Ex-soldier faces verdict over French girl's murder

Ex-soldier faces verdict over French girl's murder

France's high-profile murder trial of a former dog-handler and soldier is set to end on Friday, in the case of an eight-year-old girl kidnapped and killed at a wedding.

The chief prosecutor has called for life in jail for Nordahl Lelandais, accused of the murder in August 2017.

Maëlys de Araujo had gone to the wedding with her parents and sister.

The defendant, who previously admitted killing her "involuntarily", apologised to her family in court.

Both he and his young victim were guests at the wedding in the eastern town of Pont-de-Beauvoisin, north of Grenoble, at the foot of the French Alps. Her remains were found near the village.

Suppressing sobs at the start of the three-week trial he said: "I did kill Maëlys, I didn't want to kill her."

Later on he admitted to having killed her "voluntarily" after panicking and experiencing a "hallucination". He said he had seen in her face the image of Arthur Noyer, a young soldier he was earlier convicted of killing.

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