Sophie Narme Case: Justice Denies Exhumation Request in Cold Case Involving Dominique Pelicot

Already convicted for a series of rapes, Dominique Pelicot is now under formal investigation in the case of the rape and murder of Sophie Narme, a real estate agent killed in Paris in 1991. A request to exhume the victim’s body in hopes of finding new DNA evidence has been denied by the court.

An Unsolved Crime for Over Three Decades

On December 4, 1991, 23-year-old real estate agent Sophie Narme was found dead in an apartment she had been showing in Paris’s 19th arrondissement. Her body showed signs of rape, strangulation with a belt, and a stab wound to the chest. A DNA sample was collected the same evening during the autopsy, and live sperm cells were observed. However, the sample mysteriously disappeared within days. With no viable evidence, the case eventually went cold.

A New Suspect Identified After 30 Years

It wasn’t until 2022 that the investigation saw a significant breakthrough. Dominique Pelicot—sentenced in late 2023 to 20 years in prison for the aggravated rape of his ex-wife, Gisèle Pelicot (in the so-called “Mazan rape case”)—was formally charged with rape and murder in the Narme case. He denies any involvement.

The connection was made after his DNA matched a sample taken in another unresolved case: the attempted rape of a young real estate agent named Marion* in 1999, in Villeparisis (Seine-et-Marne). In both incidents, the attacker used similar methods: arranging a property visit, employing ether, and using a cutter and binding materials to restrain the victim.

Exhumation Denied

In an effort to prove her client’s innocence, Pelicot’s lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, requested the exhumation of Sophie Narme’s body, hoping to find DNA traces. On April 17, 2025, the court denied the request, citing the improbability of recovering usable biological material after 34 years.

The Nanterre judicial court, which is overseeing the case, stated that the body was not buried in a lead-lined coffin, nor was it embalmed, making the recovery of biological fluids unlikely. The court noted that the victim’s fingernails—potential DNA sources—had already been collected during the original autopsy.

Circumstantial Evidence, Disputed Guilt

Although Pelicot confessed to the attempted rape of Marion in 1999—after his DNA was found on blood traces on her shoe—he continues to deny any involvement in Sophie Narme’s murder. His lawyer argues that the case against him relies solely on circumstantial similarities, not direct evidence.

Meanwhile, lawyer Florence Rault, representing both the Narme family and Marion, highlights the chilling parallels between the two cases: “We see ether, cords, a cutter… and in both cases, the victims were real estate agents. It started the same way—it could have ended the same way.”

A Missed Opportunity for Justice?

Dominique Pelicot had been listed in the national DNA database (FNAEG) since 2010, following an arrest for voyeurism. At that time, his DNA had already matched the sample from Marion’s assault. However, the Meaux prosecutor’s office had closed the case without reopening the investigation, despite the match.

As his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot told a Vaucluse criminal court in September 2023, this failure came at a cost: “Maybe I could have saved ten years of my life.”

Today, the investigation continues under the “cold case” unit in Nanterre. Dominique Pelicot has recently been questioned again, but without new biological evidence, the case remains unresolved.

*Name changed at the request of the victim.