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Eric Borel
(11 December 1978 – 24 September 1995) was a French student and spree
killer who, at the age of 16, murdered his family in Solliès-Pont in the
arrondissement of Toulon on September 23, 1995, and afterwards walked
several miles to the village of Cuers where he continued his rampage the
next day, shooting dead twelve other people and injuring four more,
while pacing through the streets for half an hour. The shooting only
ended when police arrived at the scene, wherupon Borel committed
suicide.
Childhood
Eric Borel was the son of Marie-Jeanne Parenti and
Jacques "Jacky" Borel, who were both working in the military at the time
of his birth. However, their liaison was rather short, and after their
paths departed, Eric was sent to Jacky's parents in Limoges, where he
stayed until he was five. When his mother, who had visited Eric only
occasionally up to that time, began to cohabit with Yves Bichet, she
again took care of her son, much to his dislike, and took him to their
home in Solliès-Pont.
Borel's mother, an authoritarian and – at least
outwardly – religious person and activist in the Secours catholique,
mistreated and beat him, who she believed to be a "child of sin";
moreover he never developed a close relation to his mother's new
companion, with whom he was said to have frequent rows and who
reportedly also beat him on occasions, though Franck and Jean-Luc Bichet,
Yves Bichet's sons, stated that their father has always been nice to
Eric, even building him a shack for his chickens and other animals he
took home.
When Eric broke his arm at the age of eight, rather
than to go home, he preferred to run away and hide, until he was found,
shivering from pain. In this type of situation, Borel, who was known as
a quiet and taciturn boy who kept to himself and rather tended the
chickens in the backyard during his free time than to go out, grew up
and developed an increasing admiration for the military, telling lies
about heroic deeds of his father during the Indochina War and adoring
his stepbrother Franck Bichet, who served in the army. He had an
affection to weapons and used to shoot sparrows with an air gun.
Later years and
motive
Until his death Eric Borel attended the lycée
professionnel Georges-Cisson in Toulon, where he studied
electromechanics and did quite well academically. He was said to be a
disciplined and quiet student, but in his last year at school he showed
some radical change in behaviour, skipping classes without permission or
explanation and became unaffable. He regularly said that he could not
bear it anymore at home, having enough of doing housework and being
called names, and often stated his wish to join the military, like his
father and grandfather. Apparently he also told one of his classmates
the week prior to the shooting that he would commit suicide, but not
before killing two or three people.
Borel had a single friend, 17-year-old Alan
Guillemette, a classmate who was rather outgoing and popular among his
peers and with whom he hang out after school.
Many reports erroneously stated his room being fully
of Nazi-insignia, spuring rumors he was sympathising with fascist
ideologies, even more so as his step-father had attended several
meetings of the Front National in 1989, but besides a picture of Adolf
Hitler cut out from a newspaper, graffiti displaying a swastika on his
door, and a few books regarding World War II, as well as a documentary
about David Koresh and the Waco siege no evidence was found after his
death that he was interested in any kind of politics.
Also a girl from Cuers spread the story, Eric had
told her about his relationship to his half-sister called Caroline, who
was supposed to be his pregnant girlfriend, but this sister in question
did not exist, nor was it true that his father had died from cancer
shortly before his rampage.
Attacks
Familicide
The series of attacks started on September 23, 1995
at about 6:00 p.m. CET, when Borel killed his stepfather, Yves Bichet,
in the kitchen by shooting him four times with a .22-caliber rifle,
before smashing his head with a hammer. Police assumed that they had a
quarrel beforehand, when Borel tried to run away from home. Subsequently
to killing Bichet, Borel assaulted his half-brother, 11-year-old Jean-Yves
Bichet, who was watching TV, in a similar manner, by first shooting him
with the rifle and afterwards bludgeoning his head with the hammer.
After wiping up the blood trails, Borel waited for his mother to come
home.
As soon as his mother, Marie-Jeanne Parenti, arrived
at home from church at about 8:30 p.m., Borel immediately killed her
with a single shot to the head. In contrast to her husband and son no
blunt force was used on Mrs. Parenti, although some reports have
suggested that he beat her as well with either the hammer or a baseball
bat.
