How many files will join the “cold case” pole, created a few months ago? The three investigating judges specializing in serial or unsolved cases have already taken up 35 cases – including 3 criminal cases -, while 2 other cases are the subject of a preliminary investigation and are being processed under the authority of the magistrates of the parquet floor of the pole, we learn this Tuesday during a press conference.
The most recent case dates from 2020. The oldest dates back to 1972 and concerns the disappearance of four members of a family, originally from Boutiers-Saint-Trojan, near Cognac, in Charente. On the night of December 24 to 25, Jacques Méchinaud, his wife Pierrette and their two children aged 4 and 7 vanished after spending New Year’s Eve with friends who lived 4 kilometers from their home. For fifty years, the investigation has stalled. Neither their bodies nor the car they were using have been found.
Files from all over France
Most of these cases – 16 – relate to facts that occurred within the jurisdiction of the Paris Court of Appeal. But the files come from all over France: four from Isère, two from Versailles, and the others from the Hautes-Alpes, Doubs, Finistère, Gironde and even Saône-et-Loire. Of the 35 files already selected, 22 concern exclusively women.
“Minors represent a fifth of referrals”, also specifies the prosecutor of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), Pascal Prache. The investigating judges will notably reopen the case of the disappearance of little Marion Wagon, a 10-year-old girl who disappeared in Agen on November 14, 1996. They will also look into the case of the missing from A6.
“We are interested in these files”
Overall, the cases entrusted to this specialized unit concern homicides (78%) or kidnappings (22%). Half were handled as part of a judicial investigation that was still ongoing in a local jurisdiction. Others (38%) had purely and simply been the subject of a dismissal order.
For the latter, referral to the cold case center is therefore an almost unexpected opportunity. But the procedures arriving at the Nanterre court could be much more numerous, since 193 are being analyzed. Among these files, that of the Chevaline massacre, a quadruple murder that has not been elucidated since 2012. Or the file of the missing persons from Fort de Tamié, in Savoie. “We are interested in these files”, confirms the public prosecutor of Nanterre.
By the end of the year, “about forty” additional cases could be entrusted to the pole, of which 25 would be the subject of the opening of a judicial investigation. Be careful, however, not to load the boat. Ideally, the three investigating magistrates should manage between 25 and 30 cases. Beyond that, “it would be unreasonable and would jeopardize what is expected of this pole: elucidations, moving forward calmly with sharp investigation services”, for his part, advances the president of the newly appointed court, Benjamin Deparis.
He wants two or three magistrates to come and reinforce their colleagues. “We are well aware that there is a strong expectation for such and such a file to join the pole”, adds his colleague from the prosecution, adding that there is no interest in transmitting procedures only if the pole can bring an “added value” to the survey with its dedicated staff.