Latest news with #Aveyron
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Telegraph
Pizza chef accused of murdering man and cooking his body
A French pizza chef is standing trial in France for allegedly murdering a man, dismembering his body and cooking it to hide the evidence. Philippe Schneider, 69, who is a former butcher, was set to appear in an Aveyron court on Monday charged over a macabre killing that took place in the village of Brasc in February 2023. The victim, Georges Meichler, 60, lived as a recluse in a rudimentary house in the woods without electricity or running water. When his daughter couldn't reach him and then started receiving bizarre text messages that were out of character for her father, she alerted gendarmerie to his disappearance. The investigation led them to Mr Schneider and his partner Nathalie Caboubassy, 45, who were spotted driving Meichler's car around town. The pair, who claimed to be druids, moved to the region in 2019 where Mr Schneider sold 'magic potion' made with plants from his garden in a sex shop. He then opened a pizzeria called Don Filiippo in Saint-Sernin-sur-Rance. They initially claimed that Meichler had lent them the car while he was on holiday so that they could feed his animals, but their story quickly collapsed. Reported confession Mr Schneider reportedly confessed to killing the man, warning investigators 'What I'm going to tell you is horrific'. But throughout the investigation, he gave different stories while Ms Caboubassy denies involvement. The chef initially claimed that he killed Meichler by accident following a dispute. In the latest version, he told the investigating judge that he went to Meichler's home to steal cannabis from the property, and enlisted the help of a third suspect, Loup Benrakia, a gravedigger. Mr Schneider told the investigating judge that they tied up their victim and gagged him. After searching the house, he said they found that Meichler had died by suffocation. Mr Benrakia has denied involvement. It's alleged Mr Schneider took the body back to his own house, waiting three days to 'respect the transmigration of the soul', before dismembering it with a butcher's knife and burning the organs on the spot. Limbs 'cooked with vegetables' He then returned to the victim's home where he allegedly cooked the other limbs in large pots with vegetables to mask the odour. Mr Schneider then lit fires to burn the victim's head, hands and feet. He told investigators that as he scattered the ashes across his property, he prayed for the salvation of Meichler's soul. 'Philippe Schneider acknowledges his full responsibility and all the facts he is accused of,' lawyer Luc Abratkiewicz said. 'Philippe Schneider's version is that at the time he lived a life of alcohol, drugs, and then this completely crazy idea of going to burgle his neighbour. He gags him. It goes badly, he dies... He made a serious mistake. Afterward, he continued to sink into absurdity and horror, because the fact of having cut up this corpse is going to cost them dearly.' Mr Schneider is charged with kidnapping leading to death, concealment of a corpse and endangering the integrity of the corpse. Ms Caboubassy is charged with complicity, as is Mr Benrakia. The prosecution has pointed out the challenge of a case that depends entirely on the statements of the defendants in the absence of a body. The verdict is expected to be handed down on May 22.
The Sun
19-05-2025
- The Sun
French restaurateur ‘admits chopping up and COOKING murder victim' after cops make horror discovery
A FRENCH restaurant owner has admitted murdering a villager, chopping him up and cooking him with vegetables. Pizza makers Philippe Schneider, 69, and Nathalie Caboubassy, 45, are on trial in Aveyron for the 2023 murder of Georges Meichler - a resident of their sleepy southern French village, Brasc. 3 3 Schneider reportedly made the "horrific confession" to police after being tracked down following a missing persons report filed by the victim's daughter. He is said to have told officers the pair accidentally killed Meichler, 57, when their attempt to rob his home went awry. Desperate to cover up the murder, they tried to dispose of the body by cutting it up with a butcher's knife and hiding body parts around the area. Body parts were spread across the Causses and Rougier regions of south France, and other bits left in the victim's van. Schneider also apparently admitted to cooking parts of the body in a pot with vegetables at his home as part of a religious ritual he encountered when travelling in Nepal. Charred bones were found near Meichler's house, and human remains not far from the alleged killers ' apartment building. A 25-year-old grave digger also on trial as an accomplice to the pair reportedly said Schneider told him to cook the meant until it "falls off the bones" and, if anyone asked, say it was "food for the dog". Meichler's lived as a recluse - without water or electricity - in a small stone house in the middle of a forest. Police began their investigations after his ex-partner raised