A remarkable murder trial near Paris has encountered an unprecedented forensic challenge as identical twin defendants share indistinguishable DNA profiles, creating a legal impasse in determining which brother fired the lethal weapon. The 33-year-old brothers stand among five defendants facing charges for a 2020 double homicide and subsequent attempted killings that shocked the French capital.
According to extensive reporting by Le Parisien, forensic experts confirmed that DNA recovered from an assault rifle used in one of the shooting incidents definitively belongs to one twin—but science cannot determine which brother handled the weapon. The genetic identicality of monozygotic twins, who develop from a single fertilized egg, has created an evidentiary deadlock unprecedented in French judicial history.
Court proceedings in Bobigny have revealed extraordinary measures taken by the brothers to exploit their physical similarity. Investigators testified that the twins systematically exchanged clothing, mobile phones, and identification documents, potentially manipulating their resemblance to obscure individual culpability. ‘Only their mother can tell them apart,’ one investigator stated during tense courtroom exchanges that resulted in both twins being expelled from proceedings on Tuesday for refusing to stand.
With genetic analysis rendered useless, prosecutors have built their case using extensive circumstantial evidence including telecommunications records, surveillance footage, wiretap intercepts, and meticulous timeline reconstruction. Both brothers remain suspected of conspiring to plot the initial double murder, but the critical question of which twin physically committed the shooting remains scientifically unanswerable.
The judicial dilemma highlights the limitations of forensic science when confronted with identical DNA profiles. As the trial continues toward its anticipated conclusion in late February, the court must navigate this genetic paradox to deliver justice while acknowledging the fundamental impossibility of determining which twin fired the fatal shots based on biological evidence alone.