Two suspects in the $102 million (£76 million) Louvre Museum heist are a couple with children, according to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. The prosecutor described
the suspects as small-time criminals rather than organised crime members during her France Info interview on Sunday. According to the prosecutors, the 37-year-old man and 38-year-old woman faced additional charges and custody orders. Beccuau revealed the newly charged suspects are partners who share children together, AFP reported. Both suspects have completely denied any involvement in the Louvre theft according to the prosecutor. The male suspect refused to make any statement to investigators about the incident, while the woman was in tears as she appeared at a Paris court on Saturday, saying she feared for her children and for herself, according to the report. DNA evidence found in the robbery's basket lift strongly links the male suspect to the crime. His partner's DNA traces were also discovered, though possibly transferred indirectly. The prosecutor noted the 37-year-old man has eleven previous convictions, mostly for theft.
Louvre heist: What was taken?
The theft, which took place last week, raised questions about the security systems at the world's most visited museum. The thieves reportedly scaled the Louvre's façade using a basket lift, cut through a window, smashed display cases, and fled with a collection of Napoleonic jewels.
The robbery targeted the gilded Apollo Gallery, home to the Crown Diamonds. Eight pieces were stolen, officials said, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and earrings linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings belonging to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte's second wife; a reliquary brooch; and the diadem and large corsage-bow brooch of Empress Eugénie.
(With agency inputs)
