The house emptied … Xavier speaks with his sister, Christine de Ligonnès, on the telephone for 20 to 30 minutes. She was described as being very religious,[10] regularly attending mass with her children. Someone purporting to be Xavier sent a note to a journalist in 2015, and there have been numerous sightings of him ever since—although police have never been able to confirm that any of these sightings were ever genuine. During this week, neighbours heard the family dogs howling for two consecutive nights and then never heard them again. After this was revealed by RTL and. Anne, 16, the only girl of the four, was a model for mail order catalogues. Content warning: This article contains references to violence and murder, and one brief reference to suicide. The company's 2006 accounts, accessible through a public commercial website, only show the bare minimum information, and the last data pertaining to the company was filed with the French Register of Commerce on 24 February 2004. ", "Man believed to be suspect in 2011 French family killing arrested in Scotland", "Guy Joao, un homme " banal " pris dans le chaos de l'affaire Dupont de Ligonnès", "Dupont de Ligonnès. [91] The plot revolves around a man, Thomas Kertez (played by Kad Merad), his wife Alice (Laurence Arné) and their eight-year-old son Romain (Gaspard Pasquet), an ordinary family whose lives are turned upside down when the police suspect that Thomas is living under a false identity and is actually Antoine Durieux-Jelosse, a man suspected of murdering his family 15 years earlier before going on the run and not being seen since. [84], Even though Christine de Ligonnès initially doubted the authenticity of the letter of 11 April 2011 (while still claiming her brother's innocence),[85] she began stating to the media in March 2012 that "basically, Xavier and his family left for the United States because their safety was threatened in France. Agnès's employer was informed that she was suffering from, A message was placed on their letter box: "Please return all correspondence to sender. He will receive instructions in good time. She was in the 11th grade following an academic curriculum in Science, and was described by her friends and relatives as a girl who shared her mother's religious beliefs and was considerate and approachable. He was 13 years old at the time of his death. Six morts pour un fichier", "Affaire Dupont de Ligonnès: Les nouvelles recherches dans le Var n'ont rien donné", "Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès : un corps découvert dans le Var [CARTE]", "Le corps retrouvé dans le Var ne serait pas Dupont de Ligonnès", "Affaire Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès : des ossements trouvés près de Fréjus...", "Des ossements découverts près du lieu où s'est volatilisé Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès", "INFO RTL – L'ADN sur les affaires trouvées n'est pas celui de Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès", "L'affaire "Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès" relancée par une photo? ... Maybe ...". Before his disappearance, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès attempted to make contact with several old friends. [6], Xavier created several businesses with limited success, most of which catered to travelling salespeople and restaurant guests. This letter was released in the press on 5 May. Arthur, the oldest child, leaves the college where he was studying and does not turn up at the pizzeria where he worked and was due to go to pick up his monthly wages. [74], On the evening of Tuesday 28 April 2015, a walker discovered bones in a forest in Bagnols-en-Forêt, near Fréjus on the south coast of France, close to where Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès was last seen.[75]. 1,400 people attended the funeral. An autopsy was carried out and did not completely exclude the possibility of the body being that of Xavier. When his father passed away, Xavier apparently learned that there was no family money left, but also inherited the same kind of rifle that would be used on his family. [73] The prosecutor in Draguignan, Danielle Drouy-Ayral, stated "at this moment in time, it is not the body of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès", without providing any more details to explain this declaration. An international arrest warrant is issued to locate Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, in order to obtain witness testimony from him with regard to the murders. Xavier spends the night of 13 to 14 April at a hotel in. ", "Police struggle with silent monks as search for France's most wanted leads to monastery", "Man seized at Glasgow airport is not French fugitive, police confirm", "Comment a-t-on pu croire en une fausse piste dans l'affaire Ligonnès ? While the storyline is fictional, it is based on the Dupont de Ligonnès case, as well as that of John List. Interpol sur la piste de Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès", "Disparus de Nantes: les derniers jours de la famille Dupont de Ligonnès", "EXCLU RTL – Le message vocal de Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès à sa soeur", "Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès : où en est l'affaire de la "tuerie de Nantes" ? Their bank accounts were closed. Parishioners described her as being kind but strict with her children. [15] He earned a baccaleuréat in Science, Industrial Technology and Sustainable Development at the age of 20. Thomas, 18, was Xavier's oldest biological son, apparently shy and sweet, with an obsessive interest in music. Police in Glasgow arrested a man believed to be Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès at the city’s airport on Friday afternoon, according to police sources. La