In France, a man who killed three women whom he believed were responsible for ruining his career was given a life sentence.
A court in the city of Valence on Wednesday gave Gabriel Fortin, 48, the harshest punishment possible for murder and an attempted murder.
This indicates that he could serve up to 22 years in prison.
Days after the women were killed by gunfire, Fortin, who went by the moniker "HR killer," was captured.
In the eastern French region of Alsace, the first murder took place on January 26, 2021. After work, human resources manager Estelle Luce was shot in the head in the parking lot of her workplace.
Another HR manager was shot at his home later that evening by a man posing as a pizza delivery person, who was located about 50km (30 miles) away. Bertrand Meichel, the victim, made it out alive.
Two days later, 500 kilometers to the south, a man carrying a white plastic bag and donning a facemask entered the local job center in Valence, pulled a gun from the bag, and murdered Patricia Pasquion, the benefits director.
Géraldine Caclin, another HR manager, was killed at an environmental services company close to Valence a short while later.
Police were later able to locate Fortin and connect him to the subsequent murder thanks to the license plate of the car the shooter used as he left the job center.
The involvement of Ms. Luce and Mr. Meichel in Fortin's termination from a company in 2006 was later made public. After an unsuccessful trial period against the engineer, Ms. Caclin oversaw dismissal proceedings three years later.
Despite the fact that Ms Pasquion never interacted with Fortin, police think he harbored animosity toward the workers at the Valence job center, where he was registered until 2013.
Fortin remained largely silent throughout his two-week trial, but he did assert that he had been the victim of conspiracies that had caused him to be fired from positions between 2006 and 2009 as well as spying.
Fortin's attorneys argued that he was mentally unfit to stand trial because he was socially isolated and had personality disorders.
However, the prosecution demonstrated how carefully he had planned and prepared the attacks.
Dominique Arcadio, the attorney for Ms. Caclin's family, stated after the verdict that "his only response to life's failures, and we've all experienced them, was to organize this crime."
