Murder of Alexandre Junca

On 4 June 2011, Alexandre Junca a 13-year-old boy disappeared in Pau, France after returning alone from a party with friends.^[1] That evening he was killed with a hammer, robbed of his mobile phone and then dismembered.^[2] His murderer, Mickaël Baehrel, was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2016.^[3]

At the time of his disappearance Alexandre Junca was a student at the Clermont middle school in Pau.^[4] On Saturday night of 4 June 2011 at around 10:50 p.m., Alexandre disappeared in Pau while returning to his father's house on his bicycle at high speed after a party with his school friends.^[5] He appeared on a video surveillance camera just 200 m (660 ft) from his home before disappearing.^[6] His bicycle was found the next day tied to a post not far from his father's home.^[7]

While walking near the market hall, a few metres from his father's home, Junca was accosted by Christophe Camy and had his mobile phone stolen.^[8] Camy, who was suffering from psychiatric disorders, was on leave that evening to celebrate his 23rd birthday.^[9] After he had been robbed of his phone which was only worth 9 euros,^[10] a verbal altercation ensued between Alexandre Junca and Camy, attracting the attention of Mickaël Baerhel, a man known to the courts for his acts of violence and drunkenness.^[11] Baerhel intervened in the altercation to defend the young boy, who had gone to tie his bike to a post, before taking possession of the mobile phone held by Camy.^[12]

Without warning, Baerhel then took out a hammer and struck the young boy violently, which rendered him unconscious.^[13] This was continued with further physical violence which ended with killing him in the street.^[14] After witnessing the attack Camy fled the scene.^[15] With the help of one of his friends, Christian Pierre who also witnessed the attack, Baehrel took the teenager's body to the home of his partner, Fatima Ennajah.^[16][17] It was dismembered the next day by Mickaël Baehrel's 73-year-old associate, Claude Ducos.^[18][19][20] His dismembered body was subsequently thrown into the Gave de Pau.^[21]

The search for the boy included twenty police officers from the Pau and Bayonne branches of the police judiciaire.^[22] The police initially thought it was a case of a runaway.^[23] Missing posters appeared around town on buses and in shops and public buildings.^[24] His school commemorated the student.^[25] One false sighting was a motorist who claimed to see him hitchhiking at the entrance to the A64 motorway towards the Basque coast.^[26]

The bones of Alexandre Junca were discovered gradually.^[27] His femur was found in the river three weeks later on 26 June 2011.^[28] A homeless man found the bone on the river bank and it was forensically matched to the missing person report.^[29] In October 2011 more body parts were found under a river dike.^[30]

Five people were involved in the case and each appeared before the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Cour d'assises.^[31] The two main suspects were Mickaël Baerhel, who was known to be violent and alcoholic, and Christophe Camy, who suffered from psychiatric disorders.^[32][33] Both were tried for "robbery with violence resulting in death".^[34]

Alongside these two suspects, Claude Ducos, a 73-year-old pensioner at the time of the crime, also appeared at court, suspected of having helped dispose of the body.^[35] He was tried for "concealment of a corpse", "attack on the integrity of a corpse", "destruction of evidence" and "failure to report a crime" and faced three years in prison.^[36] Fatima Ennajah, Baerhel's partner, was charged with "concealment of a corpse" and "failure to report a crime".^[2][37][38] Christian Pierre, Baerhel's friend, who witnessed the crime, died in 2012 and therefore was not charged.^[39]

On 6 June 2014, three years after the murder, Christophe Camy was arrested.^[40] The trial which took place in June 2016, was attended by the victim’s parents Valérie Lance and Philippe Junca.^[41] On 7 June 2016, the accused suspects regularly changed their versions during the legal proceedings.^[42] During the trial, Ducos categorically denied his involvement in the events. Ennajah, who also suffered from psychiatric disorders, gave incoherent statements.^[43] Baehrel revealed that Alexander Junca did not die at the first blow of the hammer and that his tears caused his unleashing of violence.^[38]

On 16 June 2016, the Pau Assize Court delivered its verdict.^[44] Mickaël Baehrel was sentenced to life imprisonment for "robbery resulting in death".^[45] Christophe Camy was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for "robbery resulting in death".^[2] Fatima Ennajah was sentenced to three years in prison for "failure to report a crime".^[46] Finally, Claude Ducos was sentenced to three years in prison for "concealment of a corpse", "harm to the integrity of a corpse", "destruction of evidence", and "failure to report a crime".^[6]

Claude Ducos was released from prison in July 2017.^[47] Fatima Ennajah has also since been released.^[48]

• "Alexander's ordeal" (first report) in "... in Béarn" on 24 November 2014 in Crimes on NRJ 12.
• "The Alexandre Junca affair: a barbaric crime over a telephone" (first report) 21 January 2017 in Chroniques criminelles on NT1.
• "The Alexandre Junca affair, the adolescent martyr" on 20 January 2024 in Au bout de l'enquête, la fin du crime parfait ? on France 2.
• "Alexandre,14 ans, mort pour rien" in the podcast "Hondelatte raconte" presented by Christophe Hondelatte on Europe 1, 22 July 2024.

• List of major crimes in France (1900–present)