Man beats ex-wife's 4-year-old son to death, cuts his head off and feeds it to the dogs

A 40 year old man beat his ex-wife’s four-year-old son, Matheo to death after his ex wife, Yasmine, told him the child wasn't his. Jean-Charles Artaban killed the boy he thought was his son before decapitating him, feeding the head to dogs and then setting the remaining parts of his body on fire.

That was the scene that emergency services discovered upon arriving at Artaban’s house, after Yasmine had called them in a panicked voice to beg them to save her son.

Artaban had reportedly taken cannabis, called ‘zamal’ in the local creole dialect, on the evening of the horrible events which took place on Jean Robert Street in Beaulieu in Saint-Benoit, on 17th June 2013.

During Police interrogation after his arrest, Artaban said he didn't remember what happened that night. He said he remembered beating Yasmine after she told him Matheo wasn't his and he said he remembered she ran away and left the boy behind but that was all he remembered.

He was found guilty of murder, acts of torture, and barbarity and was sentenced to life imprisonment. This is the first time a life sentence has been handed down in the French island of Reunion, off the coast of Madagascar, since 2003.

According to psychiatric experts, Jean-Charles is incapable of "showing any regret or any empathy" and throughout the two-day trial he simply remained still and unmoved in the dock.