success story médiatique de l’été a fait rêver plus d’un journal. Thomas Dupont de Ligonnès was born on 28 August 1992 in Draguignan, in the south of France. [47][63] According to a source close to Xavier, he "never set foot inside a church". On 12 October, following more thorough fingerprinting and a DNA test, it was announced that the arrested man was not Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, but a 69-year-old Portuguese-born French national visiting his Scottish wife in Dunoon. [10] Her friends became concerned when she was regularly offline and did not answer calls. The search proved fruitless. This letter is the only correspondence we were allowed to write – which might be good news for some of you – and it has been checked before being sent to you). Investigators believe that Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès murdered his wife and three of his children on the night of 3 to 4 April, then murdered his son Thomas on the evening of 5 April. Ojciec Xaviera był dyplomowanym inżynierem, a o jego matce nie znalazłam nic więcej prócz imienia i nazwiska: Geneviève Thérèse Maître. The house keys are hidden outside in the gas meter, which you can open with any tool (car key, screwdriver, knife). The matriarch of the family worked at a Catholic school and was personable, according to neighbors. If his body is found and there is no other suspect, the investigation will be closed "by default". He was an altar server at Saint-Félix Church in Nantes. The lease on the house had been terminated. Xavier spends the night of 11 to 12 April at the Hôtel Première Classe in, Xavier spends the night of 12 to 13 April at the Auberge de Cassagne in. Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès buys cement, a shovel and a hoe. She also was, according to comments she apparently made anonymously on a French medical website, unhappy in her marriage and worried about money troubles. [...] In reality, nothing is certain in this affair, other than the fact that some bodies were found at 55 Boulevard Robert Schuman. He lived in the Saint-Aubin hall of residence and was described as an "ordinary boy who was often accompanied by his family to drop him off and pick him up",[18] while several of his classmates remember him as "very discreet". IMPORTANT: tell the "youngsters" not to divulge any information on Facebook and not to be surprised if the kids don't reply to them. Samuel Lepastier, psychiatre, a décrit la personnalité "clivée et narcissique" de Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès It covers four pages of A4-sized paper, is written in an informal, sometimes humorous style, and at times rambles and goes off on unrelated tangents. The passenger was duly arrested by Police Scotland, who fingerprinted him before telling the French authorities: "This is your man." [89], Police received more than 900 reports from people who believed they had spotted Xavier. Will We Ever Know What Happened to Rey Rivera? La piste de Claudia, l'ancienne amante", "Ligonnès : les enquêteurs ont entendu son ex-amie allemande à Munich", "Affaire Dupont de Ligonnès: l'audition de Claudia "n'a rien donné, "L'"ami américain" de Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès", "Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès : de nouveaux repérages dans le Var – Société – MYTF1News", "Dupont de Ligonnès : reportage sur le site des prochaines fouilles [Photos]", "La tuerie d'Auriol. Rifle bullets were purchased on 12 March. [11] She was 48 years old at the time of her death. Après que des quidams ont cru l'avoir repéré à Chicago, le magazine Society a publié un nouveau numéro dans lequel une enquête est consacrée au principal suspect du meurtre de sa femme et ses quatre enfants. During the night of 21 to 22 April, the metallic-blue Citroën C5 with registration 235 CJG 44 is found in the car park of the Formula 1 Hotel in Roquebrune-sur-Argens by police equipped with an, Investigators turn towards a line of inquiry involving a, According to the autopsies, the victims were drugged and then shot dead with a. At 10.37 pm, Xavier leaves a message on his sister Christine's answerphone: "We spent our Sunday evening in the cinema together, then in a restaurant, and we've just got back – I'm just calling to ask if it's too late to speak to you on the phone and now I see it's gone to voicemail. During the day, investigators discover the remains of Agnès and the four children under the patio in the back garden of the house. The anti-crime brigade formally recognizes Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès as the tall, slim individual, dressed in light-colored pants and a burgundy sweater who presented himself in the reception hall on April 14 at 3.30 p.m. [62], According to an AFP press release in Le Monde, "administrators of a Catholic website, classified as fundamentalist by the episcopacy, confirmed that Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès was a member of their forum, where in 2010 he asked about the meaning of "sacrifice" and he recently became "aggressive"". Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès was a French nobleman living in Nantes with his wife Agnès and their four children: Arthur, Thomas, Anne, and Benoît. On 11 October 2019, a man was arrested at Glasgow Airport in Scotland after arriving on a flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. On 1 May 2015, the RTL.fr website reported that "DNA obtained from the personal effects around the body discovered on the evening of 28 April in Bagnols-en-Forêt is not that of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, but that of another man whose identity is currently unknown. Filming for the series, consisting of two 45-minute episodes, took place in December 2018,[92] and the series was aired in September 2019.