L’Affaire Ranucci : Le Combat d’une mère

On June 3, 1974, eight-year-old Marie-Dolorès Rambla was kidnapped in Marseille. The little girl’s body was found a few days later. Christian Ranucci quickly became the prime suspect. A couple claimed to have seen him get out of a car at the spot where the body was discovered, carrying a large package. While in custody, Christian Ranucci confessed to the murder. But he eventually recanted his confession. His mother, Héloïse, convinced of his innocence, began a relentless fight to try to get him acquitted. It was a lost cause: Ranucci was sentenced to death and executed. When Patrick Henry’s trial took place, Héloïse wrote a letter dictated by her conscience. Robert Badinter read it out in court. Héloïse begged that another mother, Patrick Henry’s, be spared the torment she had endured…