The Murder of Léonce Mout
At around 5 p.m. on May 18, 1988, 71-year-old Léonce Mout left his medical clinic in Marseille, France.
Mout was not a doctor. He was a businessman who owned the private clinic.
He had spent years building his business. But the private healthcare industry in Marseille had become increasingly competitive. Expanding a clinic was difficult because of government restrictions. Existing owners often had to buy other clinics instead.
One doctor was especially aggressive about expansion.
His name was Jean Choraqui.
Choraqui owned several private clinics and had repeatedly tried to buy Mout’s clinic. Mout refused.
That dispute would later become one of the main clues in a murder investigation.
But investigators eventually discovered that the real killer was not the rival doctor they had focused on.
The person behind Léonce Mout’s murder was someone who worked inside his own clinic.
Why Léonce Mout Feared His Competitors
Mout had become increasingly concerned about the pressure from Choraqui.
There were also rumors that Choraqui had connections to organized crime. Because of this, Mout increased security at his clinic.
Security guards watched the entrance. Guard dogs were used. Cameras were installed.
Mout even replaced the windows in his office with one-way mirrors.
But the extra security created another problem.
Employees began to think Mout was becoming paranoid. His relationship with some members of his staff deteriorated.
One of his biggest conflicts was with a senior administrator named Marc Galatsi.
The two men eventually had a serious argument over the clinic and Mout’s plans for retirement.
Their relationship never recovered.
Léonce Mout Shot Outside His Clinic
On May 18, Mout finished his work and walked toward his white Mercedes.
He placed his briefcase inside and started driving away.
As he left the clinic, another vehicle suddenly moved into his path and blocked his car.
A man carrying a hunting rifle got out.
A witness nearby heard two loud bangs.
The gunman had fired through the windshield.
Mout was hit and died inside his Mercedes.
The attackers then escaped in another vehicle.
The murder looked like a professional hit.
Police soon found the hunting rifle nearby. Forensic testing identified it as the weapon used in the killing.
The getaway car was also found, but it had been set on fire. Any evidence inside it had likely been destroyed.
Police Suspect a Business Rival
Detective Rishar Zerdoumi of the Marseille Crime Division began investigating the case.
The circumstances immediately suggested an organized killing.
The victim had been ambushed. A rifle had been used. The attackers had escaped quickly and destroyed their getaway vehicle.
But there was a problem.
Léonce Mout not appear to be a gangster.
He was a successful businessman in the private healthcare industry.
The media quickly focused on the rivalry between private clinic owners. Some reports even referred to the conflict as the “clinic wars.”
Zerdumi, however, did not want to assume that the murder was simply a business dispute.
He needed evidence.
Jean Choraqui Becomes the Main Suspect
Zerdoumi first spoke with Mout’s daughter, Dr. Catherine Mout.
Catherine worked at her father’s clinic and knew about both his personal and professional life.
When Zerdoumi asked whether her father had enemies, she immediately mentioned Jean Choraqui.
Choraqui had wanted to buy the clinic for years.
Mout had repeatedly refused.
That gave Choraqui an apparent motive.
He also had the money and business connections that could theoretically allow him to hire someone to carry out a murder.
Catherine was worried that she might become Choraqui’s next target because she could inherit her father’s clinic.
For a time, Choraqui appeared to be the obvious suspect.
But suspicion was not enough.
The Wiretap Produces Nothing
Zerdoumi did not immediately confront Choraqui.
Instead, he sought permission to secretly monitor his phone.
Investigators hoped Choraqui might say something that connected him to the murder.
But days of surveillance produced nothing.
Police also questioned employees at Mout’s clinic.
Many of them disliked Mout. He had reportedly become short-tempered and distrustful.
But investigators found no clear evidence connecting any employee to his murder.
Zerdoumi also contacted criminal informants.
None had information about a contract killing involving Mout.
After months of investigation, the case began to lose momentum.
A Tip Names the Wrong Suspect
About a week into the investigation, Zerdoumi received a phone call from a man claiming to have information about the murder.
The caller said Léonce Mout had been killed in a contract hit.
He also named Jean Choraqui as the person who ordered it.
But that was not enough.
Zerdoumi had already considered Choraqui.
Then the caller provided another name.
He claimed to know who had carried out the shooting.
The new suspect was supposedly a hired killer.
Police began monitoring him as well.
But the investigation again produced little.
The suspect had an alibi, and investigators could not find evidence connecting him to Mout’s murder.
After about a year and a half without a breakthrough, the case went cold.
Another Murder Changes the Investigation
Nearly two years after Léonce Mout’s murder, Detective Zerdoumi heard about another killing.
On January 16, 1990, Dr. Jean Jaques Peschard, a surgeon and city councilman, was shot in his car.
The method immediately caught Zerdumi’s attention.
A hunting rifle had been used.
The shooter had escaped in a getaway car.
And there was another important connection.
Peschard worked at a private clinic owned by Jean Choraqui.
The similarities to Mout’s murder were striking.
Both victims had connections to Choraqui.
Both had been shot with hunting rifles.
And both killings appeared to involve a planned ambush.
