French authorities have arrested and indicted four people in connection with a murder the police say was inspired by scenes from AMC’s Emmy-winning drama Breaking Bad.
The body of a 23-year-old French art history student Eva Bourseau was found decomposing in acid at her Toulouse apartment. She was reportedly killed over an unpaid drug debt.
“What is striking in this case is obviously the profile of the defendants. … None of the four suspects has a criminal record,” prosecutor Pierre-Yves Couilleau told Agence France Presse.
Two men were indicted Friday for premeditated murder, drug trafficking and robbery and a third for murder by complicity, drug trafficking and robbery. A woman believed to be involved in the plot was indicted for drug trafficking, Couilleau said in a statement. All are aged between 19 and 23.
Public prosecutors have said the killing was part of a murder plot inspired by Breaking Bad.
They claim the suspects had attempted to replicate a scene from the crime drama in which Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, played by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, use acid to dispose of the body of a murdered competing drug dealer. One of the accused is alleged to have admitted as much to the prosecution.
According to media reports, two of the three students went to Bourseau’s apartment to collect money she owed them, reportedly $6,615 (€6,000). When she was unable to pay, they allegedly killed her through a blow to the head. Then they tried to dissolve her body in acid.
The murder investigation is still underway.
