November 3, 2025 • 27 mins
A new season of Le Monstre is available now. Check out episode 1, "A Cold Dark Night"
December 22, 1996, Jacqueline Leclercq vanishes from her apartment in the city of Mons in Belgium. Despite suspicious circumstances, her disappearance garners little media attention. Jacqueline wasn't the first and would not be the last in a series of disappearances that would soon shock the country.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A new installment in the Monster franchise is coming November seventeenth.
A decade ago, filmmaker Josh Zeman was on the hunt
for the country's most elusive serial killer, one who left
nearly a dozen bodies along the beaches of Long Island.
While he got close to catching him, it wasn't until
twenty twenty three that authorities finally made an arrest. The
(00:24):
troubling part is the answers were there all along, hidden
in plain sight. So why did it take authorities so
long to catch him? And how many lives could have
been saved? From Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Podcasts, a new
installment in the Monster franchise is coming November seventeenth. This
(00:44):
is Monster Hunting the Long Island serial Killer, an investigative
podcast into the most notorious killer in New York since
The Son of Sam. Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
The Butcher of Moss is released weekly absolutely free, but
you can binge the entire season now with iHeart True
Crime Plus exclusively on Apple Podcasts. You'll also get ad
free listening and exclusive bonus episodes, so head to Apple Podcasts,
search iHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
The views and opinions expressing this podcast are solely those
of the podcast author or individuals participating in the podcast,
and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, Tenderfoot TV, or
their employees. This podcast also contains subject matter which may
not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
I can remember it so clearly. Actually, it was a Sunday,
and my sister Jacqueline and I went to visit on
mom's place near Mont's, and that afternoon Jacqueline took a bath.
I can still picture it and her saying, it feels
good to take a nice bath, so relaxing.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
December twenty second, nineteen ninety six will forever remain etched
in the memory of Jeangeese Leclaire. That day, she and
her sister Jacqueline got together at their mother's house near
the city of mons And, Belgium for a little pre
Christmas get together.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Jacqueline didn't bring a change of clothes, so I lent
her some That evening. I suggested she should stay at
my place, but she didn't want to. She really wanted
me to take her home that night on the road
back to her place. We agreed to speak the following
day to plan something for Chris as a family.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
The short trip back to Jacqueline's place in the center
of Moss took about ten minutes. She lived in a
small third floor apartment in a relatively quiet street for
a busy city.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
So at around eight pm I dropped her off in
front of her apartment. I remember it was really cold
and dark. Her street wasn't well lit at all. So
to reassure her, and to reassure myself as well, I
(03:35):
told her I would stay in the car until she
was sitting inside. She didn't seem scared. She got out
of the car and opened her front door, and then
she waved at me and then went inside.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
What Georgette didn't know then was if this would be
the last time she would ever see her sister. Jacqueline
one of several disappearances in nineteen ninety six and ninety
seven in the Belgian city of mass that would become
one of Europe's most horrifying cold cases, linked to a
mysterious and sadistic serial killer.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
A cab mysteriously as sexuality.
Speaker 6 (04:42):
The rest the disappearance of a woman from Monts Jacqueline Class.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
The condition of the victims was sickening, and the question remains,
where is the killer?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
From Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Podcasts, I'm your host Matt
Graves and this is Lea Monstre Season two, The Butcher
of Moss. Yes, I've just arrived at the central station
(05:29):
in Moss after an easy one hour train ride from Brussels,
where I've lived since the summer of ninety five. It's
been thirty years since I moved here from Austin, Texas,
but I vividly remember living through this case as it
began to unfold in nineteen ninety six. It was terrifying,
and to a certain extent it still is, because decades later,
(05:53):
the case has never been solved. I've traveled down to
Mass today with Xavier de com, a private investigator who's
helped me on other cases. Xavier has an uncanny ability
to find things in people and to approach hard questions
from different angles. On this first trip, our goal is
(06:14):
to get our heads around the case and immerse ourselves
and how events actually unfolded. From the ground level. Mass
is a charming city in southern Belgium, just four miles
from the northern border of France. You can see the
remnants of the Middle Ages all around the densely packed center,
just a stone's throw away from where Xavier and I
(06:35):
are walking right now. We're here to meet with Morgan
van Leaherberg, an author who studied Jacqueline Leclaire's case extensively.
After a short walk in the pouring rain, we meet
at a cafe near the train station. Morgan is a
font of knowledge about this affair. You'll hear another voice
(06:59):
in the background who would prefer to remain anonymous given
his previous role in this sensitive case. We brave the
weather and make our way towards the last place Jacqueline
was seen before she disappeared on the twenty second of
December nineteen ninety six. So we're standing in front of
Jacqueline's apartment.
