Fresney, a small commune in the Eure region of France, was in shock on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, following the discovery of the town’s mayor, Didier Dessaint, dead in his garden. The area around Rue des Oiseaux has been cordoned off by police as they investigate what is being treated as an aggravated homicide.
According to the local prosecutor, Rémi Coutin, the mayor’s body was found buried in the garden of his residence. An inquiry was launched on the evening of March 3, and the investigation has been handed over to the Évreux gendarmerie research brigade. Coutin confirmed that an individual is currently in custody, although details remain scarce.
Sources indicate that the suspect in custody is the mayor’s 28-year-old son. Initially, he had reported his father missing on March 1, but he subsequently became a suspect in the investigation and was arrested on Monday. The body was discovered on Tuesday morning on the property shared by the mayor and his son.
An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday at the Rouen Forensic Institute to determine the exact cause of death. Didier Dessaint, aged 75, had been the mayor of Fresney since 2001 and was serving his fifth term, having been re-elected in 2020. The news of his death has sent ripples of sorrow throughout the community.
Guy Lefrand, the mayor of Évreux, expressed his condolences, noting the shock of losing a colleague. “It is with great distress that I learn of the murder of our colleague, Didier Dessaint,” Lefrand stated, offering sympathies to Dessaint’s family, friends, and the residents of Fresney.
