Hi everyone, I hope you're doing well ! Today, I'm going to talk about a couple, because it's been a while since I talked about one, and also because this one killed for political ideals, which you don't see everyday (in France, that is). Anyway, today I'm going to tell you the story of Florence Rey and Audry Maupin.
Two very different childhoods
Florence Rey was born on August 27th, 1975, and grew up in Argenteuil, right next to Paris. She was a very discreet and calm kid, and did well in school. However, her home life wasn't anywhere near normal.
The Reys' family life is organized around the schizophrenia of the father, who can't even hear that he is ill. Everybody has to walk on the tip of their toes, speak as low as possible, and watch TV almost without sound, because any noise triggers the voices inside daddy's head. As you can guess, having to behave like you constantly have just broken into your house doesn't exactly guarantee good personal development.
Florence Rey
Audry Maupin was born on April 20th, 1972 in Houilles and grew up in Bezons, also right next to Paris. His family is normal, he is normal, everything is normal. Audry is an average child, passionate about climbing and ecology. After high school, he starts studying philosophy at the Nanterre University, and that's where things start to go downhill. That's during his time in this university that he discovers the French anarchist syndicate and other far-left movements, which he will adhere to for the rest of his life.
Audry Maupin
Love at first molotov cocktail
Audry and Florence meet in 1993, and they fall head over heels for each other. Florence follows Audry everywhere, even if that means climbing a mountain when the only thing she has climbed before is the stairs.
She joins him in his political endeavors, and together they found the RPO, the Revolutionary Propaganda Organization, an association of which they will stay the only two members. They participate in many demonstrations, including the one against the CIP, the minimum wage for young adults that the Prime Minister is trying to set up at the time. Audry hopes that those demonstrations are the beginning of a revolution, but they stop as soon as the CIP bill is withdrawn by the government. Disappointed, Audry and Florence join more extremist far-left groups.
Demonstration against the CIP
The not so perfect plan
After a few months, Audry decides that he is going to commit robberies to trigger an anarchist uprising and wreak havoc in Paris and the neighboring cities. That plan is...interesting. Florence follows him in this, if course, because she doesn't want him to risk his life on his own. I think it's time to remind you that they have been together for a year.
Anyway, in May 1994 they meet Abdelhakim Dekhar, known as Toumi in far-left circles. Abdelhakim learns about their plan, and accepts to get a rifle. Florence buys the second one.
The couple learns to shoot in the Nanterre house they are squatting, and prepare their plan of domination of the Paris area. As the month of September ends, they decide that they are ready.
The big day, the big tragedy
On October 4th, 1994, around 9pm, the couple climbs (ironic) over the fence of the Pantin municipal pound, and take the cops there hostage. They handcuff them, steal their guns, and empty their own mace bottles on them before running away.
Once they are outside, they stop Amadou Diallo's taxi and get in right next to the passenger, Georges Monnier. Audry points his newly acquired gun at Amadou Diallo temple and says "Get us to Nation and don't fuck with us". Amadou obeys.
The couple asks Amadou to give them his ID so they have something on him in case he speaks to the police, but the taxi driver refuses. Georges Monnier then tries to defuse the situation, but without much success.
When he gets to the Nation neighborhood in Paris, Amadou Diallo sees a police car, and makes a decision that changes everything. He rams the car and gets out, screaming "They want to kill me, they want to kill me !"
Audry and Florence immediately react and start shooting at the policemen, who try to shoot back. The policemen, Amadou Diallo, and Audry Maupin are wounded.
The crime scene at Nation
Audry rushes a car and the couple takes the unlucky driver, Jacky Bensimon, to drive to the Vincennes forest, probably hoping that the forest's size would allow them to get away.
At this point in the disaster, police backup have started chasing Jacky's car. Florence and Audry try to slow them down by shooting at them, but even though they wound two more policemen, the chase doesn't slow down.
As he's nearing the Vincennes forest, Jacky realizes that there is a police barrage right ahead. Florence does too, and puts her rifle in his back saying "If you stop, I kill you". Jacky disobeys, and stomps on the breaks. He manages to get out of the car just before the cops light it the fuck up, but he is still wounded. Audry is wounded a second time, but Florence is still untouched.
It's the end for the couple of anarchists. Florence kisses Audry one last time before he is taken away. Audry goes to the hospital, and Florence goes to the 36 Quai des Orfèvres, the French equivalent of NYC's One Police Plaza.
The couple's criminal life lasted only two hours, but the outcome is dramatic. Four people don't survive this night:
Amadou Diallo, 49. He was a Guinean immigrant who fed his whole family with his job. He leaves five children behind.
Laurent Gérard, 25. He had just started his career as a police officer.
Thierry Maymard, 30, and Guy Jacob, 37. They each leave two children behind.
Thierry Maynard et Laurent Gérard
Guy Jacob
Amadou Diallo
The victims of Rey-Maupin couple
Audry Maupin also won't survive his wounds. He dies in the hospital the next morning.
Silence at the 36
Florence is now the only one who can explain (and take responsibility for) the spree. But she is simply not talking. It takes 10 hours of interrogation for the investigators to get her name.
Florence Rey after her arrest
The investigation progresses despite that, and the rifles used by the couple give enough information for the police officers to get to Abdelhakim Dekhar, who denies everything, and at some point "reveals" that he is a secret agent from Algeria. Spoiler alert: he isn't, so he goes down for criminal conspiracy. He did 4 years for that, and he is now doing 25 years for a shooting he committed in 2013.
Abdelhakim Dekhar
Audry, always Audry
Once in pre-trial detention, Florence stays silent as much as possible, even with her lawyers. When she speaks, all she does is talk about Audry...in the present tense, because there's never a bad time to be creepy. According to her, Audry was responsible for everything, and she only followed him out of love. Again, they had met a year ago.
The trial
Florence Rey's trail begins on September 17th, 1998, and she is talkative as before in court. Has someone tried shaking her ? I know I would have.
Florence Rey at her trial
The trial summarizes what we already know, and the only new information is that none of the bullets Florence shot killed anybody. Yay, I guess.
Florence Rey is sentenced on September 30th, 1998 to 20 years in prison.
Where is she now ?
Florence Rey was (of course) a model prisoner, and got all the sentence reductions there are. She is thus freed on May 2nd, 2009, at the age of 34 years old. She is taken in by the moviemaker Jacques Richard, with whom she had started an epistolary affair in prison. She even gets her acting debut in the background of his movie L'orpheline avec en plus un bras en moins (I didn't watch it).
After this short career in cinema, she starts working in book publishing, and I guess that's what she is still doing. She regularly asks to be left alone as "the past is the past". I find that quite offensive, but after all I'm just a person with a keyboard and morbid curiosity.
That's it for today ! Don't hesitate and tell me what you think about this case on Reddit (r/Murder_Wine_Cheese), and if you want to make a suggestion or a donation, everything is on the homepage (you can switch it to English). I'll see you on the next article !
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