François Vérove
François Vérove (22 January 1962 – 29 September 2021) was a French serial killer and onetime gendarme and police officer, nicknamed "Le Grêlé" (the pockmarked man).[2]
François Vérove | |
|---|---|
 An illustration of the expected appearance of the suspect | |
| Born | 1961/1962 [1] Gravelines, France |
| Died | (aged 59) [1] Le Grau-du-Roi, France |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Other names | "Le Grêlé" |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Serial killer |
| Details | |
| Victims | 3-15 |
Span of crimes | 1986–1994 |
| Country | France |
| Location(s) | Île-de-France |
In 1986, he killed an 11-year-old girl, Cécile Bloch, in Paris.[3]
On 24 September 2021, Vérove received a police summons to provide a DNA sample in five days time, after an investigating magistrate "decided to send letters to 750 gendarmes (military police) stationed in the Paris region at the time" of the murder of Cécile Bloch, in hopes of cracking the cold case.[2] Vérove's wife reported him missing on 27 September.[2] At age 59,[1] he killed himself by barbiturate overdose on 29 September,[4] in a rented flat in Le Grau-du-Roi on the Mediterranean coast southeast of Montpellier,[5] and was found there with his suicide note.[2][3][6] The suicide note confessed to experiencing "previous impulses" while saying he had since "got himself together" following "his marriage and the birth of his children", and claiming that he "hadn't done anything since 1997".[2][5]
In addition to working as a gendarme and police officer, he had served on the council of the commune of Prades-le-Lez, in the region around Montpellier where he had long resided.[5]
Victims
The BBC reports "His murders and rapes shocked Paris between 1986 and 1994, but until now were never solved. … Vérove is linked to four murders and six rapes but... there were undoubtedly more."[2]
Vérove's victims include:[6]
- Cécile Bloch, 11 (1986)
- Gilles Politi, 38, Air France worker and Irmgard Mueller, 21, a German au pair working for Politi (1987)
References
- Adam Sage (1 October 2021). "Former police officer confesses he is notorious serial killer Le Grêlé in suicide note". The Times of London.
- "French ex-officer's DNA ends 35-year murder hunt". BBC News. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- Chrisafis, Angelique (1 October 2021). "Paris serial killer of 80s and 90s was ex-police officer, DNA shows". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- "Affaire du «Grêlé» : 35 ans après, le criminel a enfin un nom et un visage". Le Parisien (in French) (23977). 1 October 2021.
- "À La Grande-Motte, stupéfaction des voisins de François Vérove, le tueur en série dit "le Grêlé"". France TV. 1 October 2021.
- "French serial killer 'Le Grele' identified as retired police officer after 35-year hunt". Sky News. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
