ZAP // Freepik
Two identical twins are derailing a murder trial in France. Police are unable to determine which suspect is from the DNA found on the murder weapon. Adding to the confusion, the twins share clothes and use the same phone numbers and identification documents.
A scenario often portrayed in popular culture in hypothetical discussions or in the detective novels of Agathta Christie became reality and left investigators perplexed.
A double murder trial in France has entered a “bizarre legal mess” because two of the suspects are identical twins and therefore have exactly the same same DNA, write the .
The brothers Samuel and Jérémy Y33, are among five defendants on trial in Bobigny, on the outskirts of Paris, accused of the murder of two young people aged 17 and 25 in Saint-Ouen in 2020 and several attempted murders.
The two deny the accusations, notes . Although both twins are suspected of having conspired to plan the double homicide, DNA found on a shotgun used in one of the shootings can only belong to one of them.
The identical twins develop from the same sperm and a single fertilized egg that divides during pregnancy, so they have exactly the same same DNA, which makes forensic identification difficult..
A police officer told the court that forensic experts were unable to unequivocally determine which of the brothers was directly implicated in the crime. “Only their mother can tell them apart,” said one investigator.
Adding to the confusion, the twins often share clothes and use the same telephone numbers and identification documents. The police believe they took advantage of their physical similarity to cover up their movements.
So prosecutors are being forced to resort to other methods to determine who fired the gun, including phone tracking, interviews and wiretaps. But for now, the crucial question The question of who fired the recovered gun remains open, says .
In 2013, French police, investigating a series of rapes in Marseille, came across a similar problemafter having linked DNA evidence to twinswithout being able to establish which of them was responsible.
“It’s a relatively rare case the alleged perpetrators are identical twins”, said the head of the investigation, Emmanuel Kiehlà , adding that the cost of sufficient tests to distinguish DNA, estimated at up to 1 million euros, was very “onerous”.
The case was solved when investigators eventually determined that some victims reported that the attacker had a speech disorderwhich corresponded to a condition caused by partial deafness in one of the twinswho ended up confessing to all the crimes.
In the current case, however, There has not yet been any progress of this kind. The trial continues, and the court is expected to reach a decision later this month.
