The shadow of a murderer? The revelations of “Sept à Huit” on the troubled past of Dominique Pelicot

Would Dominique Pelicot also be a murderer? The Mazan rape case, for which he was sentenced to 20 years of criminal imprisonment, made it possible, in fact, to link the septuagenarian to two other cases in which he has been indicted since October 14, 2022 by the pole “cold cases” of Nanterre: an attempted rape in 1999 in Seine-et-Marne, which he recognizes, having been confused by his DNA, but above all a rape followed by murder in 1991 in Paris, that of Sophie Narme, a young 23-year-old real estate agent.

The Sophie Narme affair in 1991

Hélène Blondel was Sophie Narme’s friend, she thinks of her all the time. “It’s just terrifying to die at that age (…). For Sophie, for the other victims, it’s terrible (…) Maybe we’ll finally know”she said in the “Sept à Huit” report to be found at the top of this article. After a year in the United States as an au pair, Sophie Narme returned to France and was hired in October 1991 in a real estate agency in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. A month after starting her job, she was raped and then killed while showing an apartment in Paris. It was the director of the agency, worried about not hearing from her, who discovered her half-undressed body. “It seems so impossible that I don’t react. We are really stunned. We are told that she showed an apartment and that the person who visited it raped her, strangled her, stabbed her and that she struggled enormously, that she fought until the end. This is what we are told.remembers Hélène.

For her part, Florence Rault, the lawyer for Sophie Narme’s family, describes the scene and one detail intrigues her: “There is an indescribable mess in the room, but for all that, and this is strange, Sophie’s handbag which was emptied on the floor and which probably was searched, is stored correctly along the wall. We will also find his pair of pumps which were taken from him and which are found, there too, in a very strange way, I would almost say maniacally, placed close to the body, in a perpendicular manner. A bit as if the attacker had taken it. time to position them in a somewhat fetishistic way (…) It is also from this detail that I said to myself: ‘this is not the attacker’s first attempt. This is someone who has already committed acts of this nature and is probably a serial criminal.”

As for Sophie’s boss, he says he was affected by a strong smell of ether in the apartment. This product was found in Sophie’s lungs. The assassin probably wanted to put her to sleep to control her. He also explains that the appointment was made the day before by a man who on the phone was very insistent on visiting the apartment. He gave a name and number which turned out to be false.

The “Marion” affair in 1999

For almost 10 years, Dominique Pelicot was not worried in the investigation into the murder of Sophie Narme, when another case arose, again concerning a real estate agency employee. On May 11, 1999, the police were called following an attempted rape which took place in Villeparisis, in Seine-et-Marne. The victim, 19 years old, who we will call “Marion”, is attacked by a man to whom she has just shown an apartment. “The young girl is prostrate with bruises on her face, traces of violence. She is in panties with just her t-shirt. She is barefoot,” describes Michel Bueno, the police officer in charge of the investigation, now retired. As in the Sophie Narme case, the attacker presented himself to the agency saying that he wanted to buy a property quickly. There too, he gives a false name and a false address. After a brief glance around the apartment, he allegedly pounced on her. Here is what she told the investigator: “he grabs her by putting his arm around her neck and above all puts a box cutter on her neck. He makes her lie down on her stomach, ties her hands behind her back, which has the effect of “immobilize him and there, he places a tissue in his mouth”.

“And it smells of a very strong smell which has the particularity of putting him to sleep. She says: ‘I felt myself leaving’. At that moment, she has the reflex to stop breathing. She tells herself that she must not breathe this product otherwise she is ruined (…) She describes very well the feeling she has of this man who seems maniacal, who is very meticulous.” specifies Florence Rault. Michel Bueno continues: “she manages to free herself from a bond and a fight ensues (…) Through struggling, she manages to lock herself in a room and stays there for four hours without knowing if the individual Is it still there or not?. It is her worried employer who will rescue her. The police will note traces of blood, the analysis of which will reveal unknown male DNA. Five years later, a judicial police department made a connection between the Marion affair in 1999 and the murder of Sophie Narme in 1991, noting similarities in the modus operandi.

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Despite this, the investigation bogged down and Dominique Pelicot was not worried. Until 2010, 10 years before the Mazan rape case. He is surprised by an animator while he is filming under women’s skirts, in a Carrefour in Seine-et-Marne. He used a camera hidden in a pen which the police seized. He then pleaded guilty and paid a simple fine of 100 euros. His DNA is taken, but no link is made with the two cases. Ten years later, on September 12, 2020, Dominique Pelicot was caught in the act for the second time by a supermarket security guard. He is there again filming under the customers’ skirts. The scene takes place in Carpentras, where he and his wife Gisèle have retired.

It is this affair which will trigger that of Mazan. After his arrest, police searched his home and discovered dozens of videos in which he and unknown persons raped his wife, who was drugged and unconscious. Dominique Pelicot’s DNA is taken again and this time the connection is made with the attempted rape of Marion. Heard in this case in 2022, Pelicot ended up confessing to having assaulted the real estate agent in 1999. He said he had “an impulse” seeing the young woman in her agency. On the other hand, Dominique Pelicot categorically denies the murder of Sophie Narme, but the lawyer for the young woman’s relatives is convinced of her guilt.