French police have detained a 68-year-old man -- reported to be a 'drag queen' performer -- suspected of murdering 18 mainly homosexual men, a judicial source said Wednesday. The murders were committed between 1980 and 2002 in eastern France and the Paris region.
Detained Tuesday in the eastern city of Mulhouse, the man was being held in nearby Montbeliard along with another suspect who is already serving a murder sentence in a Paris jail, the source said.
Both men deny the accusations, according to the prosecution, which said it had "no formal proof" of their guilt at this stage.
L'Alsace newspaper said the key suspect worked as a female impersonator and that his arrest followed a two-year investigation by a Montbeliard police officer, who spotted his name in database files relating to a string of unsolved murders.
Most of the murders took place in the Alsace and France-Comte regions and three were in the Paris area. Several other people are being questioned in connection with the case, the source added.
The victims were killed by a violent blow to the head, followed by multiple stabbings. Each time the bodies were found partly naked, but the victims' faces were covered up.
Local prosecutors are to hold a press conference Thursday on the case.