Murder of Agathe Hilairet in Vivonne: sex offender remanded for trial
On 10 April 2025, jogger Agathe Hilairet, 28, disappeared in the woods of Vivonne. A sex offender suspect was remanded for trial five months later.
Disappearance in Vivonne: the Agathe Hilairet case, from forest to courtroom
According to Google News FR — Crime (fr), on 10 April 2025, Agathe Hilairet, 28, leaves the family home in Vivonne, a small commune in Poitou situated south of Poitiers, for an early morning jog in the surrounding woods. She would not return.
A passionate runner, the young woman would cover the trails around the village almost every day. On that Thursday, mid-morning, she set out for another outing lasting one to two hours. When lunchtime passed without her returning, her parents attempt to contact her by text message. No response. The alarm is raised late in the afternoon.
An unprecedented search operation
From the next day, the gendarmerie deploys a command post in Vivonne. Officers sweep the terrain, a helicopter circles above the woods. Frédéric Arino, deputy commander of the Poitiers company, coordinates operations on site. Very quickly, the operation surpasses one hundred personnel, reinforced by volunteers and members of local running associations, according to William Giraud, journalist at ICI Poitou.
Divers and canine units then join the search. Despite these efforts, Agathe Hilairet remains missing.
A week after her disappearance, the Poitiers public prosecutor's office speaks for the first time. Investigators evoke a criminal lead: the jogger's smartwatch emitted its last signal in the commune of Voulons, 80 kilometres to the east of Vivonne. "We would therefore have found her there if the young woman had been a victim of an accident," note journalists Coralie Moreau and William Giraud in the podcast Crimes et témoignages broadcast on ICI.
A body discovered, an investigation at a standstill
On 4 May 2025, a walker discovers a body. The gendarmerie attends the scene. The village, which had feared the worst, learns the news with anxiety.
The autopsy results are slow in coming. No press conference is held. Throughout the summer, the investigation appears to lose momentum, with no advances publicly announced.
Sex offender remanded for trial
On 10 September 2025, the situation takes a turn. A man is taken into custody and then remanded for trial for abduction, unlawful confinement, and murder. A statement from the public prosecutor identifies the suspect: Didier Laroche, 59 years old at the time of the facts, previously convicted several times for sexual offences.
The man confesses. He admits to striking the young woman twice, but denies any intention to kill. According to his version, he was on the trail, his car parked nearby, engine running, when Agathe Hilairet would have come towards him. "We quickly understand that he is trying to shirk his responsibilities," comments William Giraud. The autopsy, conducted a month after the discovery of the body, did not establish whether the victim had been raped.
DNA development and retraction
In early 2026, Didier Laroche retracts his confessions. The reason: he has just learned of the existence of other genetic traces on Agathe Hilairet's clothing. According to analyses conducted at the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN) in Pontoise, the DNA of two other men, both known to the justice system and with extensive criminal records, was found on the victim's clothing, in addition to that of Laroche.
These elements will form a central axis of the defence. Maître Jean Chevais, lawyer for Agathe Hilairet's family, hopes that the trial can take place in the first months of 2027. The suspect and his counsel intend to rely on the presence of these multiple DNA traces to weaken the prosecution during proceedings.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)