The Murder of Mireille Knoll
Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old Jewish woman who had survived the Holocaust, was murdered in her Paris apartment. Yacine Mihoub was convicted of murder with an antisemitic aggravating circumstance and received life imprisonment with a 22-year security period.
Mireille Knoll was 85 when she was killed in her apartment in Paris's 11th arrondissement on March 23, 2018. She was Jewish and had escaped the Vel d'Hiv roundup as a child in 1942. The case became a major French prosecution concerning both murder and antisemitic hate.
The investigation and defendants
Yacine Mihoub, who had known Knoll for years through the apartment building where his mother lived, and Alex Carrimbacus were prosecuted after spending time in Knoll's apartment on the day she died. Their accounts of the killing conflicted throughout the investigation and trial.
Mihoub's mother, Zoulikha Khellaf, was separately prosecuted for conduct after the crime involving destruction of evidence. The case therefore required the court to decide three distinct forms of alleged responsibility rather than treating everyone present or later involved as a murderer.
The 2021 verdict
On November 10, 2021, a Paris assize court found Yacine Mihoub guilty of murdering Mireille Knoll. He received life imprisonment with a 22-year security period. The court also recognized the antisemitic character of the crime, finding that the criminal motive was influenced by hatred linked to the victim's Jewish identity and prejudices about supposed hidden wealth.
Alex Carrimbacus was acquitted of murder. He was nevertheless convicted of aggravated robbery and received 15 years of imprisonment. This page does not describe him as Knoll's convicted murderer because the jury did not reach that verdict.
Zoulikha Khellaf was convicted of destruction of evidence and received three years of imprisonment, two of them suspended. Her conviction concerned post-crime conduct, not participation in the killing.
Appeals and finality
Mihoub initially appealed the life sentence, and Carrimbacus also filed an appeal concerning his own conviction. The later procedural outcome matters for the current status of the case.
By January 10, 2023, judicial sources confirmed that Mihoub had withdrawn his appeal. Carrimbacus had already withdrawn his. That ended the planned second trial and made the criminal judgments final.
Why the case is classified as solved
The murder is classified as Solved / Adjudicated because Mihoub's conviction for murder is final. The classification does not erase the evidentiary disputes aired at trial, nor does it collapse the legally different verdicts returned for Carrimbacus and Khellaf.
A murder conviction, an acquittal of murder accompanied by conviction for another offence, and a conviction for destruction of evidence are three different legal outcomes. They are reported separately here.
Timeline
- Mireille Knoll is killed in Paris
The investigation begins after her body is found in her apartment.
- Assize trial opens
Mihoub, Carrimbacus and Khellaf face different charges arising from the case.
- Verdicts delivered
Mihoub receives life imprisonment with a 22-year security period; Carrimbacus is acquitted of murder but convicted of aggravated robbery.
- Appeal process ends
Mihoub's withdrawal of his appeal closes the planned second trial and leaves the 2021 judgment final.
Current status
The criminal case is final as to the principal 2021 verdicts. Yacine Mihoub remains convicted of Mireille Knoll's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a 22-year security period.