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“I hope you die of grief, Chief. It’s not your money that can give you back your son. Here’s my revenge, poor bastard!” This is the text of the anonymous letter that the parents of little Grégory received the day after the discovery of the tied up body of their 4-year-old son in the icy waters of Vologne, in thes Vosges, October 16, 1984. And the enigma remains intact…
This unpublished series in four episodes (1 & 2; 3 & 4) of the magazine “1:15 p.m. on Sunday” (Twitter, #1:15 p.m.), signed Pauline Dordilly, Henri Desaunay, Simon Fichet and Nicolas Berthelot, returns to a criminal case that has haunted France for nearly forty years, the assassination of little Grégory Villemin. It all dates back to October 16, 1984: the little boy’s body was found bound hand and foot at 10:15 p.m. in the icy waters of Vologne, in Docelles, a town in the Vosges department, six kilometers from his family’s home in Lépanges-sur- Vologne. Four hours earlier, the 4-year-old boy was playing on a pile of sand in front of the family home where his mother had left him to play.
The case gets carried away very quickly and takes on an extraordinary dimension. The next day, the child’s parents, Christine and Jean-Marie Villemin, received an anonymous letter: “I hope you will die of grief, chief. It is not your money that can give you back your son. Here’s my revenge poor jerk!”. A crime never elucidated which has brought to light all the dysfunctions of French institutions. Justice, police, gendarmerie, media… France has lost its bearings in this affair which remains one of the greatest French legal enigmas.
The investigation looks like a succession of dead ends
Before the tragedy, Jean-Marie and Christine Villemin thought they were done with the crow and family resentment, all in their simple happiness in their new house, with their child. A key witness in this resounding affair is Murielle Bolle, 15 at the time. She gives the investigators a version of the facts, before retracting.
The investigation looks like a series of dead ends. The parents of little Grégory are in despair. The mother was even suspected for a time. This woman and this man, harassed by journalists, in conflict with part of their family, are broken. Only the love that unites them prevents them from sinking.
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