The anger of the relatives of the victims of the "Rambo" of the Cévennes: "For the moment, we are nothing"

The sound of saws resonates again in the village of Plantiers (Gard).

Less than 5 months after the double murder that brought mourning to this tiny Cévennes village nestled at the foot of the beautiful chestnut forests, life is gradually resuming.

On May 11, Valentin Marcone, 29, an employee of the sawmill executed his boss and his work colleague before fleeing into the forest.

Hundreds of gendarmes and the GIGN were mobilized to hunt down this passionate about weapons, just a father, who had failed in his dreams of becoming a sniper.

It is still difficult today to explain this passage to the act. “Valentine arrived without saying hello. Luc, the boss, simply politely pointed out that the least thing when you get to work is to say hello. Marcone answered him

. Then he took out a gun and shot Luc in the head twice ”, testifies as if he was reliving the facts, the young Vincent, 19, the youngest employee of this family and paternalistic company. A boy who saw his boss fall in front of him, his co-worker being executed in the same way. “Luc was my boss, he was my friend, a sort of daddy… When he raised his voice a little for a remark about work, he came back to us very quickly as if he wanted to be forgiven or quite simply so that the good atmosphere continues. "

"Do you know a lot of the patrons who bring the croissants every day for breakfast?"

It was only on Mondays that Luc did not take anything because it was Martial who came with his cakes.

Martial, I considered him as my brother ”, adds the man whom everyone in the Gard nicknamed“ the survivor of the Plantiers ”.

“Vincent is traumatized, bruised.

He is in the total incomprehension of what happened and that nothing foreshadowed.

He will work every day in the very place where his colleagues lost their lives.

At one point, he thought he was going to go there too, ”underlines his lawyer Me Rémy Nougier who defends all the victims with his colleague Me Ortigosa-Iliaz.

"No one knew that Valentin Marcone came with a gun to work"

Fiona, wife of Luc Teissonnière

While Marcone has killed two men, he faces Vincent by pointing his gun at his young colleague… "I told him

." He answered me

”, completes“ the miraculous ”who insisted on coming back to work in this sawmill where the shadow of the dead hovers however.

The dead are Luc Teissonnière, 54, the boss and creator of the sawmill, a father passionate about wood and Martial Guérin, 32, lover of nature and fishing.

For justice, the action was premeditated because Valentin Marcone came to the sawmill armed.

“No one knew that he came with a gun to work or with a bulletproof vest,” says Fiona, Luc Teissonnière's wife.

“I thought he had a back belt for his back because we carry heavy loads,” adds Vincent.

Martial Guérin, employee of the Plantiers sawmill in the Gard, shot dead by his work colleague on May 11, 2021. DR

"The executions, we imagine them in Marseille, in cities of traffic, but here not", continues Camille, the companion of Martial Guérin.

On the day of the tragedy, she was with her students, in her teacher class, when a friend tries to reach her on the phone in quick succession.

"I ended up calling back, telling myself that it was curious that she insisted," said the young woman.

Today, she prefers to talk about the joy that her companion felt at working in this sawmill and “the very good atmosphere that reigned there”.

"When we made syrup we gave it to Luc, he offered us jams", adds the young woman.

"This case takes the guts because everyone can identify"

An inhabitant of Plantiers

With Fiona, Luc Teissonnière's wife, they want to reestablish certain truths in relation to statements or rumors circulating in particular on the web since May 11. “There has never been any problem in the company, conflicts between my husband and his employees. My husband was very caring and there was never, ever any question of dismissing Marcone, ”says the mother. She learned of the tragedy that took place in the sawmill on the Facebook of a local radio 3:30 after the criminal acts. She now runs the business because she did not want to see her die. She was also forced to become the "boss", in order to be able to fire her husband's murderer for serious misconduct. She had to pay him his paid vacation and days worked during that tragic month of May.

“We live in a kind of state of astonishment compared to what happened, estimates an inhabitant of this valley. There are two children in the country who were killed for nothing, just going to take up their service as millions of workers every day. This is why this case takes the guts because everyone can identify. It was I who could have died. "

Since this tragedy which changed their lives, relatives want to understand.

“We only talk about Marcone, we only see him.

We have still not been heard by the examining magistrate to simply restore the truth.

We do not know where we are in the procedure, to know what he said, to bring the contradiction.

We would like to have a recognized place in the affair.

For the moment, we are nothing ”, underline in chorus the two united and worthy women in the pain.