One of the most tragic and mysterious cases in French criminal history is that

of four year old Grégory Villemin, whose body was pulled from the Valognes River,

located in the east of France. In the autumn of 1984, following an

investigation, authorities revealed that the young boy had drowned yet it had

been no accident. A truly haunting case, full of horrifying

and complex twists and turns which remains as perhaps the most infamous

murder in modern France. Tonight on Dark Curiosities, The Unsolved Murder of

Grégory Villemin. It was the 24th of August 1980 when Jean-Marie Villemin and his wife,

Christine welcomed a son who they named Grégory. Grégory's parents were known to

be very successful in both their professional and personal lives,

Jean-Marie worked as a supervisor at a factory which produced car parts and

Christine was a factory worker. In 1983, he and his wife purchased a chalet and

according to some sources, the couple owned two cars and high-quality

furniture. All in all, they were doing very well for themselves and seemed like

a perfectly content little family. Sadly, their happiness would not last long. In

the years leading up to 1984, the couple had been unsettled by anonymous phone

calls and letters, all of which consisted of threats of revenge against Jean-Marie.

This mysterious person appeared to have in-depth knowledge about the Villemins

and their extended family. In 1983, three threatening letters - two of which were

typed and one of which was handwritten - were sent to Jean-Marie and his parents,

Albert and Monique Villemin. Soon, the unidentified man or woman would

be dubbed Le Corbeau, 'The Crow', by French media - a slang term used to describe an

informant. Disaster struck on the evening of the 16th of October 1984 when

Christine and Jean-Marie experienced every parent's worst nightmare. At 5:32

p.m. on that October night, Gregory's uncle Michele Villemin answered a

call to an unfamiliar voice which stated in a neutral, loud and nervous tone, "I got

revenge. I got the boss's son and I put him in the river." At around this time,

Christine Villemin stepped outside to retrieve her son from playing in the

garden as the temperatures were dropping. She had left him playing by a mound of

builders sand beside the house and had earlier given him a woolen hat to wear

to keep him warm. She was panicked when she realised that her son was nowhere to

be seen. Frantic, she jumped into her car and

began searching the streets of Lépanges-sur-Vologne. Asking around, it appeared

that not a single person had seen Grégory. Authorities swiftly confirmed

that Grégory was now classed as a missing child. Sources vary on the precise time,

but between 9:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on the 16th of October 1984 -

just hours after vanishing - the body of Grégory Villemin was pulled from the icy

waters of the Valogne River, which lay approximately 7 kilometres from the

Villemin's home. He was found wearing a blue anorak, his knitted hat was pulled over

his face and his hands and feet were bound by rope. His neck also had rope

tied around it. Grégory was laid to rest a few days

later, some even speculating that the murderer was among the mourners. On the

day of their son's death, a letter was posted to Jean-Marie and Christine. Again,

sources differ on exactly what was said. It was typed out and supposedly said, "I

hope you will die of grief, the boss. It's not your money that will bring back your

son. This is my vengeance you bastard." The following morning on the 17th of

October, Christine and Jean-Marie received yet another letter, saying, "Your

son is dead. I have been avenged." Bernard Laroche, who was the cousin of Jean-Marie

Villemin, was identified by handwriting experts and his 15 year old

sister-in-law Murielle Bolle, as the person who wrote these messages. His

sister-in-law claims she had been with Laroche that night, who picked up Grégory

and the two of them travelled to the river, with Laroche returning to his

sister-in-law alone. Laroche was taken into custody for a short while until his

sister-in-law retracted her statement and he was released.

Jean-Marie was enraged by this and publicly declared that he would kill

Laroche and he did indeed stay true to his word, murdering him with his hunting

rifle on the 29th of March the following year. He was convicted and served five

years in prison also during the spring of 1985, other handwriting experts

suggested that they strongly believed that the handwritten letters were in

fact penned at the hand of Grégory's mother Christine, who at this point was

pregnant with a second child. Three locals believed that they saw Christine

at the post office the day before Grégory's death and the rope used to tie

Grégory's hands and feet was actually found in the cellar of the Villemin Chalet.

With another twist in the tale, during December of 1986, Christine Gilman was

charged with the murder of her son. Due to lack of evidence however

Christine was released in early 1993. In 2004, Jean-Marie and Christine were

awarded 35,000 euros in compensation for the failures during the case and the

trauma they suffered. In 2000, 2008 and 2013, multiple DNA tests were conducted

on the evidence found at the crime scene. A stamp found on an envelope from one of

the letters was examined but the results were inconclusive, as were the tests on

the other letters, the rope, Grégory's clothes and shoes. With

progression in handwriting analysis, authorities identified the handwritten

letter of 1983 to Jacqueline Jacob who was married to Monique Villemin's

brother Marcel. The Jacobs were arrested in June 2017 as well as Jean-Marie's brother,

Marcel's widow. Police state the reason for taking them into custody was

'suspicion of complicity in the murder, failing to report a crime or helping a

person at risk'. Following the 2017 arrests of Grégory's great-aunt and

great-uncle as well as an aunt, police stated that they still have no

definitive answers as to who killed Grégory and why, however they are

confident and that they have found new suspects who are currently being

investigated. The magistrate leading the initial investigation was found dead in

June 2017, the cause of death being suicide. Jean-Michel Lambert had written

to a local newspaper before his death, citing his reason as being the increased

pressure as a result of reopening the case. L'Affair Grégory, as it was known in

France, remains to this day as a case which fascinates and terrifies. According

to the newspaper Le Parisien, Grégory Villemin's name was published in over

3,000 newspaper articles, 50 university research projects, a television film and

15 books. A young boy torn from life at such a

tender age, leaving a broken family with nothing but memories.