Frenchman, 50, admits strangling his wife to death and beheading her

A Frenchman admitted strangling his wife to death and then chopping her head off, before hiding it in a historic Paris park.

Youcef Matoug, 50, was charged with murdering Assia Matoug, 46, and concealing her body parts in the Buttes-Chaumont Park, in the north of the city.

Matoug confessed to killing the mother-of-three on the night of January 30, before dismembering her and hiding her body parts.

He took six days to report her missing from the family home in Montreuil to police.

Her mobile phone remained turned off, and she was not heard of again until body parts were found in the park, which features in numerous films and TV series, including Emily in Paris.

Youcef Matoug, 50, confessed to strangling Mrs Matoug after being charged with murdering her and concealing her body

Matoug confessed to killing his wife, mother-of-three Mrs Matoug, on the night of January 30, before dismembering her and hiding her body parts

A spokesman for Paris prosecutors said Matoug was indicted on Saturday for ‘the murder of his spouse, violation of integrity and concealment of a corpse.’

Matoug took a full six days to finally report the disappearance – something that immediately made detectives suspicious.

It was on February 13 that gardeners discovered a woman’s pelvis in a plastic bag hidden in a park dustbin.

Further enquiries led to the discovery of Mrs Matoug’s head in another waste bag on February 14.

The couple have three children, aged eight, 14 and 16, all of whom are now in the care of their extended family, who are originally from Algeria.

Matoug, a former supermarket worker, had been unemployed for ‘some months,’ according to prosecutors, while his wife did charity work.

‘There was no sign of friction’ within the family, according to one neighbour.

He concealed her body parts in the historic Buttes-Chaumont Park, in the north of the city, where Emily in Paris has been filmed.

It was on February 13 that gardeners discovered a woman’s pelvis in a plastic bag hidden in a park dustbin

During police interviews, Matoug said he had not wanted to kill his wife, but that ‘an argument got out of hand’.

His defence barrister, Dominique Beyreuther-Minkov, told Le Parisien: ‘My client is devastated. He explained himself as humanly as he could. Justice will now do its work.

‘My client has always denied that he intended to kill his wife.’

Of concealing her body in the park, Matoug said he wanted his wife to end her days in ‘one of the most beautiful parks in Paris’. 

Movies filmed in the Buttes-Chaumont range from the Marseille Contract (1974) to The Murderous Corpse (1913).

The third episode of Emily in Paris featured Lily Collins picnicking in the park.