[93]. [...] Investigations were carried out, but all that they have allowed us to ascertain is that the bodies share the same DNA. A New Doc Delves Into the Watts Family Murders, Conferencia de Prensa GP de España F1 2014 - Sábado. The Unsolved episode notes that Thomas was visiting friends and was called home under Xavier's pretense that Agnes had been in an accident. Le 21 avril 2011, les corps de cinq membres de la famille Dupont de Ligonnès ont été découverts dans leur maison nantaise. (More than €4,000 will be coming in every month to various accounts for a while + the proceeds from the sale of the furniture mentioned above.). Xavier took on the child as his own, including giving Thomas his name (according to a friend who spears in the episode, this would have been quite unusual in Xavier's conservative circles). Seen in the below photo goofing off by lying across his other family members (Benoît, Anne, Thomas), Arthur apparently had a girlfriend who became concerned when she stopped hearing from him, and a job that he stopped showing up for. In 2015, someone, signing as Dupont de Ligonnès, sent a Nantes journalist a picture of Dupont de Ligonnès' sons Arthur and Benoît. Note: some of the copies of the front door key are badly done and you have to wriggle the key around in the lock to get the door to open. We're relying on each of you to carry out the tasks that we have assigned you below. Friends and family were concerned by their sudden disappearance, and asked the police to visit the house several times before the bodies were found—the investigation muddied by the fact that the patriarch, Xavier, who was missing, had written long and rambling letters explaining their disappearances and telling family members not to worry. Thomas is brought under investigation by the police and goes about trying to prove his innocence, both to the police and his family. No other line of inquiry has been explored. Police initially struggled to make headway as the monks at the monastery have taken a vow of silence. [...] What I also know is that one man alone cannot dig that hole under the patio, even a man blinded by rage and hatred: 2.5 cubic metres (3.25 cubic yards) of earth was displaced. This information was released to the media and the story received blanket news coverage in France. ): so you don't need to do any sorting, just throw everything out … or keep it for yourself if you want (electrical appliances, etc.). The exact nature of the events have never been determined, but Xavier is the subject of an international arrest warrant and is considered the prime suspect in the murders. The family's neighbours dispute Agnès's stated date of death. He sends an email to his brother-in-law (Christine's husband), saying "everything's fine, Bertram, you'll hear more detailed news soon through Christine. A friend of Thomas who studied music with him confirmed that Thomas spent Tuesday afternoon with him at the friend's home in Angers, where they played music and watched television. La femme de "l’ami impossible" de Bruno de Stabenrath a eu du mal à partir avec le célèbre baron à cause de son mari Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès. It would be good if you could spread this false story on Facebook and elsewhere. However, the passenger made a last-minute change to his flight booking, instead flying to Glasgow on the Friday evening. Members of his family reportedly still do not believe he killed his own family, according to an old blog. A neighbour, Fabrice, sees Agnès for the last time. Thursday 7 April: several witnesses claim to have seen Agnès alive, Family's and their lawyer's views on the investigation, École nationale supérieure de mécanique et d'aérotechnique, List of fugitives from justice who disappeared, United States Federal Witness Protection Program, "Dupont de Ligonnès: la maison du massacre toujours en vente", "Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès: 55 boulevard Schuman", "Tuerie de Nantes. Christine also mentions that no displaced earth was found in the garden, in which case the perpetrator would have had to have used a tarpaulin, displaced 5 tons of earth by hand, and left absolutely no trace of this earth. Four members of the family (Agnès, Arthur, Anne, Benoît) were killed sometime between April 3 and April 5, and the fifth family member (Thomas) was killed a short time after the rest. 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Colette Deromme disappears mysteriously from her villa in Lorgues. It was revealed that the man had reported his passport stolen in 2014, but had since acquired a valid, legitimate replacement passport and has been travelling on that passport regularly since then. Le père s'entraînait au tir avec une carabine munie d'un silencieux", "Geneviève de Ligonnès "était très froide, très directive, "Xavier de Ligonnès, un profil professionnel très flou", "Les métamorphoses de Xavier de Ligonnes", "Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, la trajectoire d'un touche-à-tout", "Le crâne rasé de Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès", "Meutres de Nantes les questions sans responses", "Votre radio d'opinions : émissions politiques, de société et de sport", "Tuerie de Nantes. This has allowed us to build up our official business activity: the RDC and SELREF (established especially to develop "loisirs-visites.com" alongside RDC, so that nightclubs can feature in it), and to have an (unofficial) monthly income, since this official activity did not bring in enough money to cover our expenses … (far from it). She provides photographs of the niche where the bodies were discovered and states that the space is 1.2 metres (just under 4 feet) high. La réponse en 50 ans de descente