When his mother lay dead, Borel once again started to
clean the house from blood, covered the bodies with sheets and closed
all shutters, as well as the steel gate. Carrying a bag packed with food,
money, a raincoat, a map of Limoges, and a pistol shooting rubber
bullets, which was erroneously identified as a .22-caliber pistol in
some reports, and armed with his father's rifle and his pockets full of
ammunition, Borel made his way towards Cuers, at first by car, but
eventually he crashed it into a wall, where he continued his path by
foot. Presumably he spent the night between vines.
The bodies of the murdered family were found at
approximately 1 a.m. by Yves Bichet's son Jean-Luc, a student living in
Antibes who only occasionally visited his father on weekends. After
calling police Bichet was first considered a suspect in the murders when
giving contradictory information. The absence of Eric Borel remained
undetected until about three hours later.
Shooting spree
On the following day at 7:15 a.m., Borel arrived at
the home of his friend Alan Guillemette and when Alan's mother opened
the door Eric asked her to wake him. The two had a lengthy discussion in
the garden, and apparently Eric wanted something from Alan, but when he
declined and turned to go back into the house, Eric shot him in the
back, mortally wounding him.
From 7:30 a.m. onwards, Borel started shooting people
at random. No one grew suspicious of his rifle until it was too late, as
it was hunting season and thus the sight of rifles outside not
unexpected.
First he shot at Ginette Vialette through an open
window, mortally wounding her, as well as Denise Otto, whom he killed,
while she was bringing the trash out. He also hit Denise's husband,
Jean, in the shoulder. Subsequently Borel injured an elderly woman who
was walking in the streets with her husband and shot and wounded two
brothers who were crossing his path. The shots he fired at Rodolphe
Incorvala, once again through an open window, were eventually lethal. He
later died in a hospital. Borel crossed the street to shoot and kill
shopkeeper Mario Pagani, who was out buying a newspaper, with shots in
the abdomen and head, as well as Moroccan Mohammed Maarad in front of
the "Café du Commerce". Marius Boudon and André Touret were killed while
they were drawing money from an ATM and Andrée Coletta while she was
taking her poodle for a walk. Finally he shot Pascal Moustaki to death
at Place Peyssoneau.
By 8:00 a.m., police arrived at the scene. Realizing
that he was encircled Eric Borel committed suicide under a cypress tree
in front of a school by shooting himself in the head. Observers of the
rampage stated he had been poised and calm all the while, taking great
care at aiming and shooting, hitting most of his victims in the head and
returning when he didn't hit properly the first time. In total, Borel
had fired about 40 shots.
On October 23, 1995, Jeanne Laugiero, 68, died in
hospital from injuries sustained in the shooting, raising the death toll
to 14 victims.
The last death in the killing spree
was 68-year old Pierre Marigliano, who succumbed to his wounds on March
2, 1996, bringing the death toll to 15. Borel's shooting spree through
the streets of Cuers was the deadliest act of mass murder in France
since Christian Dornier killed 14 people in Luxiol on July 12, 1989.
Victims
- Yves Bichet, Eric Borel's stepfather
- Marie-Jeanne Parenti, Eric Borel's mother
- Jean-Yves Bichet, 11, Eric Borel's half brother
- Alan Guillemette, 17, a friend of Eric Borel
- Marius Boudon, 59
- Andrée Coletta, 65
- Rodolphe Incorvala, 59
- Jeanne Laugiero, 68
- Mohammed Maarad, 41
- Pierre Marigliano, 68
- Pascal Mostacchi, 15
- Denise Otto, 77
- Mario Pagani, 81
- André Touret, 62
- Ginette Vialette, 48
Among the wounded were Jean Otto and Jean Boursereau.
