The Montigny-lès-Metz Double Murder
Cyril Beining and Alexandre Beckrich, both eight, were murdered near a railway embankment in 1986. A teenager, Patrick Dils, spent nearly fifteen years imprisoned before his conviction was overturned and he was acquitted. Years later, Francis Heaulme was convicted of the two murders, and that judgment became final in 2020.
On September 28, 1986, eight-year-olds Cyril Beining and Alexandre Beckrich were found dead near railway tracks in Montigny-lès-Metz, in northeastern France. The case became one of France's best-known miscarriages of justice after Patrick Dils, who was 16 at the time of the crime, was convicted and imprisoned. His conviction was eventually annulled and he was acquitted in 2002. A separate prosecution later ended with serial killer Francis Heaulme definitively convicted of the two murders.
Cyril Beining and Alexandre Beckrich
Cyril and Alexandre were both eight years old. Their deaths on September 28, 1986, triggered a homicide investigation in Moselle. Because they were killed in the same episode, this site treats the deaths as one double-murder case rather than splitting the victims into separate files.
The physical details of the attack are not necessary to understand the judicial history. Reliable accounts establish that both boys were killed near the railway area at Montigny-lès-Metz and that investigators initially focused on Patrick Dils.
The case against Patrick Dils
Dils was 16 when the murders occurred. He was placed under investigation in April 1987 after confessing, but he later withdrew those statements and maintained his innocence. In January 1989, a juvenile assize court sentenced him to life imprisonment.
For years, attempts to reopen the conviction failed. A decisive change came when additional investigation established that Francis Heaulme had been in the area on the day of the killings. In April 2001, France's review court annulled Dils's conviction and ordered a new trial.
A second conviction, then an acquittal
The first retrial did not immediately free Dils. In June 2001, a juvenile assize court in the Marne again convicted him, this time sentencing him to 25 years. Both the defense and prosecution appealed.
On April 24, 2002, after a third trial, the juvenile assize court of appeal in the Rhône acquitted Patrick Dils. He left prison after nearly fifteen years in custody. The acquittal is final and central to any accurate account of this case: Dils was wrongfully convicted and must not be described as an offender in the murders of Cyril and Alexandre.
Patrick Dils is not a perpetrator in this case file. His original conviction was annulled, and he was definitively acquitted in 2002. The later murder conviction discussed below concerns Francis Heaulme.
The prosecution of Francis Heaulme
Heaulme, already convicted in other murder cases, had long denied killing Cyril and Alexandre. His presence in the Montigny-lès-Metz area on the day of the murders became a major part of the renewed investigation after Dils's case was reopened.
In May 2017, the Moselle assize court found Heaulme guilty of the double murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He appealed. In December 2018, the Versailles assize court of appeal again convicted him and imposed life imprisonment.
The conviction becomes final
On June 17, 2020, France's Court of Cassation rejected Heaulme's appeal. The rejection made his life sentence for the murders of Cyril Beining and Alexandre Beckrich final in the French criminal process. Heaulme continued to deny committing the killings.
This final judgment allows the case to be classified as Solved / Adjudicated while preserving the separate history of the earlier miscarriage of justice. A final conviction against Heaulme does not retroactively justify the investigation or imprisonment of Dils.
Why the case matters
The Montigny-lès-Metz case shows how a criminal file can change fundamentally over decades. A confession by a vulnerable young suspect was once treated as decisive; later case review, new investigative information and renewed trials led to exoneration. The eventual conviction of another man arrived only after that wrongful conviction had been formally undone.
The two legal histories therefore have to be presented together but not conflated: Dils was exonerated; Heaulme was later convicted, and his conviction became final in 2020.
Timeline
- Cyril and Alexandre are killed
The two eight-year-old boys are found dead near railway tracks in Montigny-lès-Metz.
- Patrick Dils is charged
The 16-year-old is detained after confessing; he later retracts his statements.
- Dils receives life imprisonment
A juvenile assize court convicts him of the two murders.
- Original conviction is annulled
The review court overturns Dils's conviction after further investigation, including evidence that Francis Heaulme was in the area on the day of the murders.
- Retrial produces a second conviction
Dils is sentenced to 25 years; the case proceeds to another appeal trial.
- Patrick Dils is acquitted
The juvenile assize court of appeal in Lyon acquits him. He is released after nearly fifteen years in detention.
- Francis Heaulme is convicted
The Moselle assize court finds him guilty of the double murder and imposes life imprisonment.
- Appeal court confirms guilt
The Versailles assize court of appeal again sentences Heaulme to life imprisonment.
- Conviction becomes final
The Court of Cassation rejects Heaulme's appeal, making the life sentence definitive.
Sources and further reading
- RTL — June 17, 2020 report on the Court of Cassation rejecting Heaulme's appeal and making the life sentence final
- Le Monde — April 24, 2002 report on Patrick Dils's acquittal after his third trial
- Le Monde — April 26, 2002 chronology of the wrongful conviction, review and acquittal
- RTL — 2026 report confirming that Heaulme's Montigny conviction became final in 2020
Last reviewed: September 4, 2026