Men confess to brutal murder in France after more than 20 years on the run, living under false identities

Two men admitted to the brutal 2003 murder of a Frenchman on Monday when they appeared in court after more than two decades on the run.

The lifeless body of salesman Philippe Charuel was discovered in February 2003 in a roadside ditch in Gondreville, eastern France.

According to the investigation, two young prostitutes said they were disturbed by Charuel while leaving a bar near the train station in the city of Nancy on the night of February 19, 2023.

He was then taken in a car, a black BMW, by two men, who were later identified as Christian Rad and Vasile Ostas.

After almost 22 years of hiding, the two fugitives, who were involved in pimping according to the Spanish police, were arrested in August 2023 near Barcelona.

For 20 years they have been living in Catalonia, under false identities. According to Le ParisienRad had become a father of two children and worked as a concierge in a luxury hotel, while Ostas had become a security guard.

Ostas’ lawyer, Eléonore Dupleix, he told France 3that his client has not yet been charged.

“We will find out what they will say at the hearing, the version of each side,” said Dupleix.

The two men had already been sentenced in 2011 to 30 and 26 years in prison.

Ostas, 52, a Romanian citizen, told the court that he “admitted” the facts and said he was “sorry” on several occasions.

“I hit him, but I didn’t want him dead,” he said of Charuel. “I ask for forgiveness from the victim’s family” and “from French society”.

Rad, 40-year-old nephew of Ostas, also admitted that he had hit the victim “with my hands”, in the presence of the two women and his uncle.

“I saw a lot of violence. It was a shock to me too. I thought a lot about (Charuel’s family) all evening,” he said.

Charuel was described as “a man with no past history” who frequented nightclubs, had recently separated from his wife and was the father of one child.

Her body was found with 20 wounds to the abdomen, several broken ribs and “numerous cuts and bruises” on her face, including a fractured jaw and missing teeth, said presiding judge Therese Diligent.

The verdict is expected on Friday.