“Bring in the Accused” devotees may be confused. RMC Découverte is launching this May 5, at 9:10 p.m., a version of the cult show which changed the way we talk about current affairs on television. In each episode of “Bring in the Accused: Flagrant Crimes” (two to three will be scheduled each season), two cases will be handled and the identity of the criminals will be immediately established. What the documentaries will tell in detail are the motivations of the criminals and their psychology.
“It’s a bet we’re making,” says editor-in-chief Isabelle Clairac. We arrive at the 300th episode of “Bring in the Accused”. The show is 25 years old and, during this period, justice and its functioning have changed more than in two centuries: the arrival of lawyers in police custody, the possibility of appealing to the Assize Court, the laws on recidivism, the arrival of DNA, computers, telephony in investigation techniques… Crime has also evolved. What we could explore until then, the Francis Heaulme, the Michel Fourniret, etc., are increasingly rare situations. »
The cases mentioned in “Egregious Crimes” will not necessarily be those which will have marked the memories or caused the most ink to be spilled. On the other hand, they will shed light on a specific theme. The first, this Sunday, will address that of family killings. First through the Dominique Henri affair who, refusing the prospect of divorce, killed his wife and two daughters in 2014, then via the Jordan Lenisa affairwho, at 17, feeling like the ugly duckling of his family, shot his father and two brothers in 2017.
“Show that family killings are not a class crime”
“In this episode, we have two different socio-cultural backgrounds. It is important that we present them together to show that a family crime is not a class crime. In this variation, we will be able to work on themes in depth, further exploring the personality of the criminals and their reasons,” continues the editor-in-chief.
Christophe Delay and Dominique Rizet remain the incarnations of this new collection. They will be accompanied on the set by Daniel Zagury, psychiatrist and psycho-criminologist with whom the most assiduous fans of “Bring in the Accused” are familiar.
“By dismantling the mechanics of certain types of crimes, this program has an educational value,” affirms Christophe Delay. The two other themes addressed this season will be neonaticide, that is to say homicides committed on newborns, and mass killings.