Sid Ahmed Rezala (13 May 1979 – 28 June 2000) was an Algerian-born French serial killer, dubbed "The Killer of the Trains". He was suspected of killing at least three women in 1999. Arrested in Portugal in early 2000, he confessed the murders to a reporter from the '' Figaro Magazine''. Several weeks later, he killed himself before he could be extradited to France. He died of asphyxiation after he intentionally set fire to the mattress in his cell while his prison guards were watching football on TV.

Biography

Born in Algeria, Sid Ahmed Rezala moved with his parents, brothers and sister to the southern French port of Marseille in 1994. Within weeks of registering at a Marseille high school, he began playing truant and mixing with petty criminals and drug dealers around the Marseille St Charles Train Station, and riding on trains. In early 1995, three months before his 16th birthday, Rezala was arrested for the rape of a 14-year-old boy."A sinister charmer"
'' BBC News'', January 15, 2000. On 7 December 1995, he was sentenced in

juvenile court A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...

to four years imprisonment. He was released in late 1996 after 18 months in prison. In 1998, he was sent to a young offenders institution at Luynes, near

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

, for pulling a knife on a French railway employee. On 29 June 1999, he was released from jail. French police launched a massive manhunt for Sid Ahmed Rezala in December 1999 after the murder of British student Isabel Peake, who was thrown from a train, and the subsequent killing of Corinne Caillaux, a 36-year-old French mother. Having fled to the Portuguese capital via Spain, Rezala made a phone call to a girlfriend from a public call box, unaware that investigators in France had tapped her phone. On 11 January 2000, Rezala's hiding place was discovered by Portuguese police, who arrested him in

Barreiro Barreiro may refer to: People * Bruno Barreiro (born 1965), American politician * Gustavo Barreiro (1959–2019), American politician * Manu Barreiro (born 1986), Spanish footballer Places * Barreiro, Portugal ** Barreiro Municipality, a munic ...

, south of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. He had been staying in Almada with friends of a Spanish acquaintance and was planning to leave within 24 hours for Spain's

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

."French 'train killer' caught in Lisbon"
''The Portugal News'', January 15, 2000. On 28 June 2000, Rezala, who had confessed to killing three women, killed himself by setting fire to a mattress in his cell in the psychiatric wing of the Caxias Prison Hospital near Lisbon, where he was being held awaiting extradition to France to face trial.

Victims

Rezala is suspected of murdering at least these three women:

Isabel Peake

Isabel Peake, a 20-year-old English student at Limoges University, was pushed from a train travelling to Paris in October 1999. She was on her way home to Barlaston,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

for a visit. On 13 October 1999, she boarded the train in

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

. Her body was found the next day by a local farmer, who discovered her partially-clothed and dismembered corpse, and her baggage was found strewn along the line. Police concluded she was pushed from the train before dawn as it travelled at about through the disused station at Chabenet, central France, possibly after a sexual assault.

Émilie Bazin

Émilie Bazin, a 20-year-old student who was reportedly an acquaintance of Rezala's, was found strangled in a house in Amiens, northern France. On 17 December 1999, her decomposed body was discovered by police two months after her death, buried beneath a heap of coal in a cellar in Amiens. Traces of Rezala's DNA were found on her body.

Corinne Caillaux

On 14 December 1999, Corinne Caillaux, 36, was stabbed in the lavatory of a

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

to Ventimiglia overnight train. Guards found her slumped in a pool of blood in a train toilet. She had been stabbed at least 13 times and died later from her injuries. Caillaux was the mother of two children; her 5-year-old son lay sleeping on a couchette during the attack. Inspectors found a blood-soaked baseball hat near her body. Rezala was wearing a similar cap when he was found travelling without a ticket about two hours earlier, on the journey from Calais to Ventimiglia on the Italian frontier. DNA tests were conducted on hairs found in the hat. Police had a record of Rezala's DNA taken after earlier crimes.John Lichfield
"French police hopeful in hunt for train killer"
'' The Independent'', December 17, 1999.

References

External links

Sid Ahmed Rezala (photos/images)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rezala, Sid Ahmed 1979 births 2000 suicides 2000 deaths French people of Algerian descent French people convicted of murder French people who died in prison custody French rapists French serial killers People from El Biar People convicted of murder by France Serial killers who died by suicide in prison custody Suicides by self-immolation Suicides in Portugal