Unsolved Mysteries – House of Terror

By: Sammi Turano

The episode begins spoken in French and talks about the culture and life in Nantes, France. Anne Sophie Martin is the journalist speaking.  She describes the city as peaceful with upper-middle class people. It is also where the DuPont murders took place in the House of Terror.

Anne says it is an unusual story and the house is now a tourist stop. Estelle Chapon was a family friend and recalls memories of seeing the kids grow up. We get a bit of background on the family who seem to be ordinary. She says on the day of the murders she could sense something was wrong because the shutters were closed. She finally calls the police and once they get in it looks like nothing is wrong so they leave. However, Estelle still believes something is wrong, especially when unusual letters arrive.

Xavier’s friend Bruno also talks about his own investigation into the case and shares his own memories. They also talk more about the letters and connections to the government.

The police return to the house several times and still find no evidence of a crime or unusual behavior. It isn’t until the sixth visit that an investigation is opened. The bodies are eventually found all wrapped up with religious icons around them. Xavier’s body is not found, making him the prime suspect. He is also missing.

We get a look into the life of Xavier who seems on the surface like the perfect man. The kids’ cause of death was being drugged and shot while the mom’s sleep apnea machine was tampered with. However, no one heard the shots. There was no physical proof Xavier was involved, although he is still a suspect.

We get more in depth about Xavier’s life and how, despite what people say, there was more beneath the surface and he was secretly broke. He was also dealing with the death of his dad. He inherited the rifle his dad owned three months before the murders. He was learning how to use it and eventually got a firearm license and silencer for it.

It appears that the kids were drugged that night, but Xavier hesitated to kill his eldest and biological son. No one has seen Xavier since the day after the murders, despite an exhaustive search. All they know is he left Nantes and they have a small paper trail based on credit card use. The police are after him and there is some worry that he may commit suicide. They continue to look for him with  no avail, all the while wondering why he would do this.

There is speculation he could have taken a boat or train somewhere and that they think he thinks he committed the perfect crime. Bruno wonders how he lives with himself knowing he killed his family.