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Man in the Woods

31:50 recording · EN · 1 speaker

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Brief overview

A bouncer's casual fling ended in murder: the scorned wife shot him, husband and friend covered it up.

  1. The accusation of theft was the misdirectionThe supposed robbery pointed police at Lionel and away from Natalie, and investigators never established it happened at all.
  2. A broken alibi reopened the whole caseMike's girlfriend said she had been home alone all night, contradicting the alibi he gave Mazarin hours earlier.
  3. Staging a gang killing nearly workedThe gunshot to the head and the bonfire matched how French trafficking gangs dispose of bodies, briefly convincing Mazarin.
Executive Summary AI
  • On the night of April 26, 2012, Lionel Varanez, a 39-year-old bouncer in Chamboury, France, was confronted by his friend Mike Booth, who said wealthy winery heir Philippe Perrier blamed him for a break-in at his house because Lionel was sleeping with Philippe's wife Natalie.1:01
  • Lionel denied the robbery but admitted to himself the affair was real, and three days later, on April 29th, he left his apartment after a phone call from Mike and never came home; his nephew Julian reported him missing at the Chamboury police station on May 1st.5:28
  • Captain Florent Mazarin interrogated Mike, whose girlfriend destroyed his alibi, then visited Philippe, who admitted knowing about the affair and showed a basement gun case missing two weapons he claimed were stolen in the robbery.7:50
  • Lionel's body was found near Marseille, 220 miles from Chamboury, shot in the back of the head and burned on a bonfire in the style French police call a barbecue, which briefly pushed Mazarin toward a drug-gang theory.19:58
  • Gas station footage from 5.43 a.m. on April 30th showed a black Volkswagen with a Chamboury plate carrying Philippe as passenger and Mike as driver, and the real killer proved to be Natalie Perrier, who got 20 years while Mike got six and Philippe three.23:06
Key Quote
“there was something in that fire.”
— Mr. Ballin0:46
Key Quote
“And he's like, Lionel, don't play dumb.”
— Mr. Ballin4:05
Key Quote
“okay, I'll pass that along to Philippe.”
— Mr. Ballin5:21