“1:15 p.m., Sunday”: Grégory case “Story of revenge” this November 6, 2022 on France 2

“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 the little Gregory received the day after the discovery of the bound body of their 4-year-old son in the icy waters of Vologne, in the Vosges, on October 16, 1984. And the enigma remains unsolved…

This unpublished series in four episodes of the magazine “1:15 p.m., Sunday”signed Pauline Dordilly, Henri Desaunay, Simon Fichet and Nicolas Berthelotlooks back on a criminal case that has haunted France for almost forty years, the assassination of the little Gregory Villemin. It all dates back to October 16, 1984: the body of the little boy 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 parents of the child, Christina and Jean-Marie Villeminreceive an anonymous letter: “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!”. 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 voice of the crow, again and again…

Why this hatred towards the little boy’s father? Who is the author of this letter which claims the murder? What does this crime tell of jealousies between the different branches of the family Villemin, at the heart of this department in the mid-1980s? The voice of the crow, again and again… Who is hiding behind these calls, incessant for years, made up of insults and threats?

A crow claimed responsibility for the crime, in an anonymous letter, which will tell the gendarmes, from the outset, that this case is unusual: ordinarily, crows do not take action. And then the investigation quickly turns to family members Villemin which seems united behind the parents on the day of the little boy’s funeral. A chilling day that no one is about to forget…

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 the family grudges, all in their simple happiness in their new house, with their child. A key witness in this resounding case is Murielle Bollé, 15 years old at the time. She gives the investigators a version of the facts, before retracting.

The investigation looks like a series of dead ends. The baby’s parents Gregory 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.