“The man I defend killed a little girl”: this day when Maëlys’ body was found

“I’m calling because my client wants to be heard.” After getting his client Nordahl Lelandais to reveal the place where he left Maëlys after months of denying his involvement in the girl’s disappearance, Alain Jakubowicz immediately called the investigating judge on February 12, 2018. judges immediately organize a “trip to the scene” to try to find the girl’s body. In the middle of winter, magistrates, police officers and journalists therefore head towards the Gorges de Chailles, a canyon in the Chartreuse massif, guided by the man who is now known to be linked to the disappearance of the little girl: Nordahl Lelandais.

Because of the snow present that day, the journeys are laborious and the landscapes unrecognizable compared to the day of the disappearance of Maëlys, in the middle of August. Everyone is afraid of leaving empty-handed. In the podcast “Le Coupable”, produced by Spotify and Europe 1 Studio, Me Alain Jakubowicz describes the tension present at that time: “We have only one anxiety, it is that Nordahl Lelandais leads everyone by boat. That’s what we all think, because it lasts a long time. And if we don’t find the place, it’s going to be terrible…”

Then, as the convoy begins to lose hope, Nordahl Lelandais recognizes the small path he took in August 2017. As the path is blocked by snow, it is necessary to wait for the arrival of a snow groomer to continue the search. “He is on a leash. The gendarmes are holding him. And then it’s a very heavy moment, because we think that we may come across the remains of a little girl”, says the lawyer again. of the defense. Finally, Nordahl Lelandais stops: “it’s there”, he says, completely upset.

At this point, explaining that night is about to fall, the investigating judge decides to interrupt the search. While Nordahl Lelandais is sent back to his cell in prison, Alain Jakubowicz goes down alone on foot. He says he feels the need to breathe. On the way back, he simply meets gendarmes who go up with dogs specialized in the search for bodies…

It was once he arrived in his car with his collaborator Marine Régnier that he heard on the radio that the public prosecutor of Grenoble was giving a press conference in front of the town hall. Arriving there, he understands. “Journalists ask me: ‘Do you know?’ Everyone knew about it, except us. We had found the remains of Maëlys”, he explains.

To find out more about Alain Jakubowicz’s story behind the scenes of the “Maëlys” affair, listen to “Le Coupable”, an Original podcast produced by Spotify and Europe 1 Studio of eight episodes, available free of charge exclusively on Spotify.