On February 1, 2020, around 10:30 p.m., the police services were called to rue des Carrelages in La Louvière, at the request of service 100, which was informed that a person, still alive, had been doused with fuel oil and burned alive.
When they arrive, the police find that the victim is in the ambulance. Jacques Hermail is conscious, but will be intubated and plunged into an artificial coma. He succumbed to his injuries around 11:45 p.m.
An investigation is opened and the police conduct a neighborhood survey. According to a neighbor, Jacques spent the evening at his house, in the company of three men.
Jymmi Durieux, author of the call to 100, is heard as a witness. He declares that he is homeless and that he has been staying with Jacques for three months. He adds that two people went to Jacques during the evening. They arrived around 6 p.m.
As for him, he spent the evening in the city center. He returned to Jacques around 10:30 p.m. Jacques was lying on the floor next to the chair, moaning, black and charred. He said he called the emergency services, and complied with the instructions given to him, namely to place Jacques under the lukewarm water shower until the arrival of the SMUR.
Jymmi Durieux specifies that the two visitors are nicknamed Mycki and Papi. These two marginals are identified, they are Michaël Liegeois and Gérard Dujardin. The two men are deprived of their freedom, just like Jymmi Durieux, whose version does not match that of the witness, who saw three men leave Jacques.
Different Versions
The protagonists each delivered a different version of this story, maintained until the reenactment.
In Gérard Dujardin’s version, he hits Jacques first, followed by Michaël, who hits him with his fist. It is Michaël who grabs the tank of the kerosene stove and sprinkles the victim before setting the fire with a lighter. It is no longer entirely certain that Jymmi used something to put out the fire. The three of them then left Jacques’ accommodation.
In Michaël’s version, it is Jymmi who is the author of the first blows to Jacques. Michaël intervenes in the fight, and also starts hitting Jacques. He then seizes the can of oil that was in the room, and pours it on Jacques. He then brings a lighter to the victim’s clothes, and a flash occurs. Jacques catches fire. Michael runs to the kitchen, grabs a full bucket from under the sink and comes back to pour the contents on Jacques. Michaël leaves the premises with Gérard. They are joined a minute later by Jimmy.
In the version of Jymmi Durieux, it is Michaël who hits Jacques first, first slaps then punches. The beating scene would have lasted regarding ten minutes. Seeing that Jacques is bleeding from the brow bone, Jymmi steps in and helps him up. The situation seeming to calm down, he goes to the toilet. On his return, he realizes that Michaël has spilled the oil from the jerrycan on Jacques and approaches him with a lighter. Jymmi states that he went to the kitchen to look for the bucket, filled with sewage, under the sink. He comes back and pours it on Jacques before continuing the maneuver of extinguishing the flames with something that was on the sofa.
Charged with non-assistance to a person in danger, Jymmi Durieux was finally returned for murder to the Assize Court, by the indictment chamber, along with the two other co-defendants.
