“We saw each other every day in the office, Estelle Luce was a beautiful person, very pleasant, but also very professional”, indicates this Knauf employee in Wolfgantzen.
Despite the ban on speaking to the press ordered by the company from the day of the crime, “which was respectful for the relatives and the investigators”, she accepted for the first time, as the trial of Gabriel Fortin approached, to talk about this “very positive” young colleague: “She took her job as human resources director to heart, was made for this job, had the fiber and felt she was on a mission. Including to serve people in need, as far as possible. When we had a problem, we went to see Estelle! »
Not working in the same department, the two were not particularly close, “in the sense that she was not a close friend. But a co-worker that I really liked. At Knauf in Wolfgantzen, “we all know each other”, and Estelle Luce was no exception, far from it.
“A healthy ambition”
Within this German company, “the family spirit remains, even if the group is global with nearly 25,000 employees”, assures this employee. In Wolfgantzen, at the head office of this French subsidiary specializing in insulation and fittings materials, “we are around a hundred employees. We were all extremely affected by this horror, it was a huge shock.
Among the many witnesses interviewed by the investigators, many highlighted the human qualities of Estelle Luce and her investment in her work. A few described her as indeed calm and professional, but rather aloof and sometimes moody, who can be abrupt in her approach to people and management.
“I think it was also part of his mission not to be too sensitive, it’s quite natural,” says the colleague. And to express his feelings: “When you are HRD, you should not be in emotion, but in professionalism, even if Estelle put the forms in it, she had tact. In her job, she couldn’t feel sorry for every scenario either. She was a woman, beautiful and rather short, I think she also needed to assert herself. »
About the “ambition” of Estelle Luce also mentioned by some, the former colleague underlines that “she seemed very healthy and even natural, since she was very efficient and recognized in her profession”.
“Too shocked to be relieved”
Like many employees of the Wolfgantzen site, a year after the first cases of Covid-19 officially recorded in France, the colleague was teleworking the day of the assassination, which occurred on January 26, 2021 around 6 p.m.: “I learned from another employee, with whom I had a computer relationship, who told me that something serious had happened in the parking lot. We called each other, at first we had no info, then the terrible news quickly spread. »
To support employees in trauma management, a psychological support unit was set up by Knauf. “The state of shock lasted a very long time, especially since the gesture is abominable. The fact that the killer scouted out in front of the company also marked us, and created a feeling of insecurity. The alleged killer was arrested two days later, but we were still so emotional that we didn’t even feel relief. »
Surveillance cameras were installed in the parking lot shortly after the tragedy: “How could we have imagined such a thing? Today we don’t talk too much about the case, except when the media mention it, but it is not uncommon for Estelle to come into conversations. Deep down inside, we still think about her. » Remains the « why? which resonates endlessly: “It’s unthinkable, it’s beyond comprehension, I don’t think we’ll ever understand…”
