“He did not prepare all that to die”, is convinced Bruno de Stabenrath, friend of the fugitive

Ten years ago, almost to the day, one of the biggest French criminal cases started: the assassination of Agnès Dupont de Ligonnès and her four children in Nantes. Xavier, the father of the family, remains, him, untraceable. Bruno de Stabenrath had been one of his friends since their adolescence spent in Versailles. Disturbed by this matter, whoever was actor by profession until a terrible traffic accident published in the fall The Impossible Friend, a personal and investigative account devoted to the fugitive, to friendships and to the change in lives. Interview.

Why did you write this book, almost ten years after the fact?

During all these years, I wrote down lots of things hoping to understand. I conducted my own investigation. I have known people for a long time, I had the police files, I had items that were not accessible. At one point, I said to myself that we had to put all this in perspective. And then it was important for me to summon our moments together with Xavier, to dive back into an era, even if it’s a painful process.

What memories do you keep of Xavier?

All our youth… The evenings in Versailles, the parties in Paris, the summer with this girl I call Louise. We had the future in front of us, we dreamed of the USA, we listened to Elvis, the Beach boys. We didn’t really have a problem. Xavier had a lot of humor, we were laughing. He had a slightly Mediterranean warmth, like his father. He was intelligent, he was critical, he knew how to understand people. Afterwards, we had to become men, with all that that implies. He became the head of the family, I had my shoots. We saw each other less but we still had regular contact. He was someone loyal in friendship Xavier.

Do you find yourself in the portrayal of him by the media and the general public?

Not really. Already because there is a difference between Xavier de Ligonnès, my “mental twin”, and Xavier Dupont, “enemy n ° 1”, of which I did not know all the gray areas. Then because the serious error of the media and production companies is to say that it is the story of an ordinary man. But not at all. Xavier’s education in this aristocratic environment, his relationship to religion, his personality, his career, his time spent on the roads… He was not at all Mr. Everyone.

Xavier’s mother, Geneviève, holds a central place in your story …

Xavier spoke to me very little about it. We knew she was excessive with her prayers but we didn’t realize how toxic she was. He bathed in it without ever daring to confront her, to tell her that she was crazy. But there was an incident in June 1995: Geneviève had gathered people in Sainte-Maxime in the presence of Xavier who was to be the chosen one, the one who was to resuscitate the
Canon Ridolfi then rule the world. Obviously there was no miracle. It was a break. From there Xavier kept repeating that he had lost his faith. Yet we know that a few days before the tragedy he was on Catholic sites to debate, to talk about the devil … In his passage to action, I necessarily see mystical, apocalyptic roots. It is he who decides the life and death of his family, as a supreme being.

In Versailles, you also got to know Agnès. You say today that you want to do him justice …

Agnes had somewhere been chosen by Xavier’s family. She was Catholic, she had money, she was the ideal wife. But Xavier has often abandoned her. It takes ten years to marry her: he leaves her for another, then comes back. Then Xavier spent a lot of time on the provincial roads. Agnes also wanted something else, I think. That’s why there was this story with Michel Rétif [un des meilleurs amis de Xavier]. Then the triolism. It really damaged their relationship.

How did you react when you found out about the quintuple homicide?

A few days before I had read Xavier’s famous letter, the one beginning with “Hi everyone”, in which he explains that they had been exfiltrated to the United States. There, already, it did not stick. We were very worried, especially the Hodanger brothers [la famille d’Agnès]. They felt that something serious had happened. And then that day arrives when the bodies are found. And Xavier is missing. It’s the shock, we don’t realize. I talk to the police and gendarmes, I find out how to operate, and I understand that Xavier tried to buy time to make his escape and that he didn’t think that the bodies would be found so quickly. And then he
go to Roquebrune-sur-Argens, with mountains, cavities, forests. Everything is in place so that investigators waste time. Xavier knew it.

Is he still alive according to you?

Yes, there is no doubt. He didn’t prepare all of this to die. He is somewhere, but happy days do not flow. I have a bag that is ready to go if I ever learn anything. There is of course the trail of the United States, a country he knows perfectly well. At one point there was a lead in Thailand. But I think more of Australia. He spoke about it a lot, to his family, in his letters. The country is so huge. I was there two years ago, no one is looking for it there.

But such a long run, is it complicated, is it expensive?

Yes, but when we say that, we base ourselves on the models we know. It’s very difficult to hide when you’re wanted by all the intelligence services, when you’re a narco trafficker, a cyber delinquent, because shut up is everywhere. But Xavier, in those countries, nobody cares. He’s a multilingual guy who knows how to change his appearance. Above all, he has all the intelligence to create his own ecosystem: work, seduce a woman, invent stories … Since he was 14-15 years old he has been traveling. He is quite at ease abroad. And with the Covid it’s much easier.

Could he last 10 years without giving any news to the rest of his family?

We don’t know… Maybe he gives some. I saw in the police reports that we had found at Christine’s house [sa sœur] and Geneviève six phones. To do what ? The problem is that we are dealing with an environment that does not speak. Geneviève has created very strong bonds with the people who protect her. I know a bit about their ways of operating.

Do you still have contact with this family or that of Agnes?

A little. But now they are angry with my book. There is a part that continues to think that the couple and the children have been exfiltrated, that there is no subject, no corpse. That is unbearable to me. And I can tell you that it caused great turmoil in Versailles. The other part of the family thinks they were killed but doesn’t want to talk about it at all. In Noyers-sur-Serin, the Hodanger stronghold, the bodies were cremated because there was no room to put five coffins, but we did not put the names on the tombstone. The five victims are anonymous. The family did not want it to become a place of pilgrimage. That too is difficult to bear. That really shocked me.

Do you hope that Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès read this book?

I am speaking to him first. He had a sort of modesty about his difficulties. He considered that me in a wheelchair he could not knock me out with his problems. I wish I could talk to him directly about it, tell him that he hadn’t messed up his life. That he had a beautiful family, beautiful children who will grow up and do great things. At least he had succeeded in that. I would have liked to tell him, if he had told me about his affair with Catherine [ancienne petite amie de Xavier retrouvée via Internet en 2009], that he could have plans with her. I would have liked to tell him all that in time.

What would you do if he came knocking on your door?

I would say to him “you are my friend, come in, stay a bit, we are going to talk, but then I call the police”. I would say to him “behave like a man, assume, this is not how we were brought up”.

Will we have found it in 10 years?

Before I think. I am convinced that in five years things will happen