Little Gregory: Key twists in heartbreaking French murder case.

This case is no less shocking or tragic. On August 24th, 1980, Gregory Villemin was born to his parents, Jean-Marie and Christine Villemin. The family lived in Lepanges-sur-Vologne in eastern France, where Jean-Marie worked as a factory foreman after being promoted. The couple had just moved into a newly built home, soon before welcoming their bright baby boy.

By all accounts, the family was happy and successful, but then things took a startling turn. The Villemin family began receiving anonymous threatening letters and phone calls, promising revenge against Jean-Marie. The letters and calls never specified what the sender wanted revenge for, only that they were seeking it. Over four years, the threats continuedand expanded to include Jean-Marie's parents as well. Then on October 16th, 1984, while playing in the garden, four-year-old Gregory disappeared. Christine quickly noticed that her son wasn't on the front yard anymore and called the police.

As the police began their search, Christine drove around the nearby small village in a panic.No trace of the four-year-old could be found. As the search continued, Gregory's uncle received an anonymous phone call that stated, "I've kidnapped the boy. I've strangled him and I've thrown him in the river Vologne. I have my revenge."

The next day before anything could be further explored, Jean-Marie found a letter that appeared to be posted to them at the time Gregory was taken. It read, "I hope you die of grief, boss. Your money won't bring back your son. Here's my revenge, you."

Gregory's body was found later that day near Docelles and the Vologne River, only seven kilometers from his home. He had been drowned with his hands and feet bound, and his wool hat pulled over his face. His family was absolutely devastated. 

The case of Gregory's murder, which horrified the French public, became known as the l'affaire de Gregory. The killer was soon referred to as Le Corbeau, or the Crow, based off of a famous French film that had a similar theme to the threatening notes the family had received.

After intense investigation, police had a suspect narrowed down by handwriting experts who analyzed the ominous letters and a key witness statement. In 1985, Bernard Laroche, Jean-Marie's cousin was arrested and questioned based on a statement from his 15-year-old sister-in-law. But Laroche denied being the Crow, and soon his sister-in-law took back her statement saying that it had been coerced. Even though Laroche was eventually cleared and freed,

Jean-Marie stood in front of reporters and made a vow that he believed Laroche was guilty of murdering his son and that he would kill him. But the case took another shocking twist on March 25th, 1985 when the handwriting experts determined that Gregory's own mother Christine, may have written the threatening letters. Only four days later, Jean-Marie went to Laroche's work, determined to avenge the death of his son, and not believing that his wife was guilty.There, he shot and killed his own cousin as he was leaving the building.

Jean-Marie was convicted of murder and sentenced to five years in prison. In July of the same year, Christine was charged with the murder of their son. She was pregnant with twins at the time, but went on a hunger strike to protest her innocence. For 11 days she refused to eat and she was eventually freed after an appeal found that she had been convicted with flimsy evidence and no real motive.

However, Christine's tragedy wasn't over yet. As she was released, she collapsed and reportedly miscarried one of her babies. She wasn't officially cleared of all charges until 1993. And Jean-Marie was released from prison after serving only two-and-a-half years in 1987. After so much turmoil, the Villemin family was still no closer to knowing who had killed Gregory.

For decades after Gregory's death, the case continued to haunt France and was reopened and reexamined, with tests done to the letters, the rope used to bind him, and DNA testing on Gregory's clothing, and the saliva on the stamps used to post the letters, but it was no use. All was found to be inconclusive. In 2017, the case was once again reopened, and this time there was new evidence which resulted in three arrests, once again, shocking France. Gregory's great aunt, great uncle, and his aunt were taken in for questioning, along with others, including more family members. The aunt was eventually released, but the great aunt and great uncle refused to speak to police at all. None were convicted

.

A different tragedy soon struck when the magistrate Jean-Michel Lambert, who was in charge of the first investigation, took his own life because of the pressure and criticism he faced with the case still being unsolved, 33 years after Gregory's death. The why of Gregory's death has never been answered but some site jealousy within the Villemin family as a possible cause. And others suggest that the fact that the letters called Jean-Marie boss could mean it had to do with his work. Either way, no real evidence or suspect has been found but almost everyone in the family has been under suspicion at some point. 

In December of 2020, the case was once again reopened, but this time police are determined to uncover the real identity of the Crow once and for all. New interviews have been conducted and police are relying on a brand new technology called stylometrics, which looks at the style, syntax, punctuation, and turns of phrase used in the threatening letters to identify the killer. A new suspect has been identified, but so far has not yet been named. It appears that the murder of Gregory Villemin may soon be solved.