In a case that gripped prosecutors and raised questions about online encounters, a court in the Bouches-du-Rhône region delivered a long prison term for a brutal killing. The accused, now 25, was found guilty of the 2026 slaying of a 70-year-old man in Marseille after meeting him on the anonymous chat platform Coco. Jurors imposed 25 years of reclusion criminelle and, notably, ordered a five-year period of follow-up socio-judicial supervision to manage future risk.
The ruling came after debates over motive, the defendant’s background and the role of a younger accomplice. The public prosecutor had urged a harsher punishment, recommending 30 years of imprisonment on the grounds of a pronounced risk of reoffending. The court, however, balanced the severity of the act with expert testimony and contextual factors presented during the trial on March 5.
How the events unfolded
According to the investigation, the victim first met the defendant in August 2026 through the now-defunct chat site Coco. The initial contact led to consensual, paid sexual encounters. Three days after that meeting, the accused returned to the victim’s apartment with his 14-year-old brother. Investigators say the two adolescents stabbed the man repeatedly and drained his blood in the bathtub, an assault the medical examiner described as a near-decapitation. They then left with