Evelyne Boucher, 16, was raped, beaten and killed on December 7, 1987 in Les Angles (Gard). Closer returns to this sinister affair.
December 8, 1987. In the early morning, two hunters cross a wood in Les Angles, in the Gard, when they discover the lifeless body of a teenager. Lying on her stomach, almost naked, the young girl was beaten, strangled, raped and then coldly shot in the neck. Her clothes, stained with blood, lie a few centimeters from her, next to her satchel. A dreadful crime scene, a sinister preamble to a case that will haunt the whole of France for nearly 20 years.
Quickly, the body is identified. This is Evelyne Boucher, a high school student without history residing at impasse des finches, in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. The autopsy reveals in particular the presence of sperm in her body and her vagina, but DNA analyzes do not identify a suspect. Nevertheless, many witnesses allow the investigators to trace the last hours of Evelyne. A certain Donado, a server at Le Carnot bar, says he spent part of the day with her. In a bar, she would have declared her love to him but Donado, considering himself too old for her, claims to have rejected her advances. Chrystelle, close friend of Evelyne, declares that she found the latter at the end of the day. At 6:32 p.m. sharp, the two teenage girls returned by bus and separated to go home.
Testimonies full of mystery
The journey of the young victim then becomes complicated. Géraldine Martinasso, neighbor and classmate of Evelyne, claims to have seen the latter pass in front of her home shortly after 6:30 p.m. But instead of going home, Evelyne went back the other way a few minutes later, then a third time, this time aboard a light R5 driven by a man. Géraldine Martinasso describes him as European, rather muscular and with short hair, but this testimony does not allow the investigation to move forward…
Convinced that the murderer knew of the small impasse of the finches, the investigators question everyone around Evelyne. The mother of the high school student, Gisèle Cronier, peels for her all the life of her daughter in the hope of finding a track. “My wife became a police inspector“, explains Jean-Pierre Azan, the stepfather of Evelyne, in the program Canal Crime. The teenager’s family also asks for help from the media, but their efforts prove futile. We even speak of a perfect crime. After a few months, the investigation begins to stall and the Evelyne Boucher affair falls more and more into oblivion…
Until May 16, 2003. In the parking lot of the Pont du Gard, near Nîmes, security guards prevent a car from leaving without paying. Its driver, a certain Robert Greiner, explains that he lost his ticket, but the tone rises and a fight ends up breaking out. Arrested, Greiner received a fine and a three-month suspended prison sentence for intentional violence. As provided by law for homeland security, the DNA of the brawler is taken. The police then make a terrible discovery.
Truth in DNA
Although unknown to law enforcement, Greiner, an all-around decent family man, already has his DNA on the National Automated DNA Index (FNEG). This corresponds allele for allele to that taken from the body of a certain Evelyne Boucher, found dead fifteen years earlier. To everyone’s amazement, the investigation into the teenager’s death resumes with a vengeance. It is revealed that at the time of the murder, Robert Greiner was 35 years old. He was a firefighter at the barracks at 116 rue Carreterie, located not far from the Théodore Aubanel high school, where Evelyne was educated. His best friend, also a firefighter, lived on Impasse des Finches.
Everything overwhelms Robert Greiner, but the 51-year-old man denies any involvement in the rape and murder of Evelyne Boucher. He is nevertheless arrested, and Géraldine Martinasso, the victim’s ex-neighbor, formally identifies him as the man who was driving the car in which she saw Evelyne pass on the evening of the murder. On April 7, 2008, Greiner was tried at the Assize Court of Gard in Nîmes. After weeks of silence, he claims to have had a consensual relationship with the teenager but still denies the rape and the murder. However, he does not escape a life sentence.
Thirty-five years after the murder of Evelyne Boucher, Robert Greiner continues to deny. But the DNA spoke. According to the experts, it is scientifically impossible that the sample found on Evelyne Boucher is not that of Greiner.