A former French soldier who admitted kidnapping and killing an eight-year-old girl he abducted from a wedding reception has insisted her death was “a mistake” but still refuses to give details of how she died.

At his long-awaited trial Nordahl Lelandais, 38, apologised to the family of Maelys De Araujo, who _____(1) near Chambery in the French Alps in August 2017 sparking a six-month police search that dominated the national headlines for weeks.

During that time Lelandais, who was a military dog trainer in the army, denied having anything to do with the missing girl until forensic experts found a trace of blood in the boot of his car.

He eventually confessed to killing Maelys but said it had been a “terrible mistake”. He has since been tried and sentenced to 20 years for beating to death another serviceman and is also on trial for the sexual assault of two girls aged five and six, shortly before Maelys was killed.

(Adapted from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/02/maelys-de-araujo-former-french-soldier-tells-court-girls-death-was-a-mistake)

Complete gap 1 in the text with the right verb form and mark the correct option.