THE MICKAEL LABONNE CASE: THE HERO WHO SAVED HIS FAMILY | Enquêtes criminelles | W9

April 12 2016: that date is so significant for Emilie Laillier that she had it inscribed on her neck two days after the murder of her partner. This mother escaped death. For Enquêtes criminelles she agreed to speak for the first time of the tragedy she experienced. Lumes, near Charleville-Mézières. On that April day in 2016, Emilie and Mickael are having lunch at home with their two babies, Aaron and Lilou, when someone rings at their door. They are alarmed to discover that it is Xavier Gougelet. Several years earlier, Emilie had managed to remove this violent ex from her life. However, on his release from prison, the man vowed to track her down. And now that he has succeeded, he is determined that it will all end in a bloodbath. Armed to the teeth, the 6’3’’, 260lb colossus crashes through the front door. In order to allow his family to flee, Mickael Labonne stands up to him. And he takes two initial stab wounds to the stomach. Alerted by screaming, neighbours rush into their garden. By a miracle, they manage to help Emilie and her two children climb out and then take them to safety in their house. Blows from fists, knives and a hammer: Mickael succumbs to the murderous rage of Xavier Gougelet, who is finally subdued with great difficulty by gendarmes from the Flize brigade. On January 22 2021, Xavier Gougelet is sentenced on appeal to 30 years’ incarceration with a minimum term of 22 years. A cause for concern: on the witness stand, his father states: “I know my son: when he gets out he’ll finish what he started”. A terrible threat hanging over a shattered family painfully struggling to rebuild itself.