Gone without a trace
When mum-ofthree Suzanne disappeared, suspicion fell on the men in her life...
The couple were living separate lives
Awoman in her prime, Suzanne Blanch fell in love with charming university professor Jacques Viguier. It was an affair that charted a course into lasting romance…
The couple tied the knot in August 1988 and had three children – Clemence and twins Guillaume and Nicolas. Suzanne went on to become a dance teacher, choreographing cabaret shows in the French town where they lived. Jacques – a Hitchcock film fan – continued lecturing and enjoyed lively lessons with his students. He often discussed the idea of a perfect murder with them, stirring up popular debates. But in 1995, Suzanne made a shocking discovery. She wasn’t the only one to have fallen for her husband’s charms. Over the years, he’d cheated on her multiple times, making lovers of some of his students. A familiar pattern… Her marriage was on the rocks – but for the sake of their children, Suzanne stayed. The romance that had once sizzled, now fizzled out. They began sleeping in separate bedrooms and Suzanne threw herself into playing cards locally, spending evenings out while Jacques was left with the children.
Three years later, Suzanne, 38, stoked her passion with a new lover, 32-year-old salesman, Olivier Durandet.
After spending a night out with him, she returned to the family home in Toulouse, in the early hours of 27 February 2000.
Jacques, 42, spotted Suzanne asleep on a sofa bed in the guest room at 10am before he headed out for a jog.
A little while later, Jacques’ dad dropped by, picking up Clemence, 11, and the twins, 8.
The children and Jacques were having lunch with the grandparents that day.
But at 10.45am, Jacques rang his dad, told him he was running late.
That evening, returning home, Jacques found the front door locked. He didn’t think anything of his wife being out.
After all, they were living quite separate lives. But the following morning, Suzanne still wasn’t home. Or the next… On day three, Jacques reported his wife missing. He told police he’d found her eye drops and glasses at home, but her contact lenses were nowhere to be found. Hours later, Olivier reported Suzanne missing, too. Over the next few days, police tried to get to the bottom of the missing woman’s love triangle. And their attention fell on the two men involved. They tapped Jacques’ phone, and kept a close eye on Suzanne’s lover, too. Suspicious, they called
Jacques in for questioning.
Asked about his morning run, Jacques struggled to outline the route he took.
There were no witnesses to back up his story.
Searching the family home, police found traces of blood.
And when they asked questions about a missing mattress in the guest room, Jacques was vague.
He told them that he’d thrown it out after a relative complained about it being uncomfortable.
The landfill he’d dumped it in had caught fire the following night, taking the mattress with it.
Back at the house, Suzanne’s handbag was found in a cupboard, her wallet and mobile missing but house keys there.
How had she locked the door on her way out without them?
Meanwhile, Olivier told police his lover had had an appointment with a divorce lawyer booked for the day she’d gone missing.
Then Suzanne’s lost wallet was found on a nearby road. But still no body... Even so, police suspected Suzanne was dead.
In May 2000, after dropping his kids at school, Jacques was arrested and interrogated for 10 hours.
He was charged with the murder of his wife.
Nine months later, he was released while awaiting trial.
He returned to his teaching job but it would be years before his case was heard. Jacques Viguier’s children and mother-in-law stood by him, believed he was innocent. But Suzanne’s sisters sat on the opposite side of the courtroom, sure he’d killed their missing sibling. In 2009, after a two-week trial, Jacques was acquitted. The prosecution had struggled to paint a clear picture, with a lack of evidence, vague sequence of events, and no body. Prosecutors had been gunning for a 15 to 20-year sentence – and appealed, asking for a retrial. When the time came for that, the children’s nanny came forward with fresh information, blowing the prosecution’s case wide open. The nanny admitted Olivier, Suzanne’s lover, had contacted her in the days after the disappearance to arrange a secret visit to Jacques Viguier’s home.
The nanny claimed he’d wanted to go there while Jacques was out, to look for clues.
Accused of planting the handbag, tampering with evidence, Olivier denied it all.
The prosecution were intent on winning their appeal. However, the defence said there wasn’t enough to convict their man. Tensions rose... Clemence furiously defended her father during her testimony. ‘It was he who brought us up,’ she said. ‘If he was as bad as his accusers say, I would not be here today with my brother.’ Her younger brother Guillaume also refused to believe his father had slain his mother. ‘I prefer to think that my mum is alive,’ he said. ‘Nothing proves the contrary. Nobody can stop me from believing that.’ For over a decade, the case had dragged on. Finally, after a three-week retrial and more than six hours of deliberation, the jury reached a verdict…
Va n ish ed: suzanne has never been found For over a decade, the case dragged on
In March 2010, 10 years after his wife mysteriously vanished, Jacques Viguier was cleared of her murder for a second time.
Olivier Durandet and Suzanne’s sisters were absent as the verdict was announced.
Jacques’ lawyer, Eric Dupond-moretti, said, ‘No-one can now suggest his guilt. It is not a victory for the defence. It’s a victory for justice.’
Jacques made a statement, too.
‘I have just experienced 10 years of horror,’ he told the courtroom.
He later went on to write about his decade-long battle to clear his name.
But what of Suzanne, who has never been found? Is she still alive? That mystery, it seems, still remains unsolved.