aux enfers. À la lumière de témoignages … What Happened to Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès. LOL). ), Contact F. G. [full name redacted] to get the "crowbar" display cabinet from her (and take the other worthless furniture off her hands), Inform all the Hodanger family [redacted], Give the money from the sale of the display cabinet to Christine, to share it with Véro, Keep the sales receipts from the furniture to cover the moving fees, Set up an appointment for a final inspection and inventory after 31 May with the P [full name redacted] agency and obtain the deposit (and send it to Christine, even if the amount is insignificant.). Bye for now. But the autopsy allows Christine and Geneviève to step into the breach. In 2011, Xavier and Agnès lived at 55 Boulevard Robert Schuman in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique,[2][3][4] in a modest house in the western suburbs of the city. In April of 2011, the Dupont de Ligonnès family of Nantes, France—a family of aristocratic, noble blood—seemingly disappeared. He earned a baccalauréat in Literature when he was 17. Xavier Pierre Marie Dupont de Ligonnès (ur. Where Is the Cast of 'Gilmore Girls' Now? We will be "lambda" US citizens, living in the US like any other US citizen … except we will be forbidden from communicating with our family and friends for an undetermined period of time, at least until the trial is over. So that's the real reason why we returned to France instead of settling in Miami (and not due to vaccinations that are supposedly "dangerous" for the children … those who have never "swallowed" this "bogus" reason can rest assured: they were right! Comme révélé par L'Est Républicain, un couple habitant dans la région de Pont-de-Roide a cru boire un café avec Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès. The police in Nantes, under the orders of Judge Robert Tchalian, spent more than two years looking for Claudia, a German woman whom Xavier almost married in the early 1980s, and with whom he had kept in contact. "[87], According to Mr Goldenstein (the lawyer for Geneviève Dupont de Ligonnès, the suspect's mother; Christine, his sister; and Bertram de Verdun, Christine's husband): "We don't even know when the victims were killed. ), which need to be given to F.M. The children's schools are aware, as are Arthur's and Thomas's landlords, and Agnès's and Arthur's employers. C’est au travers d’un livre que le baron revient sur les tristes événements de Nantes, dix ans après ceux … Cancel the electricity, gas, telephone, water, Internet and water contracts: the paperwork is on the living-room table. It is not known who took and who sent the picture. The next day, at 4:10 p.m., he left the car park on foot, carrying a piece of luggage. This led to a major search effort. The date has not yet been determined. The trial will have to take place in the US in the next few years. T. Swift, MGK & More Artists Giving Us the Feels, Tomi Adeyemi's Book Collection Is a Major Flex, 10 Good(ish) Things That Happened in 2020, Shows With Lesbian Characters to Stream Now. However, after a two-and-a-half-hour search, they determined that the reports were a case of mistaken identity, and the person believed to be Dupont de Ligonnès was a monk who bore a resemblance to him.[79]. That is the conclusion of my clients. Nothing about their lives would lead me to believe that anyone would have it in for them to this extent. By the time you read this letter, we will officially "no longer exist" as French citizens! The bodies found under the patio can't be those of Agnès and the children." On 2 May 2013, a search was carried out by 50 police officers and firefighters from a unit specialising in searching in dangerous and hard-to-access locations. Marie Claire participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. We may earn commission from the links on this page. A Look Back at Princess Anne's Life in Photos, It's Been a Weird Year for 'The Bachelorette'. Xavier and his wife, Agnes, and their four children: Arthur, 21, Thomas, 18, Anne, 16, and Benoit, 13, were gone—and deliberately so. [68], Prosecutor Brigitte Lamy has not reconsidered Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès's status as a suspect and leans towards the belief that he committed suicide. An unsigned letter dated 11 April 2011, purportedly from Xavier, was received by Xavier's close relatives. Benoît Dupont de Ligonnès was born on 29 May 1997, Xavier and Agnès's youngest child. One of the more horrific episodes of Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries reboot covers the case of Count Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès and the "House of Terror," as it was known at the time. ), Arrange with Cédric to recover and store the high-value furniture to be kept (they are Hodanger family heirlooms. Their ancestors include Édouard du Pont de Ligonnès (1797–1877), who married Sophie de Lamartine, sister of the poet Alphonse de Lamartine and whose youngest son, Charles du Pont de Ligonnès, became the Bishop of Rodez. In a while from now, we will be able to send you some information by post. about our departure. The man was released without charge. Like his older brother Thomas, he was also apparently obsessed with music, in his case playing the drums. [83], Following this revelation, critics raised in France about how the media took for granted the official police statements. [76] The magazine that was found seems to date from 2010, preceding Xavier's disappearance in 2011. Manage the accounts according to the instructions in the document enclosed with this letter. In 2020, Netflix resurrected the Unsolved Mysteries series and the Dupont de Ligonnès murders were investigated in the third episode, "House of Terror".