From the disappearance of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès after the murders of his wife and their four children, to the Chevaline killings, including the mystery of the missing people on the A6, the “cold case” pole (unresolved cases, in French ) of Nanterre has been tackling the most enigmatic criminal cases of recent years for two years.
The magistrates of this unprecedented division have to date resumed investigations of 105 unresolved cases.
“We also analyze twelve criminal pathways. We start from the profile of a criminal, like
Nordahl Lelandais
or
Michel Fourniret
and we retrace his life journey in order to see if victims of unsolved crimes could have crossed their path
,” explains this Friday March 1 on RTL Pascal Prache, prosecutor of the Republic of Nanterre in charge of this specialized center.
For a murder, rape or kidnapping case to be transferred to Nanterre, it must have been pending in a local prosecutor's office for at least 18 months.
“The unit is intended to take over unsolved criminal cases on which it can provide added value
,” explains the prosecutor.
Once seized, the specialized magistrates
“restart the case from the beginning, make cross-readings of the investigation previously started by the police or the gendarmes, take up all the avenues already studied and try to identify new ones”
, develops Pascal Prache.
15-year-old murder nearing solution
Last January, the division succeeded in giving a boost to a business that had been bogged down for fifteen years.
A man was arrested and indicted for the murder of Caroline Marcel, a 45-year-old jogger found strangled to death in June 2008 in the southern suburbs of Orléans.
“The new analysis of the seals made it possible to discover the existence of DNA and to identify it
,” recalls the prosecutor, emphasizing the importance of scientific and technical progress in resolving these cold cases.
The first trial of the pole was held last December before the Hauts-de-Seine Assize Court: Monique Olivier, ex-wife of the killer and serial rapist Michel Fourniret, was sentenced to life imprisonment. for complicity in the kidnappings and murders of Marie-Angèle Domèce, Joanna Parrish and Estelle Mouzin.
She had confessed her responsibility in these cases, 35, 33 and 21 years old, to the investigating judge Sabine Kheris, coordinator of this center.