Lucas Larivée had an appointment with the courts on June 19, 2024, in Limoges, for his appeal trial in the case of arson in the operation of his internship tutor in August 2020. Sentenced to two years in prison last January, the young farmer once again pleaded for release in this case. A case in which the truth was like the defendant: elusive.
During the pleadings of the civil party’s lawyer, during the requisitions of the advocate general, her face remained frozen. Impassive. Impenetrable. What was Lucas Larivée thinking, while these legal specialists demonstrated his guilt for long minutes. Was he indifferent? Was he trying to contain the fire of anger that smoldered within him? Impossible to say.
This 23-year-old young man, also indicted for the murder, rape and kidnapping of the young Justine Vayrac, found dead near his home in October 2022, had to answer yesterday for acts of arson, and damage committed on the operations of his employer. Previous and independent facts from the Justine Vayrac affair, which date back to August 2, 2020, in Saint-Hilaire-Peyroux, in Corrèze, and for which he was sentenced to two years in prison, during his trial at first instance , before the Tulle Criminal Court, last January.
During that night in the summer of 2020, young Lucas, then 18 years old, had spent the evening and part of the night with four friends. First at the McDonald’s in Tulle, then in the village of Vigeois until around three in the morning. Lucas then brought two friends back to Perpezac-le-Noir. From this precise moment, the truth only belongs to Lucas Larivée. It will remain inaccessible.Me Michel Labrousse in discussion with the attorney general. Photo Thomas Jouhannaud
A personality difficult to define
Later, around 4:34 a.m., in Saint-Hilaire-Peyroux, residents urgently called the firefighters to report a fire on a farm. It will take firefighters an hour to put out the flames, which have ravaged a shed covered with photovoltaic panels and a tunnel containing equipment and bales of hay. 457,000 euros in damage.
Very quickly, the criminal nature of the disaster was favored by the investigators. The fire expert identified two separate outbreaks. Also, the owners of the premises found damaged grain silos and a garden hose left open. Suspicion then falls on young Lucas. He knew about safety on one of the silos. And the Thursday preceding this disaster, the young apprentice, described as resentful by his mother, had been the subject of a “reprimand” because of his behavior at work. “This is the motive that we are given,” concedes Me Michel Labrousse for young Lucas. But those who were present at that meeting said he had a flat reaction, remained frozen and agreed with the remarks,” it reads.
A loss of control with enormous consequences
The defense lawyer sees in this lack of reaction a lack of motive. Others see it as anger ready to explode. “Experts have not been able to understand his personality. When Lucas speaks, he remains in control. He controls himself. He leaves no door of entry. But when the floodgates open, there is a complete lack of control. And the consequences will be enormous,” underlined the attorney general.
Summoned to the gendarmerie, Lucas Larivée began by denying having gone to Saint-Hilaire-Peyroux that night. On the contrary, he claimed to have returned to Vigeois at the party, with supporting witnesses. The beginning of his lies. Using his phone, it was determined that the young man had first filmed himself driving his car, at 190 km/h on the highway, since he had passed the farm between 4:06 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. from his boss, before continuing his journey towards Beynat, where he lived. So his version had changed for the first time.
The alleged murderer of Justine Vayrac tried on appeal for an arson in Corrèze: Reread the live
“Indeed, I’ve been there. I had seen on Waze that there was a police check on my route. So, I took a detour. But I didn’t see a fire as I passed the farm. » “To make a five-minute detour, it took him several tens of minutes. There are lots of things we don’t understand,” notes Christine Marche, for the civil party. “Too bad,” retorts the young man, full of confidence.Me Marche defended the interests of the victims of the fire. Photo Thomas Jouhannaud.
Lucas’ confidence in his answers
With the same confidence, he assured the president of the court Stéphane Rémy this Wednesday that he would not be bothered by the pellets from the silos, found in his shoe at the time of the search. “I work in these shoes every day so it’s normal to find pellets in them. » When Christine Marche asks him what his relationship is with his former bosses who accuse him, against whom he could harbor a form of anger since he claims to be innocent, Lucas replies that he prefers to say nothing. In control. “In conflict avoidance,” the expert psychiatrist would say.
When he was finally asked why he lied to the police from the start of the investigation, he replied “that he was afraid of losing his driving license”.
On the basis of this defense built over time, and by rushing into the gaps of the investigation, Me Michel Labrousse, Lucas’ lawyer, will repeat to the court the pleading that he gave six months earlier in Tulle. “I think the justice system caught him in the jaw and was wrong!” », assures the lawyer, who pleaded for more than 2 hours 30 minutes.
The victims accused by the defense
The Tulle president first criticized the legal expert for his conclusions on the origin of the disaster. He takes up the theory dismissed by him of lightning falling during the day. “It smolders, and it creates flames several hours later. » “We can imagine everything about the causes of the fire. Why not imagine that a person dropped their glasses and that through a magnifying effect, with the sun, it started a fire. I regret the smokescreen that we are trying to put in place,” quips the attorney general.
In an attempt to remove all suspicion, Michel Labrousse did not hesitate to accuse the managers of the operation of having damaged the grain silo themselves, with the aim of reinforcing the criminal nature of the fire, in order to be compensated. The court reserved its decision. The judicial truth of this case will be known on July 17, 2024.
All our articles on the disappearance of Justine Vayrac
Pierre Vignaud