Speaker 7 (07:19):
It's really quite a little desolate area here, actually, and
there's not much happening. Her street's very quiet or very small,
and you can picture it at night on a winter evening,
the other being extremely dark, and we're kind of almost scary.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Morgan got to know and interviewed Jacqueline's sister, Georgette, whose
words you heard voiced in English at the beginning of
the episode, so I asked him what she told him
about that night she dropped off Jacqueline.
Speaker 8 (07:48):
She waited for Jacqueline to go inside and waited until
she saw her turn the light on in the apartment.
We are certain that Jacqueline went into her apartment at
that moment, but when she was dropped off, she was
wearing her sister's clothes because she didn't have any clean
clothes after taking a bath at her sister's house. And
(08:10):
Georgette told me that it could have been possible that
since she was working all the next week and Christmas
was coming, she could have gone to the laundromat right
here next to her apartment that night to do laundry.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Jacqueline's sister never gave up looking for the truth. Sadly,
she passed away in twenty twenty two with out of
her finding answers. All of her testimony that you'll hear
in this series is based on word for word translations
of her statements and interviews voiced in English. Already, starting
from the day after she dropped off Jacqueline in front
(08:49):
of her small apartment where Morgan and I are standing
right now, she knew something was wrong. Here are Georgette's words.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
On the next day, December twenty third, Jacqueline was supposed
to call me or my mother, but she didn't. That's
when we realized something was wrong. It was from that moment,
from that lack of contact the next day, that the
nine mayre began for me and for my mother.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Jacqueline and her sister were planning to spend Christmas together
in two days. Having heard nothing from her sister, Jeanchette
began to worry.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
I didn't go to the police because well, I thought
they would make us wait like ten days before starting
a search. So I decided I search for my sister myself.
I started with the family, checking with her ex husband
and also around the area where she lived.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
After several days of desperate searching, her family finally went
to the police and Jacqueline was added to the national
database of missing persons. The initial investigation consisted of a
cursory search of her apartment, interviews with family members, and
her records review. Eventually, her case made the local news.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
Luzy Mvitabricado, dispar and now the disappearance of a woman
from Monte Jacqueline le clerk thirty three years.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Old will come at dich Chateau.
Speaker 9 (10:23):
This young woman has short, light brown hair and blue eyes,
five feet three inches tall with a normal build. She
is French speaking.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
According to her sister, Jacqueline was apprehensive about something in
the time leading up to her disappearance, so much so
that she felt the need to protect herself.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
One of the last time I saw her at Mom's
house in early December, when I took her jacket from
the coat rack, I felt something in one of her pockets.
It was a big nail. She grubbed it and said, see,
I have something to defend myself if someone comes after me.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
By all accounts, Jacqueline Leclaire was a kind and pleasant person.
Why would this quiet mother of four feel the need
to walk around with a big nail in her pocket
for protection? Jacqueline was turning the page on a difficult
time in her life. To fully understand her situation, we
have to take a step back. Jacqueline and her older sister, Georgette,
(11:39):
had a great relationship despite their seven years of separation.
Growing up, Georgette always took care of her little sister
and loved her dearly. They were raised in a middle
class family unit with loving parents. Jacqueline always had a
cool big sister who looked after her. In her early
(12:06):
teenage years, however, tragedy befell the family. Her father fell
ill with thrombosis and could no longer work. He couldn't
stand the thought of not providing for his family and
sank into a deep depression. When Jacqueline was only thirteen,
her father committed suicide. This drastically changed the course of
(12:30):
her life. Their family unit was broken. Her sister, Georgette,
was twenty years old at the time. She had already
moved out of the family home and started her life
as a young adult, But as a young teen, Jacqueline
was lost. Such an awful tragedy during these crucial formative
(12:52):
years changed the course of her life.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
When our Fada died, Jacquelinette grew up quickly. She wanted
to be independent. She married a guy named Angelo at
a very young age. Mum wasn't in favor of the marriage.
At first. It seems nice to me, but I changed
my mind later. Angelo was dishonest and positive of Jacqueline.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Jacqueline and Angelo had two children. While Jacqueline was still
a teenager and then two more. In her early twenties,
her life transitioned abruptly from a girl with loving parents
to a young teenager with children and a dominating husband. Unsurprisingly,
there was tension in the marriage.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
She loved her children very much, but she was overwhelmed
by the events at marked her life. The situation quickly
spiraled out of control, and she and Angelo separated. When
she disappeared, they were in the process of divorcing and
it wasn't going well. Angelo was greedy and he wouldn't
let her go. When things didn't go his way he
(13:59):
could become viable.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
I asked Morgan what he knows about the relationship between
Jacqueline and her ex husband Angelo. At the time, the.
Speaker 8 (14:09):
Jacqueline quickly fell in love with Angelo, who was very dominating.
They had children and she became a housewife. According to Sister,
Angelo was violent with her. She was unhappy and living
a dreadful life. She tried to leave him several times,
but when he wanted to he could always get her back.
