Two men admitted to the brutal 2003 killing of the Frenchman on Monday when they appeared in court after more than two decades on the run.

The lifeless body of salesman Philippe Charuel was discovered in February 2003 in a roadside ditch in Gondreville, eastern France.

According to the investigation, two young prostitutes reported that Charuel harassed them while leaving a bar near the train station in the city of Nancy on the night of February 19, 2023.

Then two men, who were later identified as Christian Rad and Vasile Ostas, led him into a car, a black BMW.

After almost 22 years in hiding, two fugitives, who according to the Spanish police were involved in pimping, were arrested in August 2023 near Barcelona.

They lived in Catalonia for about 20 years under a false identity. According to Le ParisienRad became the father of two children and worked as a concierge in a luxury hotel, while Ostas became a security guard.

Ostas’ lawyer, Eléonore Dupleix, told France 3that her client has not yet been charged.

We will find out what they will say at the hearing, each side’s version, Dupleix said.

The two were sentenced to 30 and 26 years in prison in absentia in 2011.

Ostas, 52, a Romanian national, told the court he “admitted” the facts and said he was “sorry” on numerous occasions.

“I hit him, but I didn’t want him dead,” he said of Charuel. “I ask for forgiveness from the victim’s family” and “from French society”.

Rad, Ostas’ 40-year-old nephew, also admitted to hitting the victim “with my hands”, in the presence of two women and his uncle.

“I saw a lot of violence. It was a shock for me too. I thought a lot about (Charuel’s family) all evening,” he said.

Charuel was described as a “man with no past” who frequented nightclubs, had recently divorced his wife and was the father of a young child.

His body was found with 20 injuries to his abdomen, several broken ribs and “numerous wounds and injuries” to his face, including a broken jaw and missing teeth, said presiding judge Therese Diligent.

The verdict is expected on Friday.