Hi guys, I hope you’re doing well ! Did you drink water today ? If not, grab a glass !
Today, I’m going to tell you a story of determination, lies and cruelty that honestly left me quite angry. Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, here’s the story of the crimes of Murielle Floury.
A savage attack
On September 23rd, 2011, in the small city of Glénac, Lionel Floury, a salesman in his 40s, is chilling at home, probably after a hard day of work. Suddenly, he gets a call from his wife, Murielle. She is stuck a couple of miles away, in a place called “The Branféré”, with a flat tire. Personally, I would have told her to call a tow truck or something, but I’m not a devoted husband like Lionel. He gets in his car and drives to her location to help her. However, when he crouches down to start changing the tire, the unthinkable happens. Someone emerges from the shadows and starts attacking Lionel, hitting him with an iron bar before stabbing him seven times in the throat, the eye and the lungs. Despite his injuries, Lionel manages to fight off the attacker, who flees the scene, and Murielle calls emergency services.
Lionel is taken to the hospital in Redon around 11:30pm, but his injuries are too serious for him to be treated there. He is transferred to the ICU at the Rennes hospital, and miraculously survives his attack.
The investigation begins
The next day, Murielle and her daughter Alizée (born from a previous relationship) are questioned by investigators. Murielle explains that she was in the Branféré to learn the path that she was going to take to drop off Alizée at a nightclub later. She didn’t recognize the man who attacked Lionel, and doesn’t know anyone who would want to hurt him. Alizée confirms everything she says.
However, when the investigators really start looking into the family’s life, they discover that someone did want to hurt Lionel. Indeed, he had already made three formal complaints about his car being vandalized. Sabotaged would be a better word, since the culprit focused on the tires and the brakes.
After three weeks, Lionel gets out of the hospital, and explains to the investigators that he doesn’t have any enemies…except maybe the husband of his former mistress. Lionel had ended the extramarital relationship at his demand, but some lingering resentment would be understandable.
The wronged husband is questioned and gives an easily proved alibi, thus taking the investigators back to square one.
But why did Lionel, an apparently loving husband and father, engage in adultery ? Well, he justifies himself by saying that Murielle has leucemia, and thus can’t engage in intercourse anymore. Hardly a valid reason in my opinion, but who am I to judge ?
Right now, you must be feeling some pity towards Murielle. Not only does she have leucemia and has had to live through her husband’s affair, but she has almost lost him forever ! Well, some people have different opinions. Especially Lionel’s father.
He contacts the investigators, and tells them about his suspicions regarding Murielle. However, he has no proof of any wrongdoing (yet), so the investigators can’t do anything but listen to him politely. Sadly, his instinct is accurate.
The return to the hospital
Soon after his release from the hospital, Lionel goes back to work, even though still doesn’t feel well. In fact, his condition worsens as time passes. He rapidly stops going to work because he feels too tired. He can’t eat properly and sometimes isn’t even able to reach the toilet in time. He stills tries to lead a normal life, and has he is driving one day, he gets into an accident on the highway. Luckily, he doesn’t get hurt, but his children, including Alizée, with whom he is very close, are scared for him and tell him to go to the hospital. He does, and the doctors discover that his blood is full of benzodiazepine, known to be used in antidepressants. There is 16 times the normal amount in his system.
Lionel stays at the hospital to evacuate the chemical, but he is temporarily released to spend the New Year festivities with his family. However, when he comes back, his benzodiazepine levels have doubled !
That’s when he realizes that his family was right…It was Murielle all along. He leaves her immediately and moves in his father as soon as he gets out of the hospital.
Murielle’s lies
The investigators also start to be wary of Murielle. They start tapping her phone, and discover that her leucemia is a lie she invented to stop having sex with her husband. However, they also learn that she is pregnant by her lover, who is named Patrice Pluot.
This new player in the story is immediately investigated, and his phone is found to have pinged off a tower near the location of Lionel’s attack in the Branféré.
On March 16th, 2012, Murielle and Patrice are interrogated. Patrice denies being Murielle’s lover, and explains that on the night of the attack, he was in a pub with Alizée and her boyfriend, Jean-Sébastien. According to him, he only went to the Branféré after the fact, after Murielle called him.
This lie surely could have bought the lovers some time, if it weren’t for Lionel’s father and Alizée.
Soon after the interrogation, Lionel’s dad comes back with receipts, and shows the investigators photos from Murielle’s Facebook. While Lionel was recovering in the hospital after being stabbed almost to death, she was having parties with Patrice, Alizée and Jean-Sébastien ! Murielle even introduced Patrice to Lionel (as a friend of course) when he came back for New Year’s Eve !
Soon after these discoveries, it was Alizée’s turn to contact the investigators to tell them about her mother. She admits that she lied at Murielle’s behest. Murielle wasn’t in the Branféré to learn the path to the local nightclub, she already knew it.
Alizée also explains that on the night of the attack, she was at a pub with Patrice and Jean-Sébastien, but the two left without explaination for a long while. And since that night, Jean-Sébastien is very nervous and violent.
Finally, she tells investigators that she has heard Patrice tell her mother to put something in Lionel’s daily tea to “be done with it”.
These revelations aren’t the only elements brought to the attention of the police. Investigators also discover that Murielle likes to spend a lot of money, and that while Lionel was in the hospital, she got a bank loan by forging his signature. Maybe she counted on Lionel’s life insurance, which was worth at least €500,000 to pay back the bank.
Finally, the investigators track Jean-Sébastien’s phone, and find out that he also was in the Branféré the night of the attack…that’s quite a crowd for a flat tire !
The confessions and the trial
Murielle, Patrice, and Jean-Sébastien are arrested, and Jean-Sébastien is the first one to crack under pressure.
He confesses that he accepted to kill Lionel in exchange for €50,000.
On that fateful night, he got dropped off in the Branféré by Patrice, who also gave him the knife. Murielle was already there, waiting for him. He punctured a tire, and hid in some bushes, waiting for Lionel. After the attack, Patrice picked him up, and the two drove back to the pub where Alizée was waiting for them.
Patrice confirms this version of events.
Murielle confesses not only the planning of the attack, but also the sabotage of Lionel’s car and the poisoning. She tries to justify everything by saying that Lionel was violent, but that violence has never been proven before or since her declarations.
The trio is indicted, and Murielle gives birth to a little boy in prison.
The trial begins on May 13th, 2014. On the first day, Murielle surprises everyone by announcing that she is no longer in a relationship with Patrice, who learns about this at the same time as everyone else. She also tries to blame him for everything, saying that she was fragile and got manipulated.
Despite all of her efforts, her true nature is quickly revealed, and we even learn that she was being investigated by social services for gross negligence.
Murielle Floury, or Couret since Lionel divorced her, is sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Patrice Pluot gets 10 years, and Jean-Sébastien Thomas gets 12 years.
The trio appeals their sentence, but a judge confirms them in 2017.
If my math is correct, Patrice should be released next year, and Jean-Sébastien should be released in 2026. Murielle’s sentence will end in 2034.
And that’s it for this case ! Tell me what you think about it in the comments or on r/Murder_Wine_Cheese. If you can, please make a donation so I can offer you better content.
Watch some kitten videos to relax, and I'll see you with the next case !