Century-old French murder still a mystery after ’animal’ bone discovery

PARIS – Agence France-Presse 

A murder case that has fascinated France for a century appears set to remain shrouded in mystery after bone fragments found at the main suspect’s house proved not to be human but from an animal.

Descendants and defenders of Guillaume Seznec, who was sentenced to a life of hard labor in 1924 on charges of murdering a Brittany official and business partner, had hoped the bone fragments would lead prosecutors to reopen the case.

But a source close to the inquiry told AFP that investigators had determined two bone fragments found during a private excavation at the house last weekend are "those of an animal". 

Prosecutor Jean-Philippe Recappe in Brest, near the western town of Morlaix where the bones were found, said he was still waiting for the official results of an anthropologist’s analysis.

Denis Langlois, a former lawyer for Seznec’s family, and author Bertrand Vilain carried out their unofficial dig in the cellar of the unoccupied house on the theory that the victim, Pierre Quemeneur, may have been accidentally killed by Seznec’s wife as she resisted his advances.

In May 1923 Seznec, a lumber merchant, traveled to Paris from the western town of Rennes with Quemeneur to buy a stock of cars left by US forces after World War I.

Seznec came back alone a few days later, saying Quemeneur had preferred to return by train, but he was never seen again.

Even though neither a body or murder weapon were ever found, and despite Seznec’s claims of innocence, a jury sentenced him to life in prison in French Guiana.

Released on good behavior in 1946, he fought all his life to have his conviction overturned, a campaign that continued after his death with the support of family members as well as lawmakers, judges and journalists.

But prosecutors have denied 14 requests to reopen the case since 1924, most recently in 2006.