An elderly man witnessed his wife having an affair with their biological son, lost control, and killed both of them in a fit of rage.
A long-buried homicide case in France has once again shocked public opinion in recent days. After nearly 20 years of investigation, police have finally identified the decomposed body of a woman found in 2005, uncovering a complex truth involving family, disappearance, and serial killings.
According to foreign media such as The Sun, the case dates back to January 2005, when a woman's body was found hidden in a roadside water tank, severely decomposed and initially unidentifiable. Due to technological limitations at the time, the case remained unsolved for years.
It wasn’t until 2023, when police reopened the investigation, that they confirmed the deceased was 35-year-old Hakima Boukerouis, who had been reported missing by her husband as early as 2004.
As the investigation progressed, police found that the behavior of the deceased's husband, Saïd Lalaouna, was highly unusual: in the 20 years following his wife's disappearance, he continued to claim tax benefits as her “spouse.” In addition, the couple’s biological son had also gone missing around the same time, deepening the mystery.
Police eventually arrested Lalaouna in 2025. After a year-long interrogation, he ultimately confessed, admitting that both his wife and son had been killed by him.
He stated that the motive for his actions was a suspicion of an improper relationship between his wife and son, and that he lost control in the heat of the moment, resulting in the tragedy.
The case is still undergoing judicial review, but this family tragedy spanning 20 years has already become one of the most shocking and highly followed cases in French society.