Decomposed corpse discovered inside basement of historic Paris mansion during restoration
French authorities have opened a criminal investigation after the gruesome find
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French authorities have opened a homicide investigation after a corpse that had been decomposing for 30 years was found in the basement of a Parisian mansion amid renovations.
The house, located in the city's 7th district at 12 rue Oudinot, sold for 35.1 million euros in January -- or around $41.2 million -- after sitting abandoned for decades.
Once the home of poet and playwright François Coppée, the property was auctioned off to financier Jean-Bernard Lafonta for nearly six times the reserve price.
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The estate's accommodations come with an interior courtyard and private gardens.
The French media reported in July that laborers had found a body not long after they'd begun back in February. Officials then confirmed that the body was discovered on Feb. 26, 2020.
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“Everyone was devastated to learn it had been there so long, without any of us knowing,” Sabine Lebreton, the vice-president of a local association dedicated to preserving the mansion, told The Guardian on Monday.
French newspaper Le Monde wrote last month that the grisly find came to light as workers removed a pile of debris.
Papers found on the corpse allowed French law enforcement to identify the body as Jean-Pierre Renaud -- a homeless man Le Monde noted was known to drink.
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Upon further examination of Renaud, knife cuts and broken bones prompted the police to open a criminal investigation.
“It’s unclear whether he died in the mansion or was brought there, and we may never find out who was responsible,” a police source told Le Monde. “It’s quite possible the murderer is himself now dead.”
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Renaud’s children have since been contacted about their father’s death.
Lafonta declined to comment on the matter and work on his mansion is expected to commence again after the summer.