But at one point he found a new woman who
(14:30):
was quite similar to Jacqueline, and so he left her
and she found herself alone, and at that point she
really lost her footing. She spent some time in psychiatric
care because she was devastated, but at the time she disappeared,
she was just starting to get her life back under control.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Georgette and many others, including some in law enforcement, suspected
that Angelo could have been behind Jacqueline's disappearance. The difficult
end to their rocky relationship had left its marks, and
according to her sister, Jacqueline felt threatened by Angelo after
the separation. He was never arrested or charged with any involvement,
and to this day he refuses to talk about the case.
(15:10):
So I don't really have much to go on now
that both of her parents and only sibling have passed away.
I have a short video of Jacqueline that was taken
not long before her disappearance. She's looking into the camera
and smiling shyly. She's very pretty, with beautiful skin and
(15:33):
delicate features. Her eyes are friendly but cautious, and she
seems slightly uncomfortable to be filmed, but at the same
time flattered to be the focus of the camera. Morgan
showed me other pictures of Jacqueline that her sister shared
with him. She's often dressed down with a tomboy look.
(15:56):
Her sister explained that she tended to hide her beauty
to avoid unwanted advances. As I look at these pictures
in this video, I find myself asking what did those
kind eyes staring back at me see that no one's
been able to figure out. As the investigation continued, police
(16:23):
got access to Jacqueline's bank information, and they discovered a
troubling detail. There had been two failed attempts to use
her debit card at the ATM located near her apartment,
at approximately one am the next morning. When her sister
learned about this, it jogged her memory and she recalled
that during the drive back to Jacqueline's apartment that night,
(16:45):
she'd mentioned that she wanted to go check the state
of her accounts at the ATM, but her sister convinced
her to wait until the next morning because it was
already dark, and Jacqueline agreed and went directly into her apartment.
On the one hand, it made sense that Jacqueline could
have visited the ATM as she mentioned it to her
sister on the way home that night. On the other hand,
(17:07):
it makes no sense at all that she would have
forgotten her pen code, leading to the failed transactions. In fact,
it would seem to indicate that her disappearance could be
linked to some sort of robbery. Hey, don't expect the contact.
We're back in the center of Mons with Morgan van
Laerberg in front of the apartment where Jacqueline was last seen.
(17:30):
I want to understand the location of this atm where
we have the last potential sign of life from Jacqueline.
So now we're going to time the.
Speaker 7 (17:38):
Walk from Jacqueline's house to her atm, where she might
have forgotten cash, but where.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Her bank card was used apparently two times or refused
two times that night. So we're going to do the timing,
don't uh. The walk from Jacqueline's apart to the ATM
in question cuts across several apartment blocks mixed with commercial buildings.
(18:07):
It's kind of a rough neighborhood, and I'm told that
it was rougher than it is today back in nineteen
ninety six, especially at night. I try to imagine myself
in Jacqueline's shoes making this trip at one o'clock in
the morning on a cold and dark December night. Honestly speaking,
I just don't see it. Her sister said she was
(18:28):
tired that night, she'd already eaten and taken a bath
and gotten back to her apartment. It was freezing cold
and dark, and it's a dangerous route. After about a
six minute walk, we arrive at the spot where the
ATM was located in nineteen ninety six.
Speaker 8 (18:48):
Okay, we're arriving where the attempts to use her bank
card happened at around one in the morning on the
twenty third of December. The particularity is that it's not
well situated. It's in a dark area, out of view.
There was a surveillance camera on the ATM machine, but
it was out of order at the time, unfortunately, as
(19:12):
it could have helped answer a number of questions.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
It's incredibly frustrating that the surveillance camera of the ATM
wasn't working that night. That footage would have given us
concrete information about those transactions. Without it, were left to
speculate on if they played a part in her disappearance
or not. The ATM no longer exists. As we stood there,
soaked to the bone in the freezing rain, me with
(19:39):
my headphones and several other guys staring at a brick wall,
we definitely got some funny looks from passers by. The
street next to the ATM had a number of abandoned
buildings that had been inhabited by squatters and probably drug dealers.
Back in ninety six. Apparently there was another serious crime
involving this ATM, where two men burglarized and murdered a
(20:02):
person in their apartment nearby and used the victim's debit
card to withdraw cash.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
Here.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
This underscores how dangerous this area was at the time.
As you heard at the top of the episode, this
case is still unsolved. I wouldn't be trapsing around this
(20:33):
rough neighborhood soaked of the bone in the freezing rain
of late November if it wasn't important. I'm convinced the
disappearance of Jacqueline Leclaire holds the keys to the entire
story which will follow. After the two failed attempts at
the ATM, around one am on December twenty third, Jacqueline's
(20:53):
timeline goes cold. She didn't show up her work on
the following day. From the very beginning, Georgette became convinced
that someone abducted her sister. She constantly retraced her steps.
