45 years later, a historian reveals new evidence of a state secret

Forty-five years after the death of Robert Boulin, found in a pond in the Rambouillet forest, a historian claims to have evidence of a “state secret” surrounding this affair, relaunching the debate on the circumstances of his disappearance.

First publication of this article on 10/30/2024

A name. This was what Florence Mothe discovered fifteen years ago. This writer and journalist from Gironde revealed in April 2007 the identity of one of Robert Boulin's assassins. “It was not difficult to find him since he had been boasting for twenty years about being his assassin and that had allowed him other missions,” indicates the Gironde writer, who spoke with the man in question. His photo is then published in the Gazette du Pays with his name: Jacques Pécheur, a henchman.

On October 30, 1979, Robert Boulin was discovered dead in the Rompu pond, located in the Rambouillet forest. If initially the trail of suicide by drowning was favored, with the discovery of two letters mentioning his desire to end his life, the autopsy revealed a swollen face, a blow to the back of the head as well as traces of strangulation and the presence of barbiturates in the blood.

It all started in 1974, with the publication of an article in Le Canard Enchaîné. The latter accuses Robert Boulin of being involved in a case of real estate fraud in Ramatuelle, in the Var. Revelations which would have pushed the man to end his life, according to suicide letters found after his death. Others see it rather as the beginning of blackmail that has gone badly: the accusation will not please the minister who decides to write a right of reply, and threatens to reveal information about the RPR, the political party founded by Jacques Chirac.

For the former journalist, the assassination of the deputy mayor of Libourne and Minister of Labor was organized around three teams: two Parisians and one Bordeaux woman. “that Boulin had brought in himself for her safety without knowing that she had been returned”. The latter would also have been intended to “wetting Jacques Chaban-Delmas, even though he had absolutely no connection”.

The historian would have obtained this information in particular from Eric Carlsberg, then a member of the Bordeaux council. “When Chaban-Delmas received the second posthumous letter at the town hall of Bordeaux, his face fell and he explained that it was extremely dangerous to scratch this matter. He would also have said that the people who killed Boulin were those who prevented him from accessing the supreme office, giving the names of Chirac, Likowski, Journiac, Giscard d'Estaing and even Pasqua. explains Florence Mothe.

These revelations, which have unfolded over the years, do not seem to help the investigation move forward, for 45 years, to the day. “I think we can know the truth maybe 200 years later. Today the question is why, by whom and how. Even if the autopsy has already informed us how, explains Florence Mothe. “And then, we also have to reconstruct Robert Boulin’s itinerary.”

We know that he was summoned to René Journiac, but that he never arrived at his destination. Moreover, Journiac died three months later.

Florence Mothe,

Writer and former journalist

After years of waiting, in 1983, the Boulin family decided to file a complaint against X, convinced that Robert Boulin did not commit suicide. The investigation ended with a dismissal of the case in 1992. Five years after the theft of seals in 2010 and following a new complaint with the establishment of a civil party by Fabienne Boulin-Burgeat, a new judicial investigation opened, this times, for “arrest, kidnapping and sequestration followed by death or assassination”.

Also read: New revelations in the Robert Boulin affair, the minister who knew too much: “45 years later, the truth is still disturbing”

But we will have to wait until 2024 to hear a first clap of thunder: the testimony of a man, “valet” to Roi René, a libertine establishment in Yvelines, who would have witnessed an exchange between the assassins. “The assassins of Robert Boulin would have found themselves there after their little affair and would have confessed in front of the valet, to the sponsor, the extent of their clumsiness and handed over the documents that they would have managed to recover”, relates Florence Mothe, after reading her testimony.

This company was known for running ostensible rackets for the RPR.

Florence Mothe,

Writer and former journalist

For the specialist in this affair, if this scene seems “acrobatic”, it goes in the direction of his research. “I do not believe that Pierre Debizet could have taken the risk of dining in this establishment to thank these brave people for having assassinated a minister in office”she quips, believing rather that the scene took place in a “establishment dependence”. “On the other hand, I wonder if the witness does not want to direct us towards Charles Pasqua and Jacques Chirac. The owner of Roi René was in fact convicted in the Paris town hall affair and its director very quickly left for the United Arab Emirates. launches the writer, who suggests “searching the archives of the Paris commercial court”.

In this testimony, Pierre Debizet, head of the Civic Action Service (SAC), a Gaullist militia, is directly targeted and by extension Charles Pasqua, who would have been mentioned as the sponsor of this expedition, which was originally intended to be a violent attack on the deputy mayor, without killing him. In addition to that of Jacques Pécheur, a second name comes out: that of Henri Geliot, another criminal of the time, confused by his license plate noted by the valet.

For Robert Boulin's daughter, who has always fought to reveal the truth surrounding her father's death, this testimony was a lifeline. “I am very happy that this testimony relaunches the investigation, especially since the courts had initiated a dismissal procedure.” she indicated last September. “The investigation has never progressed for 45 years, regrets Fabienne Boulin-Burgeat.

There is a lack of desire to know the truth. We fight a lot with my lawyer and our search for truth always gets in the way.

Fabienne Boulin-Burgeat,

daughter of Robert Boulin

The inaction of justice is also decried by the journalist. “We have changed magistrates countless times. The Boulin file is a huge file, it is a state secret which still lasts. And which is linked to what Robert Boulin had on RPR files”, explains Florence Mothe.

The writer thus evokes the Eurodif file, a company specializing in uranium enrichment with links to Iran. Other files are also mentioned as compromising avenues: “Elf Aquitaine”, Coprege or even “Dassault”.

As for the thesis of the post of prime minister of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the writer does not believe in a gesture of rivalry. “Valéry Giscard d'Estaing never had the sincere intention of appointing Robert Boulin, but he was indeed able to agitate this to impose himself in the party”indicates Florence Mothe.

This Tuesday, October 29, Fabienne Boulin-Burgeat was again meeting with the investigating judge in charge of the investigation. For the moment, no information on the content of these exchanges has been revealed.