is he alive or dead? This documentary series tries to answer it

It’s a chilling murder story. After being reported missing, five members of the Dupont de Ligonnès family (the mother, Agnès, and her four children Arthur, Thomas, Anne and Benoît) were found dead on April 21, 2011 in their Nantes house. The father, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, untraceable since April 15, 2011, is the main suspect. This case, still unresolved, has fascinated the general public for ten years. This is often what bothers. The documentary series Dupont de Ligonnès, and if he was alive? broadcast on BFMTV this Monday, April 19, 2021, tends to define the murderer as a “genius of escape”, a “brain” who would have everything “weighed, thought”, as “a chess player” … However, we must not forget that Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès is a suspected assassin and that other media, in particular Society, who had devoted a wide-ranging investigation to the affair in the summer of 2020, showed the flaws of an ultimately very ordinary, even mediocre man.

A question remains unanswered today concerning Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, and the documentary series produced by Isabelle Quintard tries to answer it thanks to the analysis of its different speakers, journalists, investigator.ice.s, but also, relatives of the ultra-wanted man. Is Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès still alive today?

What makes you think that Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès could have committed suicide?

“Depression is a major element in this affair because it is ultimately going to set fire to the powder”, explains Guy Hugnet, author of the book The sect and the murderer, published by the Archipelago. Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès was therefore depressed and this would be the trigger that will push him to kill his family and, according to him, commit suicide. His very religious upbringing could also have played a role in this possible suicide: “He said to himself that the best future for his family, since he believes in religion, is Heaven”, explains Samuel Doux, author of The Eternity of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, published by Julliard. On the Cité catholique internet forum, the murderer had left a message that also hinted at the suicidal thoughts that crossed him: “Why does God need to be offered the death of an animal, of a child, of his son. Can we sacrifice our family without being called a monster? Do we have the right to do so? of life and death on his children? “, could we read.

In a letter sent to his friends Emmanuel and Michel, Dupont de Ligonnès also recounted his precarious situation: “I have only two solutions: fuck myself up with my car (600,000 euros in insurance for Agnès and bring up the children) or set the house on fire when everyone is asleep. No more problems for anyone. . “ According to psychiatrists, there are a number of terms that could illustrate the case of Dupont de Ligonnès: “altruistic suicide” and “accompanying suicide.” He considered him and his people to be the same thing. Therefore, if he decided to end it, then he would take the others with him.

What makes you think that Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès is still alive?

However, according to those close to Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, the theory according to which the murderer would have committed suicide is unthinkable. According to Bruno de Stabenrath, his childhood friend and author of the book The impossible friend, to Gallimard editions, he would not have killed himself: “He’s hiding somewhere”, he explains. And for him, there are two options: whether Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès has rebuilt his life or another, more likely according to Stabenrath. “It would be part of Xavier. While it is believed that he is on the other side of the world, he is hidden 30 kilometers from Versailles in a property near the forest.”

Anne-Sophie Martin, journalist specializing in the case and author of the book The missing, published by Ring, recounts the conversations she had with the friends and family of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès during her investigation: “The relatives that I have met, sister, mother, close friends for 35 years, all say to me: ‘Him, commit suicide? Never.’ They know him, they are the ones who know him best. ” The journalist also highlights the ability of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès to change appearance regularly. From the beard to the long hair through the completely shaved head… Information which suggests to many of them that he could indeed be still alive… but unrecognizable. All this, without counting the 1001 ways in which Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès blurred the tracks of his disappearance and even that of his family before the bodies were found. A precious time saved for the murderer who could well explain the trail of a runaway.

Dupont de Ligonnès, and if he was alive? broadcast on BFMTV, this Monday April 19, 2021, at 8:50 p.m.

Melanie Bonvard

Mélanie deciphers pop culture from a societal angle and questions the female gaze in films or even series, because everything is a question of gaze, she …