"I have a lump in my stomach".
For Patricia Duchesne, delving into this whole story is far from obvious, but nevertheless necessary.
Since Monday February 8, helped by her brother Olivier and her sister Brigitte, the 50-year-old patiently goes around all the traders around Saint-Quay-Portrieux (Côtes-d'Armor) with, in her bag, dozens of 'calls for witnesses that she took care to laminate.
Their goal: to put it in all the places frequented.
"I don't know if you remember the murder of Véronique Duchesne?
She had been murdered in Saint-Quay ten years ago.
She's our sister, ”Patricia and Brigitte take turns to explain to the tobacconist, pharmacist and baker.
Here, this name and the drama associated with it leaves no one indifferent, even if the passage of time gradually dilutes the memories.
The very ones that the family would like to revive on the occasion of the broadcast, this Thursday, February 11, of the program "Unlucidated" on RMC Story, in partnership with Le Parisien - Today in France, devoted to the murder of Véronique Duchesne.
A detail, no matter how small, can still make the difference.
“I would still believe it in their place.
You have to find out who the killer is to succeed in mourning, ”remarks Marie-Jo Le Neindre, tobacconist in Etables-sur-Mer, the neighboring town of Saint-Quay-Portrieux.
A shawl stained with blood on the island of the Countess
The story is one that one reads in Agatha Christie's novels.
Disappeared on October 6, 2010, Véronique Duchesne, 47, was found dead three days later.
After buying cigarettes, she was seen one last time by a witness walking at low tide towards the Île de la Comtesse.
Her husband had reported her missing the next day.
In the rocks of the island, residents had discovered Véronique's shawl soiled with traces of blood.
His handbag had been recovered by a father and his son at Minard Point, 15 kilometers away.
It contained anxiolytics.
It is here that his body will also be found a little later, floating on his stomach.
The gendarmes then conclude in a suspicious death.
Véronique has a swollen face and bruises on her body.
She is not showing symptoms of drowning.
No water in his lungs.
She was strangled.
A husband once suspected
Quickly, her husband was suspected and placed in police custody in 2011 for a few hours, then released.
His personality is intriguing as is the couple's financial situation.
Their business was in great difficulty.
By taking an interest in the husband's agenda, investigators find inconsistencies.
Why did he wait so long to report the disappearance?
He claims that Véronique got up late, even though witnesses saw her at 8:30 am.
Thierry M. explains that he would have stayed at home and then would have gone shopping.
There is a hole in her schedule and her phone has triggered the relay on the beach where Véronique has disappeared.
Summoned a few months later by the investigating judge to be indicted for murder, the man will finally be heard as an assisted witness.
The gendarmes are therefore obliged to find new elements.
"Complicated to live with this enigma"
Time passes, the file is stalled and nine years later, one of Véronique's daughters decides to knock on the door of a new lawyer, Me Jean-Guillaume Le Mintier.
The latter succeeds in convincing the examining magistrate to carry out additional investigations.
"For me, it is not a cold case, we know who is the author," says the Breton lawyer.
Patricia and Brigitte are in their turn as civil party, filled with new hope.
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
“Véronique had a strong character, very independent and melancholy.
Our relations were complicated, but it was our sister and we want to know, ”they confide.
The whole family is now united in this new quest.
READ ALSO>
“Cold cases”: how to better deal with unsolved crimes in France?
For his part, Véronique's husband always claims his innocence.
"He applauds this new call for witnesses with both hands, because it is also complicated for him to live with this enigma," said his lawyer, Me Richard Forget, who points to the way in which the investigation unfolded .
By focusing on his client, the gendarmes would have ruled out other hypotheses, in particular that of the last person to have seen Véronique alive on October 6, 2010 on the beach.
“Not elucidated”
, the Véronique Duchesne affair.
Airing Thursday, February 11 at 9:05 p.m. on RMC Story.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/FVTGNSYXBLFXCPTUQ3UJBSUKBY.jpg)
