Five years ago, the young Maëlys, 9 years old and with her whole life ahead of her, disappeared during a wedding. Since then, his parents and his sister Colleen have lived in pain to have lost such a loved one and to continue living. They had to overcome a particularly difficult investigation and trial, due to the personality of the accused Nordahl Lelandais, who for a long time denied the facts and still denies any sexual assault on the young victim. The show 7 to 8 on TF1 this August 21, 2022 returned to this terrible affair, leaving the floor to the two parents, Jennifer and Joachim, and reconstructing the work of the investigators. In particular by returning to the evidence that tipped the speech of the one who was the number 1 suspect.
When the investigators reconstruct the story of the evening during which Maëlys disappeared, an individual quickly surfaces: the last-minute guest, Nordahl Lelandais. He is intriguing because he has scratches and he meticulously cleaned his car at a station the day after the wedding for more than two hours. Four days later, he was placed in police custody for 36 hours. He admits to having been absent during the wedding, but supposedly to change his wine-stained Bermuda shorts and says that he washed his car because he had to sell it. Investigators find the buyer. The suspect thinks he is off the hook, but the next day he is imprisoned for kidnapping and forcible confinement: it is discovered that he used a special product to blur the sense of smell of dogs, a detergent for rims, but also DNA traces from Maëlys on the headlight control.
However, Nordahl Lelandais continues to deny having killed the child. He simply says that she wanted to get in her car to see her dogs. Two months later, a surveillance video brings new elements. A vehicle similar to his was seen leaving the village during the famous night: a passenger in a white dress, like Maëlys, is clearly visible. It will be necessary to wait for another proof for the man to crack and confess. The research institute of the criminal gendarmerie which examines his car and strips it completely. If the primary projections have been erased, there remain the secondary ones as one manager explains: “We looked for the microprojections of the bursting drops. They are hidden, hidden, difficult to access, but we always find them.“In the trunk, there are therefore traces of blood, very fine. Analyzed, they allowed the identification of the little victim. Nordahl Lelandais’ lawyer, Alain JaKubowicz, thus reports the discovery to his client who then confesses his involvement and leads to the gendarmes to the body.
On February 18, 2022, Nordahl Lelandais was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 22-year prison term for kidnapping and murder, as well as for sexual assault on his two little cousins.