It’s true that the story has everything of a film or series script. Just imagine: a young heiress, beautiful, very beautiful even, a little rebellious too, disappears overnight. The story takes place at the end of the 1970s on the Côte d’Azur, against the backdrop of the casino wars. Her lover, a lawyer without too many scruples, is quickly suspected. He firmly denies it and above all, he has an alibi: another mistress with whom he was that day. Until it retracts. Does the scenario seem too convoluted, too incredible to be true? And yet. Series Everything for Agnes, broadcast from this Monday on France 2, is based on a story that could not be more real. And what followed – the forty years of legal battle – made this case unique.
It all began on All Saints’ Day 1977, in Nice. Agnès Le Roux, one of the heiresses of the Palais de la Méditerranée, the most popular casino on the Promenade des Anglais, disappears. The first days, no one worried: the 29-year-old young woman had confided her vacation plan in Italy to her loved ones. But as the weeks pass, the worry grows. His phone rings in vain and no movement is recorded on his bank account. The situation is all the more alarming as she has already attempted suicide twice. In those around him, voices are divided. Some fear she may have harmed herself or had an accident abroad. Others evoke the possibility of a voluntary disappearance, far, very far from his family, with whom relations are particularly tense.
Family tensions surrounding the sale of the casino
Agnès is the third of four children. On the death of their father, Henri, they inherited shares in the casino in the form of joint ownership. It is their mother, Renée, who manages the establishment. But for several months, Agnès has been pushing her to sell to recover her share of the inheritance. Relations between the two women were frosty when the board of directors opened on June 30, 1977. Agnès Le Roux votes against her mother, thus causing the latter to lose the presidency of the casino to the benefit of her direct competitor. Investigations showed that the young heiress received 3 million francs (around 475,000 euros) in a bank account in Switzerland for this vote.
But Renée Le Roux did not know that when five months later, in March 1978, she finally reported the disappearance of her daughter. She also confides to investigators her suspicions concerning a man: Maurice Agnelet, a 39-year-old lawyer who became Agnès’s lover after handling the terms of the latter’s divorce. This concern is reinforced by the discovery of a note in the young woman’s apartment: “Sorry, I’m slipping. Here my path ends. All is well. I want Maurice to take care of everything. » The hypothesis of suicide is obviously favored, but the investigators are nonetheless intrigued by this lawyer with a sulphurous reputation.
This is how they discovered the bribe during the board meeting. They realize that the money has been paid into an account opened in the name of the two lovers. Above all, they learn that a few months after the heiress’ disappearance, Maurice Agnelet transferred the entire amount to another account. Still in Switzerland but open, this time, with another mistress, Françoise Laussère, who would become his wife. And what to think of these testimonies recounting his strange behavior during the young woman’s two suicide attempts? He was the one who called the firefighters both times but gave the wrong address each time…
A second mistress and an alibi in Switzerland
The man is questioned at length but has a strong alibi: Françoise Laussère claims that on All Saints’ Day 1977, they were together in Geneva. The means available to investigators are not those of today: there is no video surveillance, telephone, etc. Above all, the body of Agnès Le Roux has still not been found. In 1985, the criminal charges were finally dismissed due to lack of conclusive evidence. Maurice Agnelet is only convicted on the financial aspect, for complicity in vote buying.
Without the tenacity of the Le Roux clan, led by Renée, the matter would probably have ended there. To avoid the statute of limitations, a complaint for concealment of a corpse targeting Françoise Laussère was filed. Since Maurice Agnelet was with her the weekend when Agnès Le Roux disappeared, she could know where her body is, believes the matriarch. In June 1999, there was a twist: Maurice Agnelet’s mistress admitted to having lied. On All Saints’ Day weekend 1977, Françoise Laussère was in Switzerland, but without him. Why this change of heart? The couple separated a few years ago, and she no longer wants to put herself in danger for a man she no longer loves.
Judicial meander
Maurice Agnelet is indicted a few weeks later and in 2006, the case reached the Alpes-Maritimes assizes. It’s a big day crowd in the courtroom: every morning for a month, the public crowds in front of the court. In this case, there is no body, no weapon, no confession, no witnesses. Just a bunch of incriminating evidence. Maurice Agnelet is disconcerted. By his phlegm, his relaxation, his insolence, too. But the doubt favoring the accused, he is acquitted. The general prosecutor’s office appealed and the following year, in Aix-en-Provence, the second trial was held. Same protagonists, same file, same big-day crowd. Except that this time, to everyone’s astonishment, Maurice Agnelet is sentenced to twenty years of criminal imprisonment for murder. The jury had a different reading and considers that there is sufficient evidence to convict the former lover of Agnès Le Roux.
End of session, everyone going home? Not at all, the Agnès Le Roux affair contains more twists and turns than an American suspense series. In January 2013, the European Court of Human Rights condemned France in this case, considering that the verdict was not sufficiently reasoned. The appeal trial must therefore be replayed. It opens in 2014, twenty-seven years after the disappearance of the young woman, in Rennes. This time there are a lot fewer people. The file has aged, as have the protagonists. Maurice Agnelet is 76 years old. He appears with a marked face, white hair, leaning on a cane. But in the courtroom, the man is combative, he defends himself vigorously. Until everything changed, at the dawn of the fourth and final week of the trial.
“I have a conscience”
“I have a conscience. I have a testimony to give: I am convinced that my father is the murderer. » During the trial, Guillaume Agnelet, the eldest son of the accused, went to the prosecutor’s office in Chambery – the town in which he resides – to make a statement which will be read in court. His conviction, he explains, is based on three memories. The first is a confession from his father when he was 14 years old. “As long as he doesn’t find the body, I’m at peace… And I know where he is,” he allegedly told her. The second dates from when he was a student. Guillaume Agnelet recalls a discussion with his mother, Anne Litas, who intends to reveal to him who his father “really” is. She claims that it was he who killed Agnès Le Roux with a “shot to the head” while they went camping in Italy, near Monte Cassino. According to his account, he “threw the naked body into a river, abandoned the car with the keys in the ignition and returned to Nice by train”. The last one dates from 1999. Françoise Laussère has just withdrawn his alibi and he repeats, in front of his two sons: “as long as he does not find the body, I am at peace”.
The court is in shock. The family has always united around the patriarch. “It’s crazy,” reacts Maurice Agnelet. I knew that Guillaume was in the depths of depression. He doesn’t understand the importance of what he has just said. »The younger brother, Thomas, is questioned, particularly about the last confidence. He categorically refutes his elder’s comments. Anne Litas is also heard. She also firmly denies it, mentions mental concerns. “I know that this testimony will seal the break with my family, that is to say with my mother and my brother,” Guillaume indicated in his declaration. The court witnesses this prophecy come true live.
Heard by videoconference then once again physically, Guillaume Agnelet reiterates his words, explaining that he decided to speak because he was consumed by this family secret. A few days later, the accused will be sentenced to twenty years in prison for murder. His denials did not convince the jurors. He died in January 2021, at the age of 82. Nearly forty-four years after the disappearance of Agnès Le Roux, whose body has never been found.
The entire “Everything for Agnès” series is already available on our platform france.tv ?