The suspect has been indicted for the murder of Monique Borrelli, his mother, a 59-year-old lyric soprano, and attempted murder of his father.

The soprano Monique Borrelli died at 59 years on the night of Tuesday, July 21 to Wednesday, July 22, at the North Hospital of Marseille. She had been admitted there on Monday evening in a critical condition after being stabbed by her adopted son, a young man aged 18.

The drama unfolded on Monday, July 20, at around 10 p.m. According to France Bleu, Monique Borrelli, her husband and son were at home at Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, near Aix-en-Provence. The young man lost his temper when his parents accused him of stealing money from them. He grabbed a knife and struck the first blow at his father. The wound is superficial, but the son gets furious and starts punching and kicking him.

Following her husband, Monique Borrelli was also the victim of her son’s outburst of violence. She receives several stab wounds around the heart. She was taken to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery, where she succumbed to her wounds. As for the young man’s father, he wrote on his Facebook account that he “made it through”.

Psychiatric expertise for the son of Monique Borrelli

Police arrested the suspect in Aix-en-Provence during the night of Monday to Tuesday and charged him with murder and attempted murder. They took him into custody. According to the public prosecutor’s office – which opened a judicial inquiry on Wednesday – he was not previously known to the police authorities.

Psychiatric expertise will be conducted to assess his responsibility. “He went into a second state, like a delirious puff, he never raised a hand to us,” the young man’s father told La Provence.

Monique Borrelli, a native of Hyères, in the Var department of France, was a graduate of the Marseille Conservatoire and a medal winner at the Nice Conservatoire, recalls Nice Matin. The soprano was among the finalists of the Marmande competition in 1998 and 1999. Two years later, she won first prize at the Forum lyrique arlésien.

In 2012, Monique Borrelli had sung with the Chœurs de Provence in performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in the Church of Notre-Dame du Mont in Marseille. She also gave singing lessons.