Stabs chief in sidewalk ambush

RODEZ, France––Furious that his pit bull had been impounded a week earlier, on September 18, 2018, homeless drifter Alexandre Dainotti, 39, on September 27, 2018 reportedly drank two cups of coffee at a sidewalk café while waiting in ambush for Rodez police chief Pascal Filoé, then fatally stabbed Filoé from behind as he passed.

The assassination, believed to be the first retaliatory killing over impoundment of a pit bull in Europe, shocked all France. French president Emmanuel Macron was reportedly among the first to call Rodez mayor Christian Teyssèdre, a longtime close personal friend of Filoé, to express condolences, concern, and support for Rodez law enforcement.

Killer terrorized town with pit bull

French law has not allowed convicted criminals to possess pit bulls or other “attack dogs” since 1999. Filoé, however, had tried to avoid a violent confrontation with Dainotti over impounding the pit bull, named Looping.

The dog’s name appears to refer to a paranoid condition associated with drug abuse, especially of either LSD or the so-called “designer drug” Ecstasy.

Locally known as “Mr. Oui,” or “Mr. Yes,” for his agreeable nature, Filoé tried to befriend Dainotti, to no avail––even after Dainotti vandalized the Rodez city hall doorway on April 11, 2018.

Rodez mayor Christian Teyssèdre told the French news web site www.ladepeche.fr that Dainotti, believed to have come originally from the port city of Marsailles, had “caused trouble and anxiety since his arrival.”

Often Dainotti intimidated Rodez residents with the pit bull, who was habitually left unleashed and unmuzzled.

Victim tried to befriend killer

“Many reports were made to us. We had to act,” said Teyssèdre.

When merely notifying Dainotti of the law failed to produce compliance, Teyssèdre continued, “Pascal Filoé went to meet him, hoping that direct contact and discussion would have more effect. But these educational meetings produced only hate. Dainotti was never punished or scolded by municipal officials, but he became very aggressive.”

After Dainotti reportedly threatened to kill both Teyssèdre and Filoé, police finally took the pit bull to the Rodez Society for the Protection of Animals. Dainotti then “made known that he knew the address of Pascal Filoé and his family,” including his wife of 34 years and three children,” www.ladepeche.fr said.

Confessed to stabbing nine times

“The investigation into the assassination of Pascal Filoé is proceeding at great speed,” Rodez vice public prosecutor Chérif Chabbi told media later on the day of the killing.

“A few hours after being placed in custody, suspect Dainotti confessed,” Chabbi said.

Dainotti reportedly admitted stabbing Filoé nine times, twice in the back plus the fatal blow to the throat that cut Filoé’s carotid artery, causing him to rapidly bleed to death.

The other six stab wounds, to Filoé’s arms, abdomen, and other parts of his body, were apparently not potentially fatal.

Fought back

A karate black belt, Filoé briefly fought back before collapsing. He died soon afterward in the Rodez hospital. A witness to the attack meanwhile cornered Dainotti in a shop, where he was soon arrested.

Rodez, a sleepy crossroads town of about 25,000 people in the south of France, was founded by Celts more than 2,500 years ago, in pre-Roman times. Before the Pascal Filoé murder, however, Rodez was best known as having been hub of a scientific dispute that raged from 1792 to 1799 over the exact length of a meter.

Roy Curtis Marcum

The Filoé murder bore some similarity to the shooting death of 14-year Sacramento County animal control officer Roy Curtis Marcum, 43, on November 28, 2012, as he approached the residence of Joseph Francis Corey, then 65, to take custody of eight Catahoula dogs and two cats.

Marcum, who was unarmed, was accompanied by two locksmiths. Corey, a hoarder who had been evicted the day before, leaving the animals behind, was not known to have been on the premises.

But Corey was there, with a high-powered hunting rifle, and gunned Marcum down from behind the closed front door. Both locksmiths suffered superficial injuries.

16-hour standoff

A 16-hour standoff followed the shooting, during which SWAT team members were able to slip into the garage and hide until Corey descended a stairway into the garage to check on one of the dogs circa 5 a.m. on November 29, 2012.

Corey was on December 12, 2014 sentenced to serve life in prison for the Marcum murder, after a trial that was covered by media from as far away as The Daily Mail, of London, England.

The case, reported ANIMALS 24-7 then, “brought international attention to the increasing risks faced by animal control officers in an era of increased possession of dangerous dogs, easy access to firearms, and deteriorating public mental health services.”

Bill Grijalva

The Marcum murder echoed that of Oakland, California police officer Bill Grijalva, 41, who was fatally shotgunned by pit bull terrier owner Luke Grinage, 21, on December 15, 1993 in Oakland.

Grinage and his father, Rafael Grinage, were also killed in the ensuing shootout with other police. Unknown afterward was whether Rafael Grinage, who was confined to a wheelchair, was killed by his son or by police.

Grijalva was attempting to collect Luke Grinage’s pit bull for a 10-day quarantine. The pit bull had bitten at least three people, and lacked current rabies vaccination. Two animal control officers had been rousted from the property the day before.

Grijalva was married, with two children, and was close to retirement after 19 years on the beat.

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