the alarm because she hadn't heard from him. His daughter also received a text from his phone which read: "Hi. I'm heading to Brittany with a friend. Get some fresh air and see the country. See you when I get back. Have a nice day." Murdered Brit mum's 'female friend' arrested as cops probe 'frenzied attack' The message immediately rang alarm bells with the daughter, because her father rarely sent text messages and would use a very different tone if he did. Police then launched a missing persons investigation in Brasc - where neighbours said they had not seen him for several days. Door-to-door enquiries revealed locals had seen two people driving around in the dead man's Citroën Jumpy van. After linking restaurateur couple to the van, police tracked their movements and phone conversations. The vehicle was eventually found outside a council building in Camarès - around 24 miles from Brasc - with the restaurateur couple at the wheel. 3 Schneider claimed that the missing Meichler had entrusted him with the car in order to feed his chickens in the house he had been renovating. But when police searched the van they found bags of human remains and blood. Schneider then admitted to the murdering, butchering and cooking the gentle Meichler, explaining it had been a burglary gone wrong. He told investigators: "What I'm about to tell you is horrific, it's going to be difficult to hear," before revealing the sordid tale. Former partners describe him as a manipulator and a pervert who coerced them and pushed them to go to sex clubs. And experts who examined him concluded he was "marked by a need for control and domination" and "often engaged in manipulation and control over others". Addicted to alcohol and cannabis, Schneider was reportedly traumatised by the sexual abuse he claims to have suffered as a child. He was arrested alongside Caboubassy - who has always insisted she played no part. Caboubassy and the grave digger are on trial for complicity in the crime. The verdict is expected on May 22.
Daily Mail
06-05-2025
- Daily Mail
I visited Aveyron in the south of France - here's why it's the new Provence
It might be the best picnic spot in Europe. Halfway up a French hill, gazing down into a vivid green gorge. All around us, in the soft, warm, smoky twilight, there are floodlit chateaux, orange-tiled farmsteads, and twinkling hill-top villages. Bats wheel and nightingales sing. The darkening sapphire sky has that unique light you only get in Provence, the glorious south of France. Except, this is not quite Provence. This is the wilds of south Aveyron, a hidden-away department that shares all the sunshine and loveliness of Provencal France, but not the crowds or the fame, despite being one hour from Rodez and 90 minutes from Montpellier, both with airports linked to the UK. If you know Aveyron, it's probably because of the mighty modernist viaduct that strides across the Tarn valley near Millau, the main big town. That that in itself tells the story of Aveyron: people know it by looking at it from a bridge, then they speed on south. And thus they miss out. And boy, do they miss out. The morning after our picnic, my daughter and I head down from our rented apartment in our winsome village, Compeyre, to the idyllic river Tarn, five minutes' drive away. We want to go kayaking (we could also go hiking, climbing, paragliding, canoeing, this is adventure sport heaven). It's late July, we haven't booked, we are expecting crowds. There are none. The kayak renting guy smiles affably and says: 'Sure, here are the kayaks, take your pick'. We are bussed up the valley to a pretty river beach, and there we set off, negotiating gentle rapids, shooting through narrows, gazing in awe at golden canyon walls. All the way down there are little parties of locals, swimming and paddling in the shallows, drinking wine and beers – the bottles cooled in dappled backwaters. Happy kids zipwire overhead, yelling 'Bonjour!' It's like a Gallic Garden of Eden. The only foreigners seem to be us. But southern Aveyron is not just pretty villages and family fun. There is fabulous history – check the medieval Templar citadel of Saint Eulalie de Cernon, lost in its dreamy green valley. Also visit the eerie limestone plateaux, known as the Causses - for multiple megalithic monuments. Millau itself is an alluring French town, stretched languidly along the Tarn, full of riverside cafes and sun-splashed squares. On our last night, we opt for another picnic - they are so delightful. As we are packing our basket with fruit, charcuterie and baguettes, our landlord Pascal comes by to see if we're OK. I tell him we're more-than-OK. Then I ask him, 'How come no one comes here?' He smiles, like I have unearthed a secret. 'Well, Parisians are starting to buy second homes. Provence is too hot and busy now; it's cooler up here. By the way, have you tried the Roquefort?' I assure him we have indeed tried the lovely, local Roquefort cheese. And then we head out with our picnic-basket: into the evening, and the nightingales, and the vineyards under the stars.
