The men have pleaded guilty to brutal murder in France after more than 20 years on the run, living under false identities.
Two men pleaded guilty to brutally murdering a Frenchman in 2003 when they appeared in court after more than two decades on the run.
The lifeless body of merchant Philippe Charuel was found in February 2003 in a ditch near the road in Gondreville, eastern France.
According to the investigation, two young surfers reported being harassed by Charuel when he was leaving a bar near the train station in the city of Nancy on the night of February 19, 2003.
He was then put into a car, a black BMW, by two men, later identified as Christian Rad and Vasile Ostas.
After almost 22 years in hiding, two fugitives, who were involved in the operation of the Spanish police, were arrested in August 2023 near Barcelona.
They then lived in Catalonia for about 20 years, under false identities. According to Le Parisien, Rad is a father of two and works as a concierge at a luxury hotel, while Ostas has become a security guard.
Ostas’ lawyer, Eléonore Dupleix, told France 3, that her client has not yet been charged.
“We’ll find out what they have to say at trial, each side’s version,” Dupleix said.
The two men were sentenced to 30 and 26 years in absentia in 2011.
Ostas, 52, who is originally from Romania, told the court he “accepted” the facts and said he was “sorry” several times.
“I hit him but I didn’t want him to die,” he said of Charuel. “I ask for forgiveness from the victim’s family” and “from the French community.”
Rad, Ostas’ 40-year-old nephew, also admitted to beating the victim “with my hands,” in front of the two women and his uncle.
“I saw a lot of violence. It shocked me too. I thought a lot about (Charuel’s family) the whole night,” he said.
Charuel was described as a “man with no previous history” who frequented nightclubs, had recently separated from his wife and was the father of a young child.
Her body was found with 20 stab wounds to her abdomen, several broken ribs and “numerous cuts and bruises” to her face, including a broken jaw and missing teeth, presiding judge Therese Diligent said.
It is expected that the decision will come out on Friday.
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