Murder of Alexandre Junca

At the time of his disappearance Alexandre Junca was a student at the Clermont middle school in Pau.^[4] On Saturday night of 4 June 2011 at around 10:50 p.m., Alexandre disappeared in Pau while returning to his father's house on his bicycle at high speed after a party with his school friends.^[5] He appeared on a video surveillance camera just 200 m (660 ft) from his home before disappearing.^[6] His bicycle was found the next day tied to a post not far from his father's home.^[7]

While walking near the market hall, a few metres from his father's home, Junca was accosted by Christophe Camy and had his mobile phone stolen.^[8] Camy, who was suffering from psychiatric disorders, was on leave that evening to celebrate his 23rd birthday.^[9] After he had been robbed of his phone which was only worth 9 euros,^[10] a verbal altercation ensued between Alexandre Junca and Camy, attracting the attention of Mickaël Baerhel, a man known to the courts for his acts of violence and drunkenness.^[11] Baerhel intervened in the altercation to defend the young boy, who had gone to tie his bike to a post, before taking possession of the mobile phone held by Camy.^[12]

Without warning, Baerhel then took out a hammer and struck the young boy violently, which rendered him unconscious.^[13] This was continued with further physical violence which ended with killing him in the street.^[14] After witnessing the attack Camy fled the scene.^[15] With the help of one of his friends, Christian Pierre who also witnessed the attack, Baehrel took the teenager's body to the home of his partner, Fatima Ennajah.^[16][17] It was dismembered the next day by Mickaël Baehrel's 73-year-old associate, Claude Ducos.^[18][19][11] His dismembered body was subsequently thrown into the Gave de Pau.^[20]

The search for the boy included twenty police officers from the Pau and Bayonne branches of the police judiciaire.^[21] The police initially thought it was a case of a runaway.^[22] Missing posters appeared around town on buses and in shops and public buildings.^[23] His school commemorated the student.^[24] One false sighting was a motorist who claimed to see him hitchhiking at the entrance to the A64 motorway towards the Basque coast.^[22]

The bones of Alexandre Junca were discovered gradually.^[25] His femur was found in the river three weeks later on 26 June 2011.^[26] A homeless man found the bone on the river bank and it was forensically matched to the missing person report.^[26] In October 2011 more body parts were found under a river dike.^[27]

Five people were involved in the case and each appeared before the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Cour d'assises.^[28] The two main suspects were Mickaël Baerhel, who was known to be violent and alcoholic, and Christophe Camy, who suffered from psychiatric disorders.^[29][30] Both were tried for "robbery with violence resulting in death".^[31]

Alongside these two suspects, Claude Ducos, a 73-year-old pensioner at the time of the crime, also appeared at court, suspected of having helped dispose of the body.^[32] He was tried for "concealment of a corpse", "attack on the integrity of a corpse", "destruction of evidence" and "failure to report a crime" and faced three years in prison.^[33] Fatima Ennajah, Baerhel's partner, was charged with "concealment of a corpse" and "failure to report a crime".^[2][34][35] Christian Pierre, Baerhel's friend, who had witnessed the crime, had died in 2012.^[36]

On 6 June 2014, three years after the murder, Christophe Camy was arrested.^[37] The trial which took place in June 2016, was attended by the victim's parents Valérie Lance and Philippe Junca.^[38] On 7 June 2016, the accused suspects regularly changed their versions during the legal proceedings.^[39] During the trial, Ducos categorically denied his involvement in the events. Ennajah, who also suffered from psychiatric disorders, gave incoherent statements.^[37] Baehrel revealed that Alexander Junca did not die at the first blow of the hammer and that his tears caused his unleashing of violence.^[35]

On 16 June 2016, the Pau Assize Court delivered its verdict.^[40] Mickaël Baehrel was sentenced to life imprisonment for "robbery resulting in death".^[13] Christophe Camy was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for "robbery resulting in death".^[2] Fatima Ennajah was sentenced to three years in prison for "failure to report a crime".^[41] Claude Ducos was sentenced to three years in prison for "concealment of a corpse", "harm to the integrity of a corpse", "destruction of evidence", and "failure to report a crime".^[6] Ducos was released from prison in July 2017 (taking into account pretrial detention),^[42] and Fatima Ennajah was also released.^[43]