; sentence suspended.

Sources:
Sanction de principe pour la mère meurtrière de sa fille autiste. Les jurés de la cour d’assises de l’Héraut ont condamné hier Jeanne-Marie Préfaut, 51 ans, à cinq ans de prison avec sursis pour avoir tué le 7 août 1994 sa fille Sophie, 23 ans, autiste, à qui elle avait promis qu’elle ne serait plus jamais hospitalisée. Elle encourait une peine de prison à perpétuité.