Wikipedia.org
Boy kills eleven in southern France
September 24, 1995
CUERS, France -- A teenager in southern France went on
a deadly rampage this weekend, beating his parents and his 11-year-old
brother to death with a hammer and baseball bat before embarking on a
shooting spree in a nearby village. By the time Eric Borel was finished,
twelve people -- including Borel, who turned the gun on himself -- were
dead, and seven others seriously wounded.
Seventeen-year-old Borel attacked his
stepfather, mother and brother on Saturday in Sollies-Pont, a village
just outside the Mediterranean port of Toulon. Then he apparently walked
to neighboring Cuers three miles away, and began firing randomly at
passers-by with a .22-caliber rifle just after daybreak on Sunday.
"The killer had a peaceful look, calmly
reloading his rifle. He headed toward city hall while continuing to fire
and then he turned around to finish off the man whom he had wounded in
the leg."
--Eyewitness
A resident of Cuers said that at first he thought
Borel was setting off fireworks, then that he was shooting at pigeons.
"Then we saw a man with a wounded leg," the man said.
"The killer had a peaceful look, calmly reloading his rifle. He
headed toward city hall while continuing to fire and then he turned
around to finish off the man whom he had wounded in the leg."
Witnesses said that Borel walked casually through the
streets of Cuers, a village of about 7,000 people, shooting
"everything that moved." Police had no immediate theory on a
motive for the killings.
Victims of the shootings were taken to neighboring
towns or treated in an emergency medical station set up at the Cuers
soccer stadium. Village officials also set up a temporary chapel where
relatives and residents could go for solace in the wake of the rampage.
In Sollies-Pont, the bodies of Borel's three family
members were not discovered until after the Cuers shooting spree.
Borel's neighbors said that the family was not well known.
French teen kills 11, then self
September 24, 1995
Cuers, France - A taciturn teenager beat to
death three members of his family then went on a shooting rampage,
killing eight more people in this small southern town before committing
suicide.
The youth, identified as Eric Borel, 17, began firing
at passersby, apparently at random, with a .22-cal. rifle just after
daybreak yesterday. Besides the dead, seven people were seriously
wounded in this town of about 7,000 people.
The day before his shooting spree, police said, Borel
fatally beat his stepfather, mother and 11-year-old brother with a
hammer and a baseball bat. "It was like he was hunting birds,"
said Guy Sintes, the owner of a cafe in Cuers. Television footage from
the scene, a sunny village near the Mediterranean port of Toulon, showed
sidewalks and a car spattered with blood and a bullet hole through a
shop window. "The people are devastated, totally traumatized. The
village is in shock," said Cuers Mayor Guy Gigou.
Neighbors of the Borels, interviewed on French
television, described the youth as taciturn and said his room was
plastered with posters of Hitler and neo-Nazi themes. Villagers with
eyes red from crying sat on the ground, shaking their heads as they
recalled traumatic scenes: An old woman shot as she walked her dog, an
elderly man gunned down on his way to the cafe.
Two victims were killed while withdrawing money from a
cash machine and another while playing boules, the Provencal bowling
game, on the village square. Sintes said he watched the killer retrace
his steps toward a man he had wounded in the stomach to shoot him again
in the head, killing him. "He was very calm, very poised. He put
the gun to his shoulder, held his gun steady, adjusted his aim and
fired," Sintes said.
The killings began in the village of Sollies-Pont,
about six miles north of Toulon. After bludgeoning his family, the boy
walked to Cuers, about three miles north, where he began shooting at
random in a parking lot, outside a bank and in the town square where
villagers shopped. He killed seven people and wounded nine others before
he shot himself, police said. One of the injured later died, bringing
the total to eight. "He was shooting at anything that moved. He was
firing everywhere," a woman living in Cuers told France-Info radio.
Police found the seven bodies of the victims scattered
in streets throughout the village. Rescue teams prepared a morgue in the
village gymnasium and an emergency medical post in the soccer stadium,
and three helicopters flew to the town to transport the wounded to
Toulon's hospital.
France has tight gun control laws for handguns, but
not for hunting rifles, which can be purchased by anyone with a hunting
license. Minors require parental permission. Yesterday's massacre was
France's worst multiple killing since 1989, when a man shot 14 people,
including his mother and sister. He was later acquitted due to insanity.
