JUSTINE VAYRAC. The causes of Justine Vayrac’s death were revealed on Monday, October 31, 2022. Something to shed light on a file that still has gray areas. Update on the case.
A week after the tragedy, the investigation is about to be completed. Justine Vayrac died of strangulation, after being beaten, revealed the autopsy carried out on her body, according to information obtained by theAFP this Monday, October 31, 2022. Disappeared on Sunday, October 23 at the exit of a nightclub in Brive (Corrèze), the young woman had not given any sign of life since she had been seen for the last time with a young man in the parking lot of the disco. His body was found Thursday, October 27, in a wood located in the town of Beynat, about twenty kilometers south-east of Brive, near the suspect’s home, the day after the discovery, in the same area, of his bag, burnt. Remained silent the first two days of his police custody, the defendant had finally cracked and confessed to the murder of the mother of a small child of two and a half years. If the accused himself admitted his guilt in this case, there are still some gray areas, in particular on the motive for the passage to the act.
What did Justine Vayrac die of?
The autopsy report was particularly expected in this case. His conclusions thus made it possible to establish that Justine Vayrac had been struck, then that death had been given by strangulation. If the second element had not been mentioned until now, the first statements of facts noted by the autopsy came to corroborate the statements of the public prosecutor of Limoges, in charge of the file, who had mentioned “a plurality of blows to the face, including at least one with a blunt weapon”, i.e. an object that can seriously injure but not cut.
A disappearance at the exit of a nightclub
Justine Vayrac was seen for the last time on Sunday October 23, 2022, leaving the nightclub La Charrette, in Brive (Corrèze) “in the company of a young man, not far from the night establishment, while she was going out to get some air for a while”, indicated a press release from the Brive prosecutor’s office, broadcast this Tuesday, October 25 and relayed by The mountain. It was at this time, around 4 a.m., that she would have met a man – “an acquaintance” – in the parking lot of the nightclub, after leaving the establishment with a friend.
According to the account of one of his friends, published by The mountain, Justine Vayrac would have, after having drunk a few glasses of alcohol in a box, asked to go to sleep in her car, parked in the parking lot. Accompanied by a friend (named Théo) outside the night establishment, she would then have met a man, who had already met several times. Which had then supported the girl. “I took the number of this man, before entrusting Justine to him. He told me to go and enjoy the evening, that he was going to watch her. I told him to keep me informed,” explained Justine’s friend.
But, a little later in the evening, Theo comes out of the nightclub but no longer sees Justine. “I called the boy who was with her, he told me he had left, because Justine was feeling better. Then, a few hours later, he told me that she had texted him on Snapchat saying she was with another friend. It’s very weird that she only responds to him and not to others”, detailed Théo. During the night, the young woman had exchanged in writing with her mother, as well as with her boyfriend. His car was parked in the nightclub parking lot. But the vehicle was found unlocked on the passenger side, with the windows open and its identity papers inside.
A sexual relationship and suspicion of drugs
Justine Vayrac is actually taken to Beynat, about twenty kilometers southeast of Brive, by the man she found in the parking lot. The evening ends at the home of this individual. Did she go of her own free will or was she forced? And what really happened? The man in question did not always hold the same version during his police custody. At first, he said he raped the young woman “under the duress of another man”, then retracted and spoke of consensual sexual intercourse with the young woman, before punching her with a punch. resulted in death (which the autopsy contradicts, as indicated above). However, the charge of “rape” was held against the suspect by the public prosecutor. At this stage, the autopsy did not reveal such an act.
On his side, The Parisian reported the account of Théo, a friend of Justine Vayrac, who recalled an intriguing exchange with her: “while we were dancing, Justine told me that her glass of champagne had a strange taste. I finished her glass and handed her mine to reassure her.” One of their friends remembers that it was Lucas L. who offered the drink to Justine. And to continue: “while she was vomiting, she repeated: I’m sure someone put something in my drink. Lucas said not to worry, that she had evacuated everything anyway.”
A body buried in a wood
If the exact course of the drama is not yet known with certainty, the suspect, after killing Justine, buried her body in a wood, not far from her home. He would have first taken the remains of the young woman before returning “to look for an agricultural machine in order to dig the ground to bury the body there” according to the elements provided by the public prosecutor of Limoges. She was found “partially naked.”
Justine Vayrac was a 20-year-old young woman, found dead on Thursday October 27, 2022 in Beynat (Corrèze), south-east of Brive. She had been missing since Sunday, October 23, after going out to a nightclub with friends. His last trace was at 4 a.m. that day. Since then, this mother of a child of two and a half years had not given any sign of life. A report for “disturbing disappearance” had been launched by the national police. After four days of research, his lifeless body was discovered that Thursday at midday.
As of Tuesday, October 25, two days after the disappearance, a man was placed in police custody as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Justine Vayrac “in order to verify the chronological elements and to cross-check the various elements collected at this stage of the investigation” had indicated the public prosecutor of Brive, Émilie Abrantes. He was indeed the last person to have been in the company of the young woman before her disappearance. “This man would be a friendly acquaintance, met a few times in a nightclub”, specified the prosecution, relayed by The mountain.
Identified as Lucas L., he would be known to everyone in the town of Beynat in Corrèze. He is described as the son of a farmer very integrated into the sporting life of his city, but with volatile behavior, according to testimonies collected by several media. In addition, he was already known to justice, implicated in the fire of an agricultural shed.
After confessing to the murder, Lucas L. was indicted for “rape, unlawful confinement without voluntary release before the seventh day, and murder, preceded, accompanied or followed by another crime” and remanded in custody. He faces life imprisonment.