Catholic priest who fell out with Emile Soleil murder suspects ‘kills himself’
A Roman Catholic priest who fell out with those suspected of murdering tragic French boy Émile Soleil has allegedly committed suicide.
Father Claude Gilliot, 85, baptised the child before his death in the Alps in the summer of 2023, aged just two.
He was once extremely close to Émile’s grandparents, Philippe and Anne Vedovini, who are currently in custody in Marseille, along with two of their adult children.
Father Gilliot frequently expressed his upset over the murder, and on Wednesday it emerged that he allegedly ‘took his own life’ last Saturday week at his home in Aix-en-Provence.
Roman Catholics view suicide as a sin, on par with murder.
An investigating source said the cause of death was ‘a massive overdose,’ and that he left an apparent suicide note saying: ‘Warn my sister. Tell her I love her. Tell my brother-in-law, I love them.’
Father Gilliot’s sister, Claudine Vandenbroucke, said: ‘I’m very angry with Émile’s family, because I think it all started with them.’
The boy’s grandparents and his aunt and uncle face criminal charges of ‘intentional homicide’ and ‘hiding a corpse’ in relation to Émile’s death, prosecutors have confirmed.
They fell out with the priest after he provided French media with a photo of Emile to help try and find the little boy.
Police searched the family’s luxurious farmhouse where Emile’s body with a fractured skull was found nine months after he went missing.
He disappeared on July 8 2023 after arriving at the home in the French hamlet of Haut-Vernet.
Two cars, including a navy blue Hyundai and a horse trailer, were also seized.
Enquiry sources have confirmed that the Vedovinis, who were looking after Émile when he went missing, were arrested following months of police wire taps.
Conversations between them and other family members were all secretly listened to, while enquiries were conducted around their lives.
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