The night she dropped Jacqueline off recalled conversations and racked
her brain to search for any details that might serve
(21:13):
as cloes.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
During the police search of my sister's apartment, I was
present as a witness. There is one detail that disturbed me,
not at the time, but later. I remember a pack
of cigarettes, dark in color from a brain I didn't recognize,
laced near the window where she would smoke when the
(21:36):
weather allowed it. I'm certain that my sister didn't smoke
that Bran and I remember there were cigarettes bats in
the ash tree, a lot of them. Jacqueline was in
the habit of leaving them lying around in her apartment.
She didn't like the smell of stale tobacco. If Jacqueline
had someone over that evening, they could have been the
(21:58):
perpetrator's cigarettes.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
At the time, the police were merely investigating the disappearance
of an adult woman, one of over thirty thousand estimated
missing persons in Belgium in the mid nineties. They didn't
consider testing the cigarette butts left behind, even if they had.
DNA testing in Belgium was still in its infancy at
the time. Another missed opportunity with the benefit of hindsight,
(22:27):
the author Morgan von Laerberg followed up extensively with Jacqueline's
sister about this pack of cigarettes. She was one hundred
percent sure that they couldn't have been Jacqueline's. If not,
then whose were they. Jacqueline was extremely private and didn't
regularly have people over to her apartment. If we assume
(22:47):
they belonged to the person responsible for her disappearance, it
would mean that she must have known the perpetrator. In
terms of possible suspects, this would tighten the profile considerably
and lower the probability that this was a crime of opportunity.
(23:09):
As the new year arrived and winter's icy grip began
to fall, Jeorgette refused to give up on her sister.
She took matters into her own hands, creating missing Persons
posters and tirelessly plastering them throughout the neighborhood and in
places where Jacqueline was known to frequent. One of these
places was Jacqueline's favorite spot for a quick bite to eat,
(23:30):
a small fast food restaurant near the central train station
of Moss, the same station where Xavier and I arrived
this morning. After visiting Jacqueline's apartment and the atm where
a card was refused. We've now come full circle back
to the central station. We're standing in front of a
small fast food restaurant that Jacqueline was known to frequent.
(23:54):
It's about a ten minute walk from her apartment. I
can imagine thirty years ago Georgette canvassing this area, missing
person's posters in hand, desperate to find answers. It's quite
(24:15):
possible that at that time she crossed paths with Jacqueline's
abductor or his next victim. On March sixteenth, nineteen ninety seven,
just under three months after Jacqueline's disappearance, another young woman vanished,
this time from right outside of this very same restaurant.
(24:40):
She was standing on this sidewalk waiting for her friends
who were inside ordering food to go. I wonder if
she saw one of Jacqueline's faded missing person's posters plastered
in the window moments before she too vanished without a trace.
(25:00):
The fragile sense of safety and mass would forever be changed,
replaced by a frenzy of panic and feart.
Speaker 6 (25:20):
There was a macabore and mysterious discovery of body parts,
apparently dismembered with a saw. According to investigators, partial remains
of three women were found in trash bags in Quem
near Mons.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
It was really a crazy time in Belgium. I mean
stories were breaking every day.
Speaker 9 (25:41):
Good afternoon. In Havrey, near Monts, two garbage bags containing
human remains were discovered. The body parts are currently at
the Forensics Institute in Liege for examination. The similarities with
the three cadavers discovered in Quem fifteen days ago are flagrant.
Investigators believe it is the same perpetrator, Peter.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
There had never been a serial killer like this in Belgium,
much less in Monts, and now we had the most
grotesque story ever.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
We felt like we were in the presence of someone
who was going to the grave with with nightmarish secrets.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Le Monstre is a production of Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Podcasts. Hosted, written,
and executive produced by me Matt Graves, Donald Albright and
Payne Lindsay are executive producers on the behalf of Tenderfoot TV,
with producer Makeup and Vanity Said. Matt Frederick and Trevor
Young are executive producers on the behalf of iHeart Podcasts.
(26:46):
Original music by Jay Ragsdale, Sound design and master by
Cooper Skinner. Cover design by Byron McCoy and Trevor Eiler.
Lea Monstre includes archival audio from SONYMA RTBF Archives. Special
thanks to Arin Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, the
Nord Group, and our active investigation team Morgen van Leerberg,
(27:07):
Frederic lare Xervi de Com and Anna Gardon, as well
as the teams at iHeart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV. Find
us on social media at Monster Underscore pod. For more
podcasts like Lea Monstre, search Tenderfoot TV in your podcast
app or visit Tenderfoot TV. Ready to keep listening, remember
(27:36):
you can binge the rest of the season right now
with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription available exclusively on
Apple Podcasts Plus. You'll get exclusive bonus episodes and add
free listening. So head to Apple Podcasts, search iHeart True
Crime Plus and subscribe today
A new installment in the Monster franchise is coming November seventeenth.
