The sender of a threatening letter to the family of the child murdered in the Vosges in October 1984 confessed his obsession with this case to investigators.
Several decades ago, a letter sent to the parents of Grégory, this young 4-year-old boy whose assassination in Lépanges-sur-Vologne in October 1984 marked the beginning of a major criminal case in French legal history. On this simple sheet of paper, words of incredible violence: “I will kill you again for the Villemain family (sic). Next victim Monique”. A letter sent on July 24, 1985 to Monique Villemin, the grandmother of little Grégory, who died in April 2023. This letter, without a signature, retained its mystery for 38 years.
It was a recent revelation from the Dijon Court of Appeal, confirming information from Marianne, which turned the matter upside down. Behind this menacing crow hid a woman from Guadeloupe, living in Paris in the early 1980s. The question then arises: how could this woman have been identified after so many years?
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A woman convicted of fraud
Grégory’s parents, Christine and Jean-Marie Villemin, endured an endless stream of written death threats after the tragic loss of their child. Grégory had disappeared while playing in front of the couple’s house, his body found tied up in the Vologne river. Some of these letters contained DNA traces, most of which were unknown to law enforcement. In January 2021, authorized by the courts, new expertise was undertaken by Christine and Jean-Marie Villemin, comparing this DNA with data from the FNAG (National Automated Genetic Fingerprint File).
One of these DNA fingerprints finally found a match thanks to “parental DNA” research. This identification confused a woman already convicted of fraud. The author of the threatening letters admitted her responsibility for writing them, but denied any involvement in Grégory’s assassination. Although this discovery did not solve the mystery of the boy’s murder, it underlines the importance of DNA identification techniques, which are constantly evolving thanks to scientific progress.
Me Christine Chastant-Morand, lawyer for the Villemin couple, underlines the optimism of its customers in the face of advances in science. They continue to believe that science, with its advances, could one day provide answers to this heartbreaking matter. The enigma of little Grégory remains, but this recent identification marks a step forward in the quest for truth surrounding this affair which has marked France for decades.