The French government on Tuesday expressed shock after a tax inspector was stabbed to death as he was trying to audit the books of a business owner in the north of the country.

The murder victim, a 43-year old civil servant for the tax authorities, was found dead on Monday, killed “most likely by repeated stabbing”, the prosecutors’ office in the northern French city of Arras said.

The suspected killer, a 46-year-old antiquities dealer, was then believed to have killed himself with a firearm, it said.

The suspect, described by the local mayor as “an ordinary guy”, locked up the tax inspector and a female colleague during a tax audit of his business, it said.

“The republic is weeping for one of its own,” Budget Minister Gabriel Attal said.

He said it was “revolting” that a public servant was killed “because he did his job”.

https://www.barrons.com/news/shock-in-france-over-murder-of-tax-inspector-01669126508