A decade ago, filmmaker Josh Zeman was on the hunt
for the country's most elusive serial killer, one who left
nearly a dozen bodies along the beaches of Long Island.
While he got close to catching him, it wasn't until
twenty twenty three that authorities finally made an arrest. The
(00:24):
troubling part is the answers were there all along, hidden
in plain sight. So why did it take authorities so
long to catch him? And how many lives could have
been saved? From Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Podcasts, a new
installment in the Monster franchise is coming November seventeenth. This
(00:44):
is Monster Hunting the Long Island serial Killer, an investigative
podcast into the most notorious killer in New York since
The Son of Sam. Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
The Butcher of Moss is released weekly absolutely free, but
you can binge the entire season now with iHeart True
Crime Plus exclusively on Apple Podcasts. You'll also get ad
free listening and exclusive bonus episodes, so head to Apple Podcasts,
search iHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
The views and opinions expressing this podcast are solely those
of the podcast author or individuals participating in the podcast,
and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, Tenderfoot TV, or
their employees. This podcast also contains subject matter which may
not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
I can remember it so clearly. Actually, it was a Sunday,
and my sister Jacqueline and I went to visit on
mom's place near Mont's, and that afternoon Jacqueline took a bath.
I can still picture it and her saying, it feels
good to take a nice bath, so relaxing.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
December twenty second, nineteen ninety six will forever remain etched
in the memory of Jeangeese Leclaire. That day, she and
her sister Jacqueline got together at their mother's house near
the city of mons And, Belgium for a little pre
Christmas get together.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Jacqueline didn't bring a change of clothes, so I lent
her some That evening. I suggested she should stay at
my place, but she didn't want to. She really wanted
me to take her home that night on the road
back to her place. We agreed to speak the following
day to plan something for Chris as a family.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
The short trip back to Jacqueline's place in the center
of Moss took about ten minutes. She lived in a
small third floor apartment in a relatively quiet street for
a busy city.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
So at around eight pm I dropped her off in
front of her apartment. I remember it was really cold
and dark. Her street wasn't well lit at all. So
to reassure her, and to reassure myself as well, I
(03:35):
told her I would stay in the car until she
was sitting inside. She didn't seem scared. She got out
of the car and opened her front door, and then
she waved at me and then went inside.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
What Georgette didn't know then was if this would be
the last time she would ever see her sister. Jacqueline
one of several disappearances in nineteen ninety six and ninety
seven in the Belgian city of mass that would become
one of Europe's most horrifying cold cases, linked to a
mysterious and sadistic serial killer.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
A cab mysteriously as sexuality.
Speaker 6 (04:42):
The rest the disappearance of a woman from Monts Jacqueline Class.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
The condition of the victims was sickening, and the question remains,
where is the killer?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
From Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Podcasts, I'm your host Matt
Graves and this is Lea Monstre Season two, The Butcher
of Moss. Yes, I've just arrived at the central station
(05:29):
in Moss after an easy one hour train ride from Brussels,
where I've lived since the summer of ninety five. It's
been thirty years since I moved here from Austin, Texas,
but I vividly remember living through this case as it
began to unfold in nineteen ninety six. It was terrifying,
and to a certain extent it still is, because decades later,
(05:53):
the case has never been solved. I've traveled down to
Mass today with Xavier de com, a private investigator who's
helped me on other cases. Xavier has an uncanny ability
to find things in people and to approach hard questions
from different angles. On this first trip, our goal is
(06:14):
to get our heads around the case and immerse ourselves
and how events actually unfolded. From the ground level. Mass
is a charming city in southern Belgium, just four miles
from the northern border of France. You can see the
remnants of the Middle Ages all around the densely packed center,
just a stone's throw away from where Xavier and I
(06:35):
are walking right now. We're here to meet with Morgan
van Leaherberg, an author who studied Jacqueline Leclaire's case extensively.
After a short walk in the pouring rain, we meet
at a cafe near the train station. Morgan is a
font of knowledge about this affair. You'll hear another voice
(06:59):
in the background who would prefer to remain anonymous given
his previous role in this sensitive case. We brave the
weather and make our way towards the last place Jacqueline
was seen before she disappeared on the twenty second of
December nineteen ninety six. So we're standing in front of
Jacqueline's apartment.
Speaker 7 (07:19):
It's really quite a little desolate area here, actually, and
there's not much happening. Her street's very quiet or very small,
and you can picture it at night on a winter evening,
the other being extremely dark, and we're kind of almost scary.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Morgan got to know and interviewed Jacqueline's sister, Georgette, whose
words you heard voiced in English at the beginning of
the episode, so I asked him what she told him
about that night she dropped off Jacqueline.
