The lifeless body of Justine Vayrac, mother and 20-year-old caregiver, was found on October 27, 2022 in a wood in Beynat (Corrèze). The young woman had disappeared a few days earlier, while she was spending an evening with friends in a nightclub in Brive-la-Gaillarde.
This disappearance, quickly deemed worrying, led to the arrest and custody of a certain Lucas, a 21-year-old farmer. He lives about twenty kilometers from the nightclub where Justine was last seen alive.
The suspect confessed to having killed the mother of the family, and gave the indications which made it possible to find her remains. Following these discoveries, the young man was indicted for the kidnapping, rape and murder of the victim, and placed in pre-trial detention.
Described as a rather jovial man in the columns of Le Parisien, Lucas L. is also considered a “a little weird” individual, with “a very impulsive side” by acquaintances.
At a press conference, the public prosecutor of Limoges Baptiste Porcher indicated the alleged murderer had already been “implicated in a procedure of destruction by dangerous means and degradation”, imprisoned for intentionally burning a barn in 2020 .
Indicted and remanded in custody until the spring of 2021, the young man was under judicial control.
If Lucas L. affirms that Justine died as a result of a punch in the face, the elements of the investigation suggest that the victim suffered several blows, including one with a blunt weapon.
During his police custody, Lucas L. “recalled the conditions in which he acted out”, says his lawyer, Me Michel Labrousse.
Quoted by franceinfo, the lawyer for Lucas L. indicated that “this drama which devastated the families occurred at the end of a discotheque and against a background of alcohol”, adding that technical expertise will be ordered by forensic doctors in the framework of the investigation.
In addition, psychological and psychiatric expertise will be conducted on the suspect. “We will have to know if at the psychological, psychiatric level, if his acting out has technical explanations”, insisted the lawyer.
As our colleagues remind us, “since the law of January 24, 2022, the consumption of alcohol and drugs can be an aggravating circumstance of murder or intentional violence resulting in death”.
The suspect’s attorney also highlighted his client’s profile.
Me Michel Labrousse describes his client as an individual “normally constituted (…) with a completely normal, balanced profile”. “He is a young man from a good family, educated, intelligent, who practices a sport, who has a normal sentimental life”, continues the lawyer.
The motive for the crime remains to be determined. If Lucas L. claims to have had consensual sex with Justine – just after indicating that he raped her under duress from another man – he has been indicted for rape in addition to counts of murder and sequestration.