Such incidents are rare in France. In all but one of the 13 multiple
killings since 1989, the victims were family members of the killers.
French village in shock after teen's shooting spree
kills 11
Sep 24, 1995
TOULON, France -- Fresh
from murdering three relatives at home, a teen-ager walked to the next
village Sunday and calmly opened fire on a quiet town square, killing
nine more people before turning the gun on himself.
The murder-suicide in southern France was the
country's worst multiple killing since 1989.
"It was like he was hunting birds," said Guy
Sintes, the owner of a cafe on the square in Cuers, a sunny village near
the Mediterranean port of Toulon.
Eight other people were wounded in the half-hour
morning shooting rampage, three of them seriously, police said on
customary anonymity. The victims' ages ranged from 17 to 75.
Television footage from the scene showed sidewalks and
a car spattered with blood and a bullet hole through a shop window.
"The people are devastated, totally traumatized.
The village is in shock," said Cuers Mayor Guy Gigou.
The boy was identified as Eric Borel, 16, but the
impetus for the killings was unclear. His father died recently of
cancer. Neighbors of his family, interviewed on French television,
described him as taciturn and said his room was plastered with posters
of Hitler and neo-Nazi themes.
Villagers with eyes red from crying sat on the ground,
shaking their heads as they recalled traumatic scenes: An old woman shot
as she walked her dog, an elderly man gunned down on his way to the
cafe.
Two victims were killed while withdrawing money from a
cash machine and another while playing boules, the Provencal bowling
game, on the village square.
Sintes said he watched the killer retrace his steps
toward a man he had wounded in the stomach to shoot him again in the
head, killing him.
"He was very calm, very poised. He put the gun to
his shoulder, held his gun steady, adjusted his aim and fired,"
Sintes said.
The killings began in the village of Sollies-Pont,
about six miles north of Toulon. There, the 16-year-old boy used a
hammer and baseball bat to kill his mother, stepfather and half-brother,
according to police, who had initially identified two of the dead as the
boy's father and brother.
The boy then walked to Cuers, about three miles north,
where he began shooting at random in a parking lot, outside a bank and
in the town square where villagers shopped.
"He was shooting at anything that moved. He was
firing everywhere," a woman living in Cuers told France-Info radio.
Another witness from the village said the boy did not
appear agitated.
"I saw him go past my shop with his rifle, at
around 8 this morning. He was walking calmly, he wasn't in a
hurry," said Frederic Bares, who runs a newsstand in the village.
"At first I thought he was a hunter. He was about
25 meters from my place when I saw him shoot a passerby, a shopkeeper
who I think was hit in the head," Bares said on French radio.
As he ran to call the police, he heard other shots, he
said.
Police found the seven bodies of the victims scattered
in streets throughout the village.
Rescue teams prepared a morgue in the village
gymnasium and an emergency medical post in the soccer stadium, and three
helicopters flew to the town to transport the wounded to Toulon's
hospital.
France has tight gun control laws for handguns, but
not for hunting rifles, which can be purchased by anyone with a hunting
license. Minors require parental permission.
Sunday's massacre was France's worst multiple killing
since 1989, when a man shot 14 people, including his mother and sister.
He was later acquitted due to insanity.
Such incidents are rare in France. In all but one of
the 13 multiple killings since 1989, the victims were family members of
the killers.
Teen's murderous rampage stuns
France
The Phoenix Gazette
September 25, 1995
A 13th victim died today from a teenager's murderous
rampage, as authorities tried to piece together why the boy went berserk
before turning his rifle on himself.
The weekend murder-suicide in southern France was the
country's worst multiple killing since 1989.
'It was like he was hunting birds': Teen
kills 12,
himself
French boy's mom, 2 other relatives
were 1st victims
The Arizona Republic
September 25, 1995
Fresh from murdering three relatives at home, a teen
walked to the next village Sunday and opened fire on a quiet square,
killing nine additional people before turning the gun on himself.