Speaker 8 (07:48):
She waited for Jacqueline to go inside and waited until
she saw her turn the light on in the apartment.
We are certain that Jacqueline went into her apartment at
that moment, but when she was dropped off, she was
wearing her sister's clothes because she didn't have any clean
clothes after taking a bath at her sister's house. And
(08:10):
Georgette told me that it could have been possible that
since she was working all the next week and Christmas
was coming, she could have gone to the laundromat right
here next to her apartment that night to do laundry.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Jacqueline's sister never gave up looking for the truth. Sadly,
she passed away in twenty twenty two with out of
her finding answers. All of her testimony that you'll hear
in this series is based on word for word translations
of her statements and interviews voiced in English. Already, starting
from the day after she dropped off Jacqueline in front
(08:49):
of her small apartment where Morgan and I are standing
right now, she knew something was wrong. Here are Georgette's words.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
On the next day, December twenty third, Jacqueline was supposed
to call me or my mother, but she didn't. That's
when we realized something was wrong. It was from that moment,
from that lack of contact the next day, that the
nine mayre began for me and for my mother.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Jacqueline and her sister were planning to spend Christmas together
in two days. Having heard nothing from her sister, Jeanchette
began to worry.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
I didn't go to the police because well, I thought
they would make us wait like ten days before starting
a search. So I decided I search for my sister myself.
I started with the family, checking with her ex husband
and also around the area where she lived.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
After several days of desperate searching, her family finally went
to the police and Jacqueline was added to the national
database of missing persons. The initial investigation consisted of a
cursory search of her apartment, interviews with family members, and
her records review. Eventually, her case made the local news.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
Luzy Mvitabricado, dispar and now the disappearance of a woman
from Monte Jacqueline le clerk thirty three years.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Old will come at dich Chateau.
Speaker 9 (10:23):
This young woman has short, light brown hair and blue eyes,
five feet three inches tall with a normal build. She
is French speaking.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
According to her sister, Jacqueline was apprehensive about something in
the time leading up to her disappearance, so much so
that she felt the need to protect herself.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
One of the last time I saw her at Mom's
house in early December, when I took her jacket from
the coat rack, I felt something in one of her pockets.
It was a big nail. She grubbed it and said, see,
I have something to defend myself if someone comes after me.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
By all accounts, Jacqueline Leclaire was a kind and pleasant person.
Why would this quiet mother of four feel the need
to walk around with a big nail in her pocket
for protection? Jacqueline was turning the page on a difficult
time in her life. To fully understand her situation, we
have to take a step back. Jacqueline and her older sister, Georgette,
(11:39):
had a great relationship despite their seven years of separation.
Growing up, Georgette always took care of her little sister
and loved her dearly. They were raised in a middle
class family unit with loving parents. Jacqueline always had a
cool big sister who looked after her. In her early
(12:06):
teenage years, however, tragedy befell the family. Her father fell
ill with thrombosis and could no longer work. He couldn't
stand the thought of not providing for his family and
sank into a deep depression. When Jacqueline was only thirteen,
her father committed suicide. This drastically changed the course of
(12:30):
her life. Their family unit was broken. Her sister, Georgette,
was twenty years old at the time. She had already
moved out of the family home and started her life
as a young adult, But as a young teen, Jacqueline
was lost. Such an awful tragedy during these crucial formative
(12:52):
years changed the course of her life.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
When our Fada died, Jacquelinette grew up quickly. She wanted
to be independent. She married a guy named Angelo at
a very young age. Mum wasn't in favor of the marriage.
At first. It seems nice to me, but I changed
my mind later. Angelo was dishonest and positive of Jacqueline.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Jacqueline and Angelo had two children. While Jacqueline was still
a teenager and then two more. In her early twenties,
her life transitioned abruptly from a girl with loving parents
to a young teenager with children and a dominating husband. Unsurprisingly,
there was tension in the marriage.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
She loved her children very much, but she was overwhelmed
by the events at marked her life. The situation quickly
spiraled out of control, and she and Angelo separated. When
she disappeared, they were in the process of divorcing and
it wasn't going well. Angelo was greedy and he wouldn't
let her go. When things didn't go his way he
(13:59):
could become viable.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
I asked Morgan what he knows about the relationship between
Jacqueline and her ex husband Angelo. At the time, the.
Speaker 8 (14:09):
Jacqueline quickly fell in love with Angelo, who was very dominating.
They had children and she became a housewife. According to Sister,
Angelo was violent with her. She was unhappy and living
a dreadful life. She tried to leave him several times,
but when he wanted to he could always get her back.
