Gilles Grannec, a 55-year-old Brest auctioneer, was found stabbed to death in an apartment in downtown Brest on Tuesday morning. The alleged perpetrator of the stabbings, a 64-year-old man, called the police himself to report himself and was quickly arrested at the scene.
According to the Brest public prosecutor, Camille Miansoni, “the first elements of the investigation establish that the victim left his study shortly after 10 a.m. to walk to the home of an individual who wanted to have a painting appraised. The appointment had been made several weeks ago. The distance between the office of the commissioner of justice and the meeting address is approximately 300 meters ». Camille Miansoni made it known that “investigations continue” and “the police custody measure has been extended”.
Of Nice origin, the alleged perpetrator was born in 1959 to a Breton father and a Malagasy mother. After a career in consulting and business services abroad, he moved to France late in life to devote himself to writing. He presents himself as an author of cultural and philosophical essays and articles. “The profile he draws up of himself on the web seems prestigious: former student of the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC class of 1982), translator in seven languages, including Breton…”writing West France.
Most of his articles are published on far-right sites known for their radical political views. He notably targets President Emmanuel Macron and expresses incitement to hatred. In 2014, he was allegedly the victim of an attack by a group of activists “antifa” during a conference at the University of Rennes-II, reports West France. However, the case was closed due to lack of sufficient evidence.
Father of two children, Gilles Grannec joined the Thierry-Lannon auctioneers’ firm around twenty years ago, in which he discovered the profession in November 1990, as an intern. Like his associates, he specialized in Breton painting of the 19th and 20th centuries and the Pont-Aven school. The Thierry-Lannon study created a branch, about two years ago, within the walls of the sailing city in Lorient and manages a sales room specializing in boating on the polder, near the Port de Plaisance du Moulin White in Brest.
We do not yet know the motives for the murder.
