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A 50-year-old Frenchman admits to strangling his wife to death and decapitating her before hiding her remains in a historic Paris park
- Youcef Matoug admitted to strangling his wife Assia Matoug to death in January
- Matoug then dismembered her and hid parts of her body in Buttes-Chaumont Park.
- He did not report her missing until February 6, six days after the alleged murder.
A French man has admitted to strangling his wife to death and then lopping off her head, before hiding her in a historic Paris park.
Youcef Matoug, 50, was accused of murdering Assia Matoug, 46, and hiding parts of her body in Buttes-Chaumont park in the north of the city.
Matoug confessed to killing the mother of three on the night of January 30, before dismembering her and hiding parts of her body.
It took him six days to report her disappearance from the family home in Montreuil to the police.
Her mobile phone remained switched off and she was not heard from again until body parts were found in the park, she appears in numerous movies and TV series including Emily in Paris.
Assia Matoug, 46, was strangled to death by her husband before he hid parts of her body in a Paris park.
Youcef Matoug, 50, confessed to strangling Ms. Matoug after being accused of murdering her and hiding her body.
Matoug confessed to killing his wife, Mrs. Matoug, a mother of three, on the night of January 30, before dismembering her and hiding parts of her body.
A spokesman for Paris prosecutors said Matoug was charged on Saturday with “the murder of his spouse, breach of integrity and concealment of a dead body.”
It took Matoug a full six days to finally report her missing, something that immediately made detectives suspicious.
It was on February 13 that gardeners discovered a woman’s pelvis in a plastic bag hidden in a park trash can.
Further investigation led to the discovery of Ms Matoug’s head in another garbage bag on February 14.
The couple have three children, ages eight, 14 and 16, all of whom are now in the care of their extended family, who are originally from Algeria.
Matoug, a former supermarket worker, had been unemployed for “some months”, according to prosecutors, while his wife did charity work.
“There were no signs of friction” within the family, according to a neighbor.
He hid parts of his body in the historic Buttes-Chaumont Park in the north of the city, where Emily in Paris was filmed.
It was on February 13 that gardeners discovered a woman’s pelvis in a plastic bag hidden in a park garbage can.
During interviews with police, Matoug said he did not want to kill his wife, but “an argument got out of hand.”
His defense lawyer, Dominique Beyreuther-Minkov, told Le Parisien: “My client is devastated. He explained himself as humanly as he could. Justice will now do his job.
My client has always denied that he intended to kill his wife.
About hiding her body in the park, Matoug said he wanted his wife to end her days in “one of the most beautiful parks in Paris.”
Movies filmed in Buttes-Chaumont range from The Marseille Contract (1974) to The Murderous Corpse (1913).
The third episode of Emily in Paris featured Lily Collins having a picnic in the park.