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Murder of Mireille Knoll

SOLVED2018Knoll's apartment, 11th arrondissement, Paris, France3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
File:Banner Mireille Knoll in Rome.jpg
File:Banner Mireille Knoll in Rome.jpg — Credit: Jove · CC0

Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old French Jewish woman and survivor of the Holocaust, was murdered in her Paris apartment on 23 March 2018. Born Mireille Kerbel in Paris in December 1932, Knoll survived Nazi-occupied France as a child: after the 1940 occupation of Paris, her father was arrested and interned at the Gurs camp, and in 1942 Knoll fled the country with her mother and brother, narrowly escaping the Vel' d'Hiv roundup of Paris's Jewish population. After the war she returned to France, married fellow Holocaust survivor Kurt Knoll in 1948, and raised two sons.

On 23 March 2018, two men entered Knoll's apartment and, according to accounts the suspects later gave investigators, stabbed her eleven times before setting her body on fire. One suspect told investigators the other had said, "She's a Jew. She must have money," before the attack. Each of the two accused the other of carrying out the stabbing, and one claimed the other shouted "Allahu akbar" during the assault.

The two men identified as suspects were Yacine Mihoub, a neighbor who had known Knoll since childhood, and Alex Carrimbacus, an unemployed acquaintance Mihoub had met in prison. Mihoub was already known to authorities: he had previously served time in prison for sexually assaulting the 12-year-old daughter of Knoll's home-care assistant and had been released in September 2017. The Paris prosecutor's office classified the killing as a hate crime committed because of the victim's real or perceived religion. The New York Times reported that the speed of this classification was widely seen in France as a response to public anger over the slower official recognition of an earlier antisemitic killing.

Mihoub and Carrimbacus stood trial in Paris beginning 26 October 2021. On 9 November 2021, Mihoub was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Carrimbacus was acquitted of murder but convicted of theft committed with antisemitic motives, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Knoll's funeral, held on 28 March 2018, drew thousands of mourners who processed through Paris from the Place de la Nation to her apartment building in the 11th arrondissement; she was buried at the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux. Then-President Emmanuel Macron visited her grave privately, a visit not covered by the media at the time. According to The Atlantic, as cited in the Wikipedia account of the case, Knoll's murder marked a shift in how French authorities responded to antisemitic violence, in contrast to the slower hate-crime classifications that followed the killings of Ilan Halimi in 2006 and Sarah Halimi in 2017.

Key facts

Victims
Mireille Knoll
Date
2018
Location
Knoll's apartment, 11th arrondissement, Paris, France
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1932-12

    Mireille Knoll, born Mireille Kerbel, is born in Paris.

  2. 1940

    After the German occupation of Paris, Knoll's parents send her and her brother to safety in the countryside; her father is arrested and interned at the Gurs camp.

  3. 1942

    Knoll flees France with her mother and brother, narrowly avoiding the Vel' d'Hiv roundup of Paris's Jewish population.

  4. 1948

    Knoll marries Kurt Knoll, a survivor of Auschwitz.

  5. 2017-09

    Yacine Mihoub is released from prison after serving a sentence for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.

  6. 2018-03-23

    Mireille Knoll, 85, is stabbed eleven times and set on fire in her Paris apartment; two suspects are taken into custody.

  7. 2018-03-28

    Thousands attend a funeral procession for Knoll from the Place de la Nation to her apartment building in Paris's 11th arrondissement; she is buried at the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux.

  8. 2021-10-26

    The trial of Yacine Mihoub and Alex Carrimbacus begins in Paris.

  9. 2021-11-09

    Mihoub is convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; Carrimbacus is acquitted of murder but convicted of theft committed with antisemitic motives and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

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People

  • Alex Carrimbacus

    ACQUITTED

    Acquaintance of Mihoub, met in prison; participated in the March 2018 attack on Knoll. Acquitted of murder on 9 November 2021, but convicted of theft committed with antisemitic motives and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

  • Yacine Mihoub

    CONVICTED

    Neighbor who had known Knoll since childhood; previously imprisoned for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and released in September 2017. Convicted of Knoll's murder on 9 November 2021 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

  • Mireille Knoll

    VICTIM

    85-year-old French Jewish Holocaust survivor stabbed eleven times and set on fire in her Paris apartment on 23 March 2018; French prosecutors classified the killing as an antisemitic hate crime.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Archival records

  • File:Banner Mireille Knoll in Rome.jpg

    other document

    File:Banner Mireille Knoll in Rome.jpg

    Credit: Jove · CC0 · Source

Places

Knoll's apartment, 11th arrondissement, Paris, France

48.8587, 2.3793

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
An 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, Mireille Knoll was stabbed eleven times and set on fire in her Paris apartment in March 2018 in a killing French authorities classified as an antisemitic hate crime; one of two assailants was convicted of her murder in 2021, the other acquitted of murder but convicted of a related theft charge.
Where did the murder happen?
Knoll's apartment, 11th arrondissement, Paris, France.
Who was convicted?
Yacine Mihoub (Neighbor who had known Knoll since childhood; previously imprisoned for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and released in September 2017. Convicted of Knoll's murder on 9 November 2021 and sentenced to life imprisonment.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.
More cases in France

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICMurder of Mireille KnollWikipedia · 2026-07-12
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The New York TimesThe New York Times · 2026-07-12
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The GuardianThe Guardian · 2026-07-12

Record history

First published
JUL 13, 2026