Paris suspected serial killer arrested

A suspected serial killer was under arrest yesterday (Sunday) in connection with a spate of murders in Parisian housing estates after detectives identified a motorbike driven to the crime scenes.

Four people were shot dead in five months in the Essonne area south of Paris, all with the same type of semi-automatic weapon by a gunman who fled on a motorbike, recalling the attacks of a scooter-driving Islamist killed in Toulouse last month after murdering seven.

Unlike the Mohamed Merah killings, there is no suggestion of any political or religious motive. Police are holding a 33 year-old of West Indian origin known only as Yoni P. who they describe as a "very serious" suspect in relation to three of the four murders.

Arrested outside his parents' house, the suspect was allegedly linked to the number plate of a motorbike spotted near the crime scenes. Described as a "solitary" figure, police said he was a weapons enthusiast.