Nadine Devillers
Died 29 October 2020
Who they were
Nadine loved theatre and literature and had taken classes for 30 years at the Théâtre du Phœnix in Nice, where she had performed just a month earlier. Her teacher called her "incredibly kind, full of gentleness, always smiling"; the theatre's director praised her "prodigious memory". She had had a difficult childhood and was writing her autobiography, which her husband Joffrey had published after her death. She lived near the basilica and went there to pray.
What happened
On the morning of Thursday 29 October 2020, a man armed with a knife entered the Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption in Nice and killed three people. He was shot and arrested by police at the scene. In February 2025 a special court in Paris sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole; he has appealed, with the appeal trial set for December 2026.
Verdict / confirmation
Cour d'assises spéciale de Paris, 26 Feb 2025: life without parole (perpétuité incompressible) for 3 terrorist murders + 7 attempted. Appealed – appeal trial scheduled 7–18 Dec 2026 (BFMTV).
Status: Appealed – appeal trial scheduled 7–18 Dec 2026 (BFMTV)
Perpetrator: A 21-year-old Tunisian national who arrived irregularly via Lampedusa in Sept 2020 and reached France weeks before the attack (franceinfo, Le Parisien). Islamist terrorist attack.