French lad kills 12, then self
The Commercial Appeal
September 25, 1995
Fresh from killing three relatives at home, a teenager
walked to the next village Sunday and calmly opened fire on a quiet town
square, killing nine more people before committing suicide.
"It was like he was hunting birds," said Guy
Sintes, the owner of a cafe on the square in Cuers, near the
Mediterranean port of Toulon. Television footage from the scene showed
sidewalks and a car spattered with blood.
The boy was identified as Eric Borel, 16.
French teen-age gunman was neo-nazi
fanatic
The News and Observer
September 25, 1995
CUERS, France - A teen-ager who massacred 13 people
and committed suicide in a weekend rampage in a sleepy town in southern
France was apparently a neo-Nazi fanatic, police said Monday.
Sixteen-year-old Eric Borel, whose killing spree shocked the nation, had
pinned a Nazi swastika on his bedroom door and had pictures of Adolf
Hitler and neo-Nazi literature.
He bludgeoned his mother and two other members of his
family to death Saturday and the next day stalked calmly through Cuers,
killing and wounding at random with a 22-calibre rifle before turning
the gun on himself. Eight people died outright and two more died later
in the hospital, including a teen-ager who attended the same school as
Borel. Seven others were wounded.
"The carnage of the crazy teen-ager," cried
the headline of the popular daily France-Soir, which carried a
front-page color picture of a body half covered with a blood-soaked
sheet.
"This angel of death's slow walk through a sleepy
village gives the killings a potency of horror that no thriller writer
has yet come up with," it said in an editorial.
The day before his rampage Borel had battered his
mother, stepfather and 11-year-old half-brother to death with a hammer
and a baseball bat in the nearby village of Sollies-Pont. In Cuers,
north of the Mediterranean port town of Toulon, he fired at passers-by.
Witnesses said he had coolly reloaded his rifle between shots and at one
stage turned around to finish off a man he had wounded in the leg.
Residents of the town, in a wine-growing area where grape picking was
just getting under way, were in a state of shock and local authorities
said they were arranging medical help for many who had been traumatized
by the massacre.
"It's like a bad film, I can hardly believe
it," said one resident in the square, where people lined up to sign
letters of condolence to the victims' families.
Neighbors of the family in Sollies-Pont described
Borel as a quiet, inhibited boy who had no friends and never acknowleged
people when they greeted him. His father had died recently. One of
Borel's school colleagues told TF1 television that he had heard him say
recently: "I am going to kill myself. I am sick and tired of it
all."
Guy Guigou, mayor of Cuers, said investigators had
found pictures of Hitler, neo-Nazi books and brochures in his room.
France-Soir said posters proclaiming the glory of Hitler's Third Reich
were also discovered. Nearly always dressed in black, the teen-ager had
a strong interest in firearms, the military and paramilitary and had
apparently hoped to join the army.
13th death cited in french attack
The Boston Globe
September 26, 1995
CUERS, France -- The 13th victim of a teen-ager's
rampage died in a hospital yesterday. Eric Borel, 16, turned a gun on
his family and then on victims in a town square before killing himself
Sunday. Rodolphe Incorvailla, 59, died yesterday of a bullet wound to
the head.
Killing spree by teen claims 13th
in France
Contra Costa Times
September 26, 1995
CUERS, France - The 13th victim of a teen-ager's
murderous weekend rampage died in a hospital Monday, while authorities
in southern France tried to determine what caused him to go on a killing
spree.
Eric Borel turned a gun on his family and then on an
apparently random series of victims in a town square before killing
himself Sunday. Witnesses said the 16-year-old was so cool-headed they
thought he was hunting pigeons.
No motive uncovered in french
murder spree
The Record, Hackensack, N.J.
September 27, 1995
Authorities said Tuesday they may never know why a
16-year-old boy killed 13 people -- including his mother and
half-brother -- before turning a gun on himself.
Police so far have been unable to confirm various
theories about what sparked Eric Borel's murderous rampage last weekend
in this village in southern France.
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