Other people’s dream lives: the sordid real story behind the new France 2 TV film

This Wednesday, February 28, at 9:10 p.m., France 2 airs the drama TV movie “Dreams of Others,” starring Charlie Bruno, Arthur Dupont, and Caroline Angled. Written by Didier Le Pecheur and Delphine Laburet, this charming fiction follows Franck and Karine, a couple who decide