Dominici affair

The Dominici affair was the criminal investigation into the triple murder of three Britons in France. During the night of 4/5 August 1952, Sir Jack Drummond, a 61-year-old scientist; his 45-year-old wife Anne Wilbraham; and their 10-year-old daughter Elizabeth were murdered next to their car which was parked in a lay-by near La Grand'Terre, the farm belonging to the Dominici family, located near the village of Lurs in the département of Basses-Alpes (now Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).^[1] Family patriarch Gaston Dominici was convicted of the three murders in 1957 and sentenced to death, though it was widely believed that his guilt had not been clearly established. In 1957, President René Coty commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, and on 14 July 1960, President Charles de Gaulle ordered Gaston Dominici's release on humanitarian grounds due to his poor health, but he was never pardoned or given a re-trial. Gaston Dominici died April 4, 1965. The affair made international headlines at the time.

Timeline of events

The crime

On the evening of 4 August 1952, while they were holidaying in France in their Hillman car with registration number NNK686, the Drummond family made a stop along National Highway 96, 165 metres from La Grand'Terre, a farm in the municipality of Lurs. They stopped by the mile marker 6 km south of Peyruis and 6 km north of La Brillanne. A bridge spanned the railway 60 metres from the road. A path winds down both sides of the railway line to the bank of the Durance river.

The Grand'Terre farm was inhabited by the Dominicis, a family of farmers comprising Gaston (75), the patriarch; Marie (73), his wife, nicknamed "The Sardine" (1879-1974); Gustave (33), their son; Yvette (20), Gustave's wife; and their baby son Alain (10 months).^[2] The family was of Italian origin: Gaston's great-grandfather moved from PIedmont to Seyne in 1800 to work the land.

That evening, the Dominici family were having a party to celebrate the end of the harvest. Several family members travelled back and forth between the farmhouse and the fields, passing the Drummonds on several occasions. The Dominicis irrigated their alfalfa field using water from the Manosque Canal, which crosses over the railway track. A few days earlier, Marie Dominici forgot to close off the irrigation pump for the night, causing the pump's ballast to collapse. Since then, several family members had gone regularly to check that the damage was not obstructing the railway track, as the SNCF may have demanded that they pay repair costs if such an obstruction occurred.^[3] In the early hours of 5 August, six or seven shots were heard at approximately 1.10 am.^[4] A lorry driver, Marceau Blanc, passed the location at 4.30 am. He noticed a camp bed in front of the Drummonds' car, as well as a canvas that covered the car's windscreen and right side windows. At 4:50 am, a Joseph Moynier passed the scene and did not notice any of this. At 5:20 am, a Jean Hébrard noticed a camp bed leaning against the car.^[5] The crime scene appeared to have changed throughout the early morning, contradicting the briefly held theory that the murders were part of a contract killing.

The following dawn, Gustave Dominici flagged down a passing motorcyclist and told him that he had found the body of a young girl whose head had apparently been smashed in. He asked the motorcyclist to contact the police. Shortly thereafter, the bodies of Mr and Mrs Drummond were found near their car, apparently shot to death.

References

1. Daniau, Jean-Charles (2004). Dominici, c'était une affaire de famille. Archipel. p. 7.
2. "L'affaire Dominici, une énigme vieille de soixante ans". 20minutes.fr. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
3. Meckert, Jean (1954). La tragédie de Lurs. Gallimard. p. 45.
4. Jean-Charles Deniau, "l'Affaire Dominici*, report in TV programme Au cœur de l'Histoire, 15 October 2012
5. Meckert, Jean (1954). La tragédie de Lurs. Gallimard. p. 76.