Did a Family Member Kill Four Year-Old Grégory Villemin?
After almost four decades, French investigators are still unable to figure out who kidnapped and murdered little Grégory Villemin.
The Unsolved Mystery
On October 16, 1984, four-year-old Grégory Villemin’s body was found floating in the Vologne river, about 2.5 miles from his home in Lépanges-Sur-Vologne, France. His hands and feet were tied, and a wool hat was pulled down over his face. His uncle reportedly received a haunting phone call from an unknown number, telling him that Grégory was kidnapped. The next day, Jean-Marie and Christine Villemin, Grégory’s parents, received a letter that read that their son had been murdered and that they felt avenged by his death.
Preceding Grégory’s murder, the Villemins and Jean-Marie’s parents noted that they received letters threatening Grégory’s life due to Jean-Marie’s outstanding offenses.
The letters followed the Villemins for decades, and there was endless speculation about who sent them. In one instance, Muriel Bolle, Jean-Marie’s cousin, testified against Bernard Laroche, his other cousin. She claimed that he had kidnapped and killed Grégory, leaving his body in the river, because the handwriting on the note looked like his. He was arrested and then released in 1985, but then shot dead by Jean-Marie. Jean-Marie served five years in prison for Laroche’s murder.
Christine, Grégory’s mother, was also a prime suspect in the case. She was later cleared due to unreliable evidence and lack of motive. She began a hunger strike that lasted eleven days. She was pregnant, and due to the stress of being interrogated and lack of food, she miscarried.
This case took France on some serious twists and turns. Police would regularly name a suspect, question them, and then clear them due to lack of evidence, no motive, etc. Grégory’s case revealed the dramatics within the Villemin’s; their feuds, hatreds, and legal issues, almost as if it were out of a soap opera.
Recent Breakthroughs
The case has been opened, closed, and reopened many times. Investigators found traces of DNA evidence on the letters, but cannot identify to whom they belong to.
The case was reopened once again in 2017. Grégory’s great aunt and great uncle, Jacqueline and Marcel Jacob, were charged with Grégory’s kidnapping and murder. While there is no solid evidence against them, they have not been able to provide suitable alibis for the court. Recent handwriting and voice recognition techniques from the anonymous letters and phone calls concluded that the senders were made up of two people, one man and one woman.
France is also not terribly affluent in the DNA realm. As of 1984, England had over 900 forensic DNA specialists, while France had only 35 spanning the country. Recent DNA technologies are making some progress, but it is difficult to weed out prospective candidates, as many of them are feuding family members, or dead. If they had the proper team and more advanced DNA equipment, they may have solved the case decades ago. It is difficult to tell whether Grégory’s murder will remain a cold case or not.
Over the past 36 years, the 2,000 letters include over four hundred DNA prints and 100 witness have been questioned. Many of them have been family members, including Grégory’s grandfather, relatives of Jean-Marie and Christine, and close friends of the family. While the Jacobs are still in custody, they have yet to be proven guilty by the Dijon Court System.