A body cut in half found in Haute-Saône was identified as that of a Swiss man, where the suspect had rented accommodation

The body, “cut in two at the waist and covered with a white substance”, was discovered on November 1 in Fédry. The woman who was arrested is also suspected of setting fire to the accommodation she rented to the victim.

The body cut in half, discovered on November 1 in Haute-Saône, indeed belonged to the Swiss owner of the French suspect detained in Switzerland, announced Tuesday, November 11, the public prosecutor of the Vaud region (Switzerland). “We can confirm that the DNA analysis ordered by the public prosecutor (…) made it possible to officially identify the remains found in neighboring France as those of residents of Sainte-Croix”in western Switzerland, disappeared on Oct. 31, said Vincent Derouand, communications chief for the region’s prosecutor’s office.

Early last November, the Vesoul Prosecutor’s Office revealed the discovery of a body “cut into two parts at the waist and covered with white material” on the banks of the river Saône, in the small town of Fédry, in Haute-Saône. Still according to the prosecutor, the remains found on November 1 looked boring “Burns on the back, several wounds on the skull, on one hand, on the neck and on the body.” Based on the results of the first autopsy, the victim died because he was bleeding from a stab wound to the chest. His body was reportedly dismembered after his death.

The day after the discovery of the body, police in the canton of Vaud announced the arrest of a resident of the Swiss village of Sainte-Croix by a border guard patrol. He was immediately suspected “for burning down his house and being involved in the disappearance of people” the day before a 75-year-old Swiss man rented him this accommodation, about 50 km north of Lausanne and close to the French border.

“Conducted by the French-speaking University Center for Legal Medicine based on samples provided by the French authoritiesTherefore, the analysis makes it possible to dispel doubts about the victim’s identity. The arrested woman is now also suspected of murder, Vaud public prosecutor said, adding that “Investigations continue specifically to determine the circumstances and place of death.”