But at one point he found a new woman who
(14:30):
was quite similar to Jacqueline, and so he left her
and she found herself alone, and at that point she
really lost her footing. She spent some time in psychiatric
care because she was devastated, but at the time she disappeared,
she was just starting to get her life back under control.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Georgette and many others, including some in law enforcement, suspected
that Angelo could have been behind Jacqueline's disappearance. The difficult
end to their rocky relationship had left its marks, and
according to her sister, Jacqueline felt threatened by Angelo after
the separation. He was never arrested or charged with any involvement,
and to this day he refuses to talk about the case.
(15:10):
So I don't really have much to go on now
that both of her parents and only sibling have passed away.
I have a short video of Jacqueline that was taken
not long before her disappearance. She's looking into the camera
and smiling shyly. She's very pretty, with beautiful skin and
(15:33):
delicate features. Her eyes are friendly but cautious, and she
seems slightly uncomfortable to be filmed, but at the same
time flattered to be the focus of the camera. Morgan
showed me other pictures of Jacqueline that her sister shared
with him. She's often dressed down with a tomboy look.
(15:56):
Her sister explained that she tended to hide her beauty
to avoid unwanted advances. As I look at these pictures
in this video, I find myself asking what did those
kind eyes staring back at me see that no one's
been able to figure out. As the investigation continued, police
(16:23):
got access to Jacqueline's bank information, and they discovered a
troubling detail. There had been two failed attempts to use
her debit card at the ATM located near her apartment,
at approximately one am the next morning. When her sister
learned about this, it jogged her memory and she recalled
that during the drive back to Jacqueline's apartment that night,
(16:45):
she'd mentioned that she wanted to go check the state
of her accounts at the ATM, but her sister convinced
her to wait until the next morning because it was
already dark, and Jacqueline agreed and went directly into her apartment.
On the one hand, it made sense that Jacqueline could
have visited the ATM as she mentioned it to her
sister on the way home that night. On the other hand,
(17:07):
it makes no sense at all that she would have
forgotten her pen code, leading to the failed transactions. In fact,
it would seem to indicate that her disappearance could be
linked to some sort of robbery. Hey, don't expect the contact.
We're back in the center of Mons with Morgan van
Laerberg in front of the apartment where Jacqueline was last seen.
(17:30):
I want to understand the location of this atm where
we have the last potential sign of life from Jacqueline.
So now we're going to time the.
Speaker 7 (17:38):
Walk from Jacqueline's house to her atm, where she might
have forgotten cash, but where.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Her bank card was used apparently two times or refused
two times that night. So we're going to do the timing,
don't uh. The walk from Jacqueline's apart to the ATM
in question cuts across several apartment blocks mixed with commercial buildings.
(18:07):
It's kind of a rough neighborhood, and I'm told that
it was rougher than it is today back in nineteen
ninety six, especially at night. I try to imagine myself
in Jacqueline's shoes making this trip at one o'clock in
the morning on a cold and dark December night. Honestly speaking,
I just don't see it. Her sister said she was
(18:28):
tired that night, she'd already eaten and taken a bath
and gotten back to her apartment. It was freezing cold
and dark, and it's a dangerous route. After about a
six minute walk, we arrive at the spot where the
ATM was located in nineteen ninety six.
Speaker 8 (18:48):
Okay, we're arriving where the attempts to use her bank
card happened at around one in the morning on the
twenty third of December. The particularity is that it's not
well situated. It's in a dark area, out of view.
There was a surveillance camera on the ATM machine, but
it was out of order at the time, unfortunately, as
(19:12):
it could have helped answer a number of questions.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
It's incredibly frustrating that the surveillance camera of the ATM
wasn't working that night. That footage would have given us
concrete information about those transactions. Without it, were left to
speculate on if they played a part in her disappearance
or not. The ATM no longer exists. As we stood there,
soaked to the bone in the freezing rain, me with
(19:39):
my headphones and several other guys staring at a brick wall,
we definitely got some funny looks from passers by. The
street next to the ATM had a number of abandoned
buildings that had been inhabited by squatters and probably drug dealers.
Back in ninety six. Apparently there was another serious crime
involving this ATM, where two men burglarized and murdered a
(20:02):
person in their apartment nearby and used the victim's debit
card to withdraw cash.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
Here.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
This underscores how dangerous this area was at the time.
As you heard at the top of the episode, this
case is still unsolved. I wouldn't be trapsing around this
(20:33):
rough neighborhood soaked of the bone in the freezing rain
of late November if it wasn't important. I'm convinced the
disappearance of Jacqueline Leclaire holds the keys to the entire
story which will follow. After the two failed attempts at
the ATM, around one am on December twenty third, Jacqueline's
(20:53):
timeline goes cold. She didn't show up her work on
the following day. From the very beginning, Georgette became convinced
that someone abducted her sister. She constantly retraced her steps.
