On 14 June 1997, during a mechanic held in Foix, Alègre encountered Mireille Normand, a 35-year-old woman living alone in a chalet in Verdun. Calling himself Franck, he offered her his services as a handyman in exchange for lodging. On 19 June, he raped and strangled her. Her body was found buried in her garden three weeks later. Alègre went on vacation in Spain, Germany, and Belgium, before returning to Paris where he lodged with Isabelle Chicherie, an SNCF employee. He raped, strangled, and burned her body on 4 September 1997. The gendarmes wiretapped Alègre's relatives' phones and convinced one of his friends to cooperate with the investigators, who then told Alègre to meet at a drop-off point in Châtenay-Malabry, where he was arrested on 5 September 1997. His arrest attracted little attention from the media, which was primarily focused on the death of Princess Diana.