Murderer on the run after escaping from prison in Dordogne

A man imprisoned for a double murder has escaped from a prison in Dordogne.

The escapee is Philippe Dubois, 55, who was serving a 28-year sentence for murders committed in Nice in 2002, according to France Bleu.

Guards sounded the alarm after the escape on Monday (March 13) afternoon at Mauzac prison.

Double murder

Dubois and two accomplices were jailed for kidnapping and killing landlady Francine Véran-Raspini, 72, and her son Marc for money.

Originally given life imprisonment, Dubois’ sentence was reduced to 28 years after a 2008 appeal.

In his original trial, the escapee was defended by Eric Dupond-Moretti, France’s justice minister who was recently embroiled in a scandal regarding his ‘bras d’honneur’ gesture in parliament.

Where did he escape from?

The Mauzac prison, nestled in the countryside of the Dordogne, is around 25km from Bergerac and is unusual in France for its ‘semi-open’ nature, one of only two with the status in France.

It houses exclusively dangerous male criminals, but grants more freedom than a traditional prison, and places a greater emphasis on rehabilitation and reassimilation into public life after sentences are complete.

It is laid out more like a small village as opposed to a traditional cell structure.

Mr. Dubois has already tried to escape once before and was due to be released in just three years, according to reports.

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