Latest news with #Brasc
National Post
22-05-2025
- National Post
French chef accused of killing man, dismembering body and cooking parts in veggie pot
A chef in France, Philippe Schneider, has reportedly confessed to killing a man, dismembering his body, and cooking parts of it in a pot of vegetables. Article content Article content The case involves the 2023 murder of Georges Meichler, a 60-year-old recluse living in the village of Brasc. Article content Schneider, a 69-year-old former butcher and pizza chef, and his partner Nathalie Caboubassy are currently on trial for the crime. Another man, gravedigger Loup Benrakia, has been accused as an accomplice. Article content Schneider and Caboubassy have been accused by police of planning to rob Meichler's isolated home. During the attempted burglary, they are alleged to have tied up and gagged Meichler, but then return after searching the house to find him dead from suffocation. Article content Article content He eventually confessed to the murder and the gruesome attempt to conceal it. He has pleaded guilty to all charges and expressed remorse for his actions. Article content Schenider has admitted to burning the victim's head, hands and feet, and scattering ashes around the property. He has also cited having seen a similar ritual in Nepal, suggesting a possible justification for his method of disposing the victim's remains. Article content The crime came to light after Meichler's daughter reported him missing, and police noticed Schneider and Caboubassy driving the victim's car. Police discovered the traces of the missing man's remains and blood in the back. Article content Article content Schneider's defence lawyer said: 'Philippe Schneider acknowledges his full responsibility and all the facts he is accused of.' Article content Article content He also stated Schneider was living a 'life of alcohol and drugs,' which supposedly contributed to the gruesome shift from burglary to murder and dismemberment, describing Schenider's actions as a descent into 'absurdity and horror.' Article content
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
19-05-2025
- Daily Mail
French restaurateur 'killed, chopped up and COOKED victim'
A French restaurateur is on trial for allegedly murdering a 57-year-old, butchering him and cooking him. Pizza makers Philippe Schneider, 69, and 45-year old Nathalie Caboubassy stand accused of killing Georges Meichler, a resident of the small French village of Brasc in February 2023. Schneider reportedly made the 'horrific confession' to police after being tracked down following a missing persons report filed by Meichler's daughter. Schneider told cops that during a failed robbery of Meichler's remote home in the woods, the restaurateurs accidentally killed him by pushing him to the ground. Fearing being caught by police, they set about getting rid of the body by chopping it up with a butcher's knife, before starting to scatter parts across the surrounding region. Schneider reportedly told police that he cooked some of Meichler's body in a bowl in his home, in an apparent religious ritual that he discovered during his travels in Nepal. While some parts were spread through the Causses and Rougier regions of France, many were also left in the victim's van, a Citroën Jumpy, that the two restaurateurs were using to get rid of his body. Charred bones were found near Meichler's house, as well as human remains not far from the alleged killers' apartment building. Cops began investigating the murder after Meichler, a reclusive man, failed to check in with his daughter. Police asked nearby residents of the village, who said they saw two people using the dead man's Citroën Jumpy. They found this at the foot of a council building in Camarès, around 24 miles from Brasc. After linking this with the two people, cops began tracking their movements and mobile phone conversations before arresting them on February 10 2023. While Schneider has admitted to killing Meichler, and faces a life behind bars, Caboubassy has consistently denied involvement in the murder. A verdict is set to be handed down on May 22.
