Overview
- An investigative judge in Dijon on October 24 placed Jacqueline Jacob, 81, under formal investigation for association de malfaiteurs linked to the preparation of Grégory Villemin’s abduction, and she left court without any coercive measures.
- A court order referenced handwriting comparisons from 2017 and stylometric studies from 2021–2023 that attribute several 1983 anonymous letters to her and strongly support authorship of the October 16, 1984 claim-of-responsibility letter.
- Investigators also note a relative’s 2022 statement that he thought he recognized her voice on a recording and say her schedule could align with some calls, assertions the defense disputes.
- The defense announced an appeal on form and substance and criticized the stylometric evidence, recalling that a 2017 mise en examen of Jacob and her husband was annulled in 2018 for a procedural defect.
- The procureur général warned of a legal risk that the criminal conspiracy charge may be time‑barred, even as the instruction continues with further witness interviews and searches for unidentified DNA on letters, clothing and the cord used to bind the child.