these “houses of horror” which have difficulty being forgotten

He assumes and accepts without the slightest hesitation that his name be given. “ Of course ! Yes ! » Olivier Parmentier, 50, nevertheless has a somewhat atypical real estate career. This IT technician moved into a small single-storey house at the start of the year, located in Jâlons, about fifteen kilometers from Châlons-en-Champagne. It is a pavilion with banal 80s architecture like so many in France. Except that the pavilion in question has a heavy and very dark past.

It was there that, in August 2013, yet another marital dispute degenerated within a couple on the fence. The man had killed his wife with a broom, feet and fists. This murder traumatized the inhabitants of the village. The small house with brown shutters of 70 square meters with garage, built by the husband – a mason by trade -, remained unoccupied for many years, as if frozen in the tragedy, until it was put up for sale at the end of 2022. Almost 10 years To the day after the tragedy, in August 2023, Olivier bought it with full knowledge of the facts, paying 142,000 euros for the building and its small garden with trees of 350 square meters, less than the 160,000 euros requested by the family. “ I negotiated a little because there was work to be done. But I didn't want to lower the price too much so as not to penalize the children ».