MORLAIX — 1923 · Murder
The Seznec Affair
Pierre Quéméneur, a Finistère general councillor and timber merchant, vanished without trace on the night of 25–26 May 1923 during a business trip from Brittany to Paris. Guillaume Seznec, a Morlaix sawmill owner who had set out with him, was arrested as the last person to see him alive; he was convicted of murder in November 1924 and sent to the penal colony in French Guiana. Quéméneur's body was never found. Seznec was released in 1947 and died in 1954 after a road accident. His family, arguing he had been framed by police, sought a retrial fourteen times, the last request brought by the Justice Minister himself. On 14 December 2006 the revision chamber of the Court of Cassation rejected it for lack of new evidence.
- Date
- 1923
- Place
- Finistère, France, Morlaix, FR
- Category
- Murder
- Case Status
- Closed
- Coordinates
- 48.5770, -3.8280 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 25–26 May 1923Pierre Quéméneur vanished during a trip to Paris.
- 1 July 1923His travelling companion was charged with murder.
- 4 November 1924He was convicted and sent to French Guiana.
- 1947He was released; he died in 1954.
- 14 December 2006The Court of Cassation rejected the retrial request.
Sources
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.