They are suspected of helping their son kill his wife.
The parents of Jérôme Gaillard were for the first time confronted with their offspring on October 12, to try to shed light on a dark history of family conspiracy.
Investigators tried to determine whether the retired couple had indeed been complicit in the murder of their daughter-in-law, Magali Blandin, murdered on February 11 in Montfort-sur-Meu, Ille-et-Vilaine, with baseball bat.
Read also Magali Blandin case: her husband and stepmother heard by the investigating judge
Jérôme Gaillard, indicted for "murder by spouse" and "attempted murder by spouse" was arrested and imprisoned on March 18.
He has never ceased to proclaim the innocence of his parents, declaring himself to be the sole culprit of the family tragedy.
His father and mother had been indicted for "aiding and abetting murder" as well as "aiding and abetting attempted murder" and had been remanded in custody.
Monday, November 1, Jérôme Gaillard was found hanged in his cell.
According to a source close to the file, this suicide "
could have been precipitated by the hearing
" of October 12, during which Jérôme Gaillard would "have
understood that he would never be supported by his mother again
".
50,000 euros to kill their daughter-in-law?
"
This hearing was a moment of truth imbued with emotion, gravity and intensity,
"
Jean-Guillaume Le Mintier, lawyer for Jérôme Gaillard,
told
Figaro
, stressing that he did not wish to speak "
on the subject. content of this confrontation, in the interest of the accused, the civil parties and the children
". However, according to our information, at the heart of this interrogation were the 50,000 euros paid to Jérôme Gaillard by his parents. Monique and Jean Gaillard were they aware of their son's disastrous project when they lent him this money? Did they know that this sum would be used to instigate the murder of their daughter-in-law and to pay a group of Georgians, contacted especially to set up this murder? At the beginning of September, the versions diverged: when asked about it, the mother nodded, while the father declared "
that he could not take it any longer
" and that he wanted to postpone the interview until later, according to a source close to the case.
However, on October 12, the three respondents agreed on the course of the events, the same source tells us: “
from November 2020, Jérôme Gaillard spoke with his parents about the discussions he had with the children. Georgians in an attempt to get rid of his wife. At Christmas, it becomes very concrete. The day before
[the murder, Editor's note]
he tells them he's going to take action. What emerged from this interrogation is that the parents were informed of their son's plans
, ”we are told. "
In November, Jérôme Gaillard had asked his parents for 50,000 euros to do work in his house.
When her parents understood what the money was actually going to be used for, they refused.
Their son then came every day to harass his parents at their home to get the money,
”reports another source.
"
They are doing everything to dissuade him, but ended up giving the sum in January 2021
", one month before the disappearance of Magali Blandin.
Jérôme Gaillard would ultimately only have paid 20,000 to the Georgians.
To read also Murder of Magali Blandin: the husband "wants to pay for his gesture", assures his lawyer
Parents say they were "
horrified
" by their son's decision. They claim "to
have done everything to prevent it
" and evoke "
a determined child blinded by anger and frustration
"
.
Jérôme Gaillard, for his part, claimed to have "
manipulated his parents
" which he confides "to
have exhausted over several months
" by means of "
emotional blackmail
". “
Jérôme Gaillard's parents were guided by the fear of losing one of their sons again. It should be remembered that Jérôme's brother had committed suicide,
”comments a source close to the case. "
But, during this hearing, they were no longer afraid, they were determined to say everything in an extremely precise and chronological way, for their grandchildren
”, we are
told
.
The other point on which the investigators questioned the respondents concerns the schedule of the two retirees at the time of the facts. If the couple is for the moment presumed innocent, still it is that, the day of the murder, Jean Gaillard, the father of Jérôme, goes, at the request of his son, to his home. “
On Wednesday evening, Jérôme Gaillard takes his father aside and tells him not to ask any questions. The next morning, he comes to look for his father, he takes him home and tells him what to do, then he leaves to kill Magali. Monique Gaillard then goes to pick up her husband from their son's home. Jérôme joins them. They Lunch. Then Monique left to buy two bags of lime,
”
a source close to the investigation
reported to
Le Figaro
. Two bags of lime whichaccording to another source, "
have served only to muddy the waters, since those used in the Blandin affair had been bought months earlier by Jérôme Gaillard
”.
"Question of coercion"
If this interrogation allowed the investigators to better understand "
the psychological functioning
" of the trio and "
the question of coercion
" exerted by the son on his parents, the investigations are not yet finished.
According to our information, the parents of the accused should soon undergo a psychological and psychiatric expertise.
The couple's children were separated during the investigation: the two eldest children were placed in foster care and the two youngest children are currently living with their maternal grandparents.
Magali Blandin had filed a complaint on September 3, 2020 for "
various episodes of violence between 2005, 2013, 2019 and 2020, the last dating from the day before,
"
the Rennes prosecutor's office
told
Figaro
. "
She explained that the tension within the couple was high following his decision in July to open a bank account in his name to have his salary transferred there rather than to the joint account of the couple
", continues the prosecutor of the Republic of Rennes. Magali Blandin had explained in particular that this violence was "
more jostling
" as well as "
insults of all kinds
" and "
a permanent denigration
". The day before the complaint was filed, she mentioned "
a heated discussion about the bank account, as they sat on either side of a bench.
Jérôme Gaillard then lifted the bench, which had made him fall to the ground
”.
In this complaint, Magali Blandin also noted that she herself was able to be violent towards her husband.
When contacted, Jean Gaillard's lawyer, Me Olivier Chauvel, did not wish to answer our questions.