PARIS, FRANCE  --  French police have arrested a 68-year-old 'drag queen' performer suspected of murdering 18 homosexual men in eastern France and the Paris region between 1980 and 2002.

The suspect, Nicolas Panard, was detained Tuesday in the eastern city of Mulhouse, and is being held along with his alleged accomplice, Slim Fezzani, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for a separate murder. Both men deny the accusations, and the prosecution say it has "no formal proof" of their guilt at this stage, AFP reports.

According to the L'Alsace newspaper, the arrest of the key suspect followed a two-year investigation by a Montbeliard police officer. Most of the murders took place in the Alsace and France-Comte regions and three were in the Paris area.

The victims were killed by a violent blow to the head, followed by multiple stabbings. Each time the bodies were found partly naked, but the victims' faces were covered up.

Last update: 11-28-2007 16:30