A 33-year-old man has been arrested and is suspected of murdering his wife and four children with a knife on Christmas Day in France, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday.
The bodies of the five family members were discovered Monday evening in an apartment in the town of Meaux, located 40 kilometers northeast of Paris.
According to local prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier, the mother and two daughters were stabbed so many times that it was impossible to determine the exact number of knife wounds.
The family's two younger sons appeared to have been strangled or drowned.
History of Violence
The children's 33-year-old father was arrested in his residence in a nearby town on Monday evening. The prosecutor has initiated a murder investigation.
The children ranged in age from nine months to ten years old. Neighbors reported hearing screams in the early hours of Christmas Day. An alarm was raised later in the day after there was no response from the family.
The man reportedly has a history of mental illness. In 2019, he attacked his wife with a knife. At that time, she chose not to prosecute him, citing his mental state.
Recent Tragic Incidents in the Paris Area
This incident is one of several recent cases involving child murders in the Paris area. In late November, a 41-year-old man turned himself in at a police station, confessing to killing his three daughters.
The bodies of the three girls, aged 4 to 11, were later found in the family's home in Alfortville, south of Paris. A month earlier, a French gendarme killed his three daughters before committing suicide in his home in Vemars, located in Val-d'Oise, about a half-hour drive from the capital.