Zerdoumi began comparing the two cases.
Marcel Long Walks Into the Police Station
A week after Peschard’s murder, a man named Marcel Long walked into the police station.
He claimed that witnesses had mistaken him for one of the suspects in Peschard’s murder.
Long said he had only been eating at the restaurant where Peschard was killed.
Zerdoumi was skeptical.
He checked Long’s criminal record.
It was extensive.
Long had previously served 12 years in prison for manufacturing heroin for a major gang.
The coincidence was difficult for investigators to ignore.
Zerdoumi arrested him.
During the investigation, Long eventually admitted that he had been involved in Peschard’s murder.
But he said he had not pulled the trigger.
He named his accomplice.
His name was Roger Memoli.
A Name From the Past
While searching Long’s home, investigators found documents that referred to Léonce Mout’s clinic.
They also discovered the name Roger Memoli.
Zerdoumi recognized it.
He had questioned Roger years earlier in connection with a series of robberies.
Roger had recently been released from prison and could have been in Marseille around the time of the murders.
Police arrested him.
Investigators now had two men who appeared to connect the separate cases.
But Zerdoumi still needed to know who had ordered Léonce Mout’s murder.
Roger Memoli Reveals the Truth
Zerdoumi knew Roger from their earlier interactions.
He also knew that provoking him could make him talk.
During questioning, Zerdoumi told Roger that Marcel Long had confessed and blamed him.
Roger became furious.
He began talking about the murders.
And eventually, he revealed who was responsible.
The investigation had been partly right.
The two murders were connected to the same killer-for-hire network.
But the motives behind the killings were different.
Most importantly, Jean Choraqui was not the person who ordered Léonce Mout’s murder.
The real mastermind was inside Mout’s own clinic.
Marc Galeazzi Was Behind Léonce Mout’s Murder
The person who ordered Léonce Mout’s killing was Marc Galatsi, one of the clinic’s senior administrators.
Galeazzi had previously argued with Mout over the future of the clinic.
There was another important connection.
Jean Choraqui had asked Galeazzi to help convince Mout to sell the clinic.
In return, Choraqui promised Galeazzi a position as the new director after taking control of the business.
But Galeazzi could not convince Mout to sell.
The situation became increasingly frustrating.
Eventually, Galeazzi decided to act on his own.
He contacted Roger Memoli, a former clinic employee who had a criminal record and was in need of work.
Galeazzi paid Roger to kill Mout.
Roger agreed.
How the Léonce Mout Murder Happened
According to the investigation, Roger and Marcel waited in a car across from Mout’s clinic on May 18, 1988.
Roger watched the clinic entrance.
When Mout left the building, the two men followed their plan.
Mout drove onto the street.
Marcel moved their vehicle in front of him and blocked his path.
Roger then got out with a rifle.
He fired twice through the windshield.
Mout was killed in his car.
The two men escaped.
They later threw the rifle away and burned their getaway vehicle to destroy evidence.
Roger then used a pay phone to report that the job was complete.
Meanwhile, Galeazzi waited at the clinic.
The murder had been carried out.
The Second Murder Had a Different Motive
Roger and Marcel were also involved in the murder of Jean Jaques Peschard.
But that killing was not part of the same plan as Léonce Mout’s murder.
Peschard’s murder had a political motive.
According to the investigation, Roger had been hired by a political competitor who wanted Peschard’s position on the city council.
So although the same killers were involved, the two murders had different motives.
Léonce Mout was killed because Marc Galeazzi wanted him out of the way.
Peschard was killed because of a separate political dispute.
The Investigation Focused on the Wrong Person
The case shows why investigators cannot rely on motive alone.
Jean Choraqui had a clear business dispute with Léonce Mout.
He had wanted to buy the clinic.
He had money and connections.
And he had asked Galeazzi to persuade Mout to sell.
All of this made Choraqui look like a logical suspect.
But the person who actually ordered the killing was much closer to Mout.
It was one of his own senior employees.
The investigation had been looking outside the clinic while the real threat was already inside it.
What Happened to the Killers?
The case eventually reached court.
In 1994, Roger Mimolei was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of Léonce Mout and Jean Jaques Peschard.
Marcel Long received a five-year sentence as an accomplice.
Marc Galatsi, who had ordered Léonce Mout’s murder, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
The investigation had taken years, but it eventually uncovered the chain connecting the victim, the employee who wanted him gone, and the hired killer who carried out the attack.
Conclusion
The Léonce Mout murder initially looked like another violent clash in Marseille’s competitive private healthcare industry.
Jean Choraqui appeared to have the strongest motive. He had repeatedly tried to buy Mout’s clinic, and the two men were involved in a bitter business dispute.
But the investigation eventually revealed a different story.
Marc Galatsi, a senior administrator inside Mout’s own clinic, had ordered the killing after failing to convince Mout to sell.
Roger Mimolei carried out the shooting with Marcel Long’s help.
The case also became connected to another murder, but investigators eventually discovered that the two killings had different motives.
For Detective Zerdumi, the breakthrough came when investigators stopped looking only at the obvious business rival and followed the evidence closer to the victim’s own workplace.