The night she dropped Jacqueline off recalled conversations and racked
her brain to search for any details that might serve
(21:13):
as cloes.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
During the police search of my sister's apartment, I was
present as a witness. There is one detail that disturbed me,
not at the time, but later. I remember a pack
of cigarettes, dark in color from a brain I didn't recognize,
laced near the window where she would smoke when the
(21:36):
weather allowed it. I'm certain that my sister didn't smoke
that Bran and I remember there were cigarettes bats in
the ash tree, a lot of them. Jacqueline was in
the habit of leaving them lying around in her apartment.
She didn't like the smell of stale tobacco. If Jacqueline
had someone over that evening, they could have been the
(21:58):
perpetrator's cigarettes.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
At the time, the police were merely investigating the disappearance
of an adult woman, one of over thirty thousand estimated
missing persons in Belgium in the mid nineties. They didn't
consider testing the cigarette butts left behind, even if they had.
DNA testing in Belgium was still in its infancy at
the time. Another missed opportunity with the benefit of hindsight,
(22:27):
the author Morgan von Laerberg followed up extensively with Jacqueline's
sister about this pack of cigarettes. She was one hundred
percent sure that they couldn't have been Jacqueline's. If not,
then whose were they. Jacqueline was extremely private and didn't
regularly have people over to her apartment. If we assume
(22:47):
they belonged to the person responsible for her disappearance, it
would mean that she must have known the perpetrator. In
terms of possible suspects, this would tighten the profile considerably
and lower the probability that this was a crime of opportunity.
(23:09):
As the new year arrived and winter's icy grip began
to fall, Jeorgette refused to give up on her sister.
She took matters into her own hands, creating missing Persons
posters and tirelessly plastering them throughout the neighborhood and in
places where Jacqueline was known to frequent. One of these
places was Jacqueline's favorite spot for a quick bite to eat,
(23:30):
a small fast food restaurant near the central train station
of Moss, the same station where Xavier and I arrived
this morning. After visiting Jacqueline's apartment and the atm where
a card was refused. We've now come full circle back
to the central station. We're standing in front of a
small fast food restaurant that Jacqueline was known to frequent.
(23:54):
It's about a ten minute walk from her apartment. I
can imagine thirty years ago Georgette canvassing this area, missing
person's posters in hand, desperate to find answers. It's quite
(24:15):
possible that at that time she crossed paths with Jacqueline's
abductor or his next victim. On March sixteenth, nineteen ninety seven,
just under three months after Jacqueline's disappearance, another young woman vanished,
this time from right outside of this very same restaurant.
(24:40):
She was standing on this sidewalk waiting for her friends
who were inside ordering food to go. I wonder if
she saw one of Jacqueline's faded missing person's posters plastered
in the window moments before she too vanished without a trace.
(25:00):
The fragile sense of safety and mass would forever be changed,
replaced by a frenzy of panic and feart.
Speaker 6 (25:20):
There was a macabore and mysterious discovery of body parts,
apparently dismembered with a saw. According to investigators, partial remains
of three women were found in trash bags in Quem
near Mons.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
It was really a crazy time in Belgium. I mean
stories were breaking every day.
Speaker 9 (25:41):
Good afternoon. In Havrey, near Monts, two garbage bags containing
human remains were discovered. The body parts are currently at
the Forensics Institute in Liege for examination. The similarities with
the three cadavers discovered in Quem fifteen days ago are flagrant.
Investigators believe it is the same perpetrator, Peter.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
There had never been a serial killer like this in Belgium,
much less in Monts, and now we had the most
grotesque story ever.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
We felt like we were in the presence of someone
who was going to the grave with with nightmarish secrets.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Le Monstre is a production of Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Podcasts. Hosted, written,
and executive produced by me Matt Graves, Donald Albright and
Payne Lindsay are executive producers on the behalf of Tenderfoot TV,
with producer Makeup and Vanity Said. Matt Frederick and Trevor
Young are executive producers on the behalf of iHeart Podcasts.
(26:46):
Original music by Jay Ragsdale, Sound design and master by
Cooper Skinner. Cover design by Byron McCoy and Trevor Eiler.
Lea Monstre includes archival audio from SONYMA RTBF Archives. Special
thanks to Arin Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, the
Nord Group, and our active investigation team Morgen van Leerberg,
(27:07):
Frederic lare Xervi de Com and Anna Gardon, as well
as the teams at iHeart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV. Find
us on social media at Monster Underscore pod. For more
podcasts like Lea Monstre, search Tenderfoot TV in your podcast
app or visit Tenderfoot TV. Ready to keep listening, remember
(27:36):
you can binge the rest of the season right now
with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription available exclusively on
Apple Podcasts Plus. You'll get exclusive bonus episodes and add
free listening. So head to Apple Podcasts, search iHeart True
Crime Plus and subscribe today
Monster: The Zodiac Killer News
Hosts And Creators
Payne Lindsey
Matt Frederick
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.