French investigators have opened an assassination inquiry after the mutilated body of a man was found early Monday on a sports field in Pont-de-Metz, a village just outside Amiens in the Somme department. A passer-by discovered the victim, estimated to be 32 or 33, around 7 a.m. with his throat slit and his abdomen opened. The Amiens prosecutor’s office said the case has been assigned to the city’s police judiciaire, which conducted a sweep of the area on Monday and will perform an autopsy on Tuesday to establish the exact cause of death and confirm the man’s identity. No arrests have been made, and investigators have not disclosed a possible motive. A police source initially told local media that the body appeared to have been arranged in a cruciform position, but the prosecutor later clarified that the victim’s arms were placed near his head, not extended as a cross. Mayor Loïc Bulant described the scene as “effroyable” and said the normally quiet community is in shock.