On this Sunday, November 25, 2007, Philippe Schmitt watched from the footbridge overlooking the Borne-Blanche station in Orry-la-Ville for the arrival of his daughter.
Around 10:30 am, the RER D from Paris enters the platform.
The doors open, but no trace of Anne-Lorraine.
He does not know it yet but, inside one of the oars, lies the body larded by 34 stab wounds, including 16 in the chest, of the young 23-year-old journalism student.
While waiting, the father is worried.
Not the “Anne-Lo” type of arriving late without warning.
But his daughter remains unreachable.
So he made a series of phone calls, contacted the gendarmes.
In the afternoon, they ask him to go to the Creil police station.
At the police station, he is greeted by the deputy prosecutor, who announces the terrible news to him.
“It's something that will remain engraved in me all my life,” Philippe Schmitt breathes today.
"A child of Orry"
Thirteen years have passed since the events and, in Orry-la-Ville, no one has forgotten.
This Friday, the municipality is organizing a ceremony in tribute to Anne-Lorraine Schmitt, at 7 p.m., Place de la Liberation, on the sidelines of the inauguration of an esplanade bearing her name.
“It is unfortunately a news item as there are others, blows the mayor of the town, Nathanaël Rosenfeld.
But this touches us particularly because Anne-Lorraine was a child of Orry.
What happened to him and the suffering endured by his family is part of our collective history.
"
Orry-la-Ville, Wednesday May 26, 2021. Philippe and Élisabeth Schmitt are "very touched" by the gesture of the town.
LP / Benjamin Derveaux
This story is that of a student who crossed paths with Thierry Devé-Oglou, 44 years old at the time of the events and already convicted of a rape committed in 1995 in a train of the same RER D. That day , Anne-Lorraine returns to the parental home and is alone in the compartment when the man arrives.
He then tries to rape her under the threat of a knife, but the young woman defends herself and manages to turn the blade against her attacker, injuring his thigh.
But the latter takes the upper hand and harshes against his victim, whose bloody body will be found in Creil, terminus of the train.
"No choice, we must move forward"
The day after the murder, for which Thierry Devé-Oglou was quickly identified and sentenced to life in 2010 by the Assize Court of Val-d'Oise, the emotion was palpable in Orry-la-Ville.
“Everyone was shocked, because she was from here and, above all, she was very young,” Christiane remembers.
“Losing a child is already very difficult, but under these circumstances, I cannot even imagine it,” comments a shopkeeper.
Afterwards, the parents remained very dignified in their pain.
They are very religious, it may have helped them overcome this tragedy.
"
Orry-la-Ville, Thursday May 27, 2021. The esplanade leading to the media library was named in tribute to the victim.
The inauguration takes place this Friday evening.
LP / BD
There's work, too.
Eight days after the events, Philippe Schmitt, an officer in the Army - now retired - finds his comrades and notes "that arms solidarity is a reality".
His wife, Elisabeth, will be hired as a librarian.
“It was impossible for me to be home alone, I needed a way to stop thinking,” she says.
In addition to being able to count on their four children - two boys and two girls aged between 28 and 36 today - they receive numerous letters of support from all over France.
“Today, we still think about it all the time, but we live with it.
No choice, we must move forward ”, confides the father,“ very touched ”by the initiative of the municipality.
A news item that has become political
This story is also that of a news item that has become political. At the time, many voices raised on the right and the extreme right to denounce "a failure" and "laxity" of justice. Sentenced for rape to five years in prison, two of which were suspended, in February 1996, Thierry Devé-Oglou was released a year later. "An irresponsible decision", comments Philippe Schmitt today. A media position regarding the recidivism which at the time earned him to be posted on the "wall of idiots" of the Syndicate of the judiciary.
“What they did is shameful and unbearable for a victim's family,” he said.
After seven years of proceedings against the president of the union, the Court of Cassation confirmed, last January, her conviction for public insults.
But this Friday, the essential is elsewhere for the Schmitt couple and their children, who will pay homage to this young woman "brilliant", "listening to others", "committed" and "endowed with a deep faith".
"This esplanade is a place of life to show that death has not won", underlines Nathanaël Rosenfeld, who will also have a large commemorative plaque installed on a wall.
So that no one forgets “Orry's child”.
