WHO TRIED TO KILL RACHEL AUTRAND? | M6 | 66 minutes

For the first time Rachel tells reporters of the frightening night in 2013 when Fabrice, her fiancé at the time, tried to have her killed. Around 2 in the morning, as she lies sleeping beside her partner in their shared bed, a masked stranger armed with a pistol bursts into the bedroom. Suddenly, Rachel is shot 3 times: in the body, the legs and the stomach. The only reason she is still here to tell the tale is that, luckily, the gun jammed, forcing the shooter to flee. Tended by the emergency services, Rachel survives, but the consequences of her wounds are serious: forever traumatized by the tragedy. Right from the beginning, investigators find it hard to believe in a burglary that went wrong, which is what Fabrice seems to believe. Something that doesn’t fit arouses the investigators suspicion: why was the victim’s partner spared by the shooter? But pointing the finger at him is a delicate matter: Fabrice Autrand is an influential man around Alès. Former owner of the biggest discotheque in town and son of a police inspector, he runs a waste collection company. A short time previously, he became engaged to Rachel, 32, whom he met on a dating site and with whom he has a ten month-old son. Following the attack, Fabrice makes a real fuss of his wounded partner; he even begins preparations for their wedding. And yet he is suspect No.1 in the attempted murder: the investigation soon reveals that the couple’s relationship was not all plain sailing. Between Rachel and Fabrice’s mother tension was palpably violent. The businessman’s telephone records show that several days before the tragedy he was in contact with a security guard with an unsavory reputation. Fabrice’s bank accounts give him away: over several months before the tragedy, he withdrew more than 15,000 Euros in cash and is unable to account for where the money went. Eight months after the tragedy, in custody, Fabrice Autand confesses. Torn between having to choose between his mother and his fiancée and concerned that Rachel would receive custody of their child if they divorced, he did hire Moraud, the security guard, to kill his future wife. Moraud continues to deny any involvement, even though his DNA was found at the crime scene. Now charged, the two men face life imprisonment at their trial, which is scheduled for early 2017. An investigation into an extraordinary plot.