A Narrative Nonfiction Project in Progress : When Certainty Replaces Verification

Quémeneur's house 

When Certainty Replaces Verification

In May 1923, a businessman, Pierre Quémeneur, vanished on a remote road in western France.His body was never recovered. The last person known to have seen him alive, Guillaume Seznec, was later accused of murder.

The case was never solved.

A year later, despite the absence of a body, a confession, or physical evidence, a French court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment. The verdict brought official closure to a mystery that, in many respects, had never been resolved.

Brittany to Paris: The Road, the Cadillac, and the Last Known Journey

 
Brittany to Paris: The Road, the Cadillac, and the Last Known Journey

In red, route from Morlaix to Paris via the RN12

To understand the Seznec case, one must first understand geography.

Brittany sits at the western edge of Europe, facing the Atlantic. It is a land shaped by wind, sea, and distance—historically more connected to maritime routes than to Paris. In the early 1920s, traveling from Brittany to the capital was not a routine trip. It was a journey.

Judicial Proof vs. Historical Proof in the Seznec case

In my exchanges, I often hear this remark: “There is no evidence.”

There is no evidence of innocence, no evidence of guilt. In short, there is never any evidence…

It is therefore necessary to explain what “evidence” means in the Seznec case. It is a judicial case that has now become a historical case. We must therefore distinguish between evidence from a judicial standpoint and evidence from a historical standpoint. These notions are often confused.

Since 2018, my research has been purely historical. It could potentially be used in a request for retrial, but it inevitably leads to proving one single thing: that there is reasonable doubt as to Guillaume Seznec’s guilt. As Denis Langlois keeps insisting, that doubt should have benefited the accused.

The difference between judicial proof and historical proof can be summarized as follows: the first is used to judge, the second to understand.

A Murder Trial Without a Body: How Courts Build Certainty

 

National Road 12 near Houdan during the police investigations

A Murder Trial Without a Body: How Courts Build Certainty

In criminal justice, the absence of a body is often described as a weakness. In reality, it can be something else entirely: an invitation to narrative.

When a victim disappears without leaving physical traces, investigators are forced to rely on indirect evidence. Timelines, behavior, documents, inconsistencies—these become the building blocks of certainty. Over time, they can weigh as heavily as forensic proof.

What Archives Reveal — and What They Never Say

What Archives Reveal — and What They Never Say

Archives are often imagined as vaults of truth. Silent rooms filled with documents that, once opened, finally tell the whole story.

The reality is more complicated.

Archives do not preserve events. They preserve decisions: what was recorded, by whom, for what purpose, and under which institutional constraints. Every file reflects not only what happened, but what an administration believed was worth documenting at a given moment.

The Seznec case, like many early twentieth-century investigations, survives today through a mosaic of judicial records, police reports, and administrative documents. These files are invaluable. But they are also partial.

The Seznec Case: A French Mystery That Never Closed

 The Seznec Case: A French Mystery That Never Closed

In the spring of 1923, two men left Brittany by car and headed toward Paris. Only one of them came back.

Pierre Quéméneur was a businessman and local official. Guillaume Seznec ran a sawmill and moved through a world of small deals, loans, and postwar opportunism. They knew each other. They did business together. And in late May 1923, they traveled together toward the capital.

Guillaume Seznec and pierre Quémeneur

Quéméneur was never seen again.

The Seznec Case for beginners

 

The Seznec Case

Introduction

The Seznec case stands as a significant episode in French legal history, capturing the public's imagination and sparking debates over justice and truth for over a century. Dating back to 1922, the case involves the mysterious disappearance of Pierre Quéméneur and the subsequent conviction of Guillaume Seznec, a man whose name has become synonymous with wrongful conviction and legal battles. This article aims to dissect the Seznec case from its inception to the ongoing discussions in 2024, exploring the complexities of justice and the ways public perception has evolved.

Projet d'Erection d'une statue du General Pershing / Project to Erect a Statue of General Pershing

 

Leon G Turrou

 

Seznec Affair on Murderpedia

 Muderpedia Seznec Affair

 

 

The Seznec Affair Storyline part 3 : Requests for revision of the penal court decision

Requests for revision of the penal court decision

Since the verdict in 1924 and until the last decision to reject was announced on December 14, 2006, there have been 9 major requests for review. The total number is probably more, but some of the requests were in the form of a simple letter sent to the Minister of Justice.

1/ 1926-1929 First request for review