A Kosovar migrant murdered his own wife in the commune of Gray in northeastern France in August 2004 by stabbing her to death. The prosecution’s lawyer described the killing by saying that the migrant had “killed her like you would kill a sheep.” Now, the Kosovar is back on French soil and has allegedly been threatening to repeat the same crime with his new wife.
The migrant, who was 44 at the time of the murder, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in January 2007. In the end, he only served 15. After his release, he was deported back to Kosovo and banned from returning to France.
The story doesn’t end there, however. The same man, whose name has not been reported in the media, was introduced to another woman by a mutual acquaintance through an exchange of letters in 2018. The woman, who was divorced with four children, is from the same village in Kosovo, although she was by then living in the town of Montbéliard, also in northeastern France. She ended up returning to Kosovo temporarily in order to marry the convicted murderer only a month after they were introduced, despite knowing of his criminal record.
Although the newlyweds were originally forced to have a solely long-distance relationship, the husband managed to illegally reenter France at the beginning of 2020 in order to join his wife.
According to the newspaper L’Est Républicain, he soon began drinking heavily and became both verbally and physically violent, threatening to do the same as he had done with his previous wife, among other threats.
He eventually threatened to kill one of his spouse’s children, and his wife notified the authorities. A court sentenced him to another year in prison in 2022 for this offense, after which he was again deported back to Kosovo.
The determined migrant once again managed to reenter France illegally in 2023 and made amends with his wife, moving back in with her. It wasn’t long before he returned to his old ways, however, and his wife again reported him to the police in August 2023. The husband had disappeared by the time officers responded, and managed to escape back to Kosovo.
The husband once again managed to enter France illegally in the summer of 2024 and moved back into his wife’s home. She said nothing to the authorities, however, wanting to give her spouse a chance at reconciliation. The situation nevertheless did not improve.
According to Le Parisien, the husband has been accused of telling his wife in great detail how he was going to torture her before killing her, saying that he was going to make sure that she died slowly. On Friday of last week, he allegedly threatened to burn both her and one of her sons to death; his wife, now 50, called the police yet again. When officers arrived at the scene, they found the husband so drunk as to be nearly unconscious after having polished off two whole bottles of whiskey.
The migrant, who is now 65, is still in police custody. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted due to his criminal history. He has denied all of the accusations and claims that his family is lying as part of a plot against him.
If found guilty, this Kosovar migrant will again be deported – but given the ease with which he has returned three times before, it seems entirely possible that this tragic story has still not ended.
The case is the latest illustration of France’s broken immigration and deportation system, which allows repeat offenders to either remain on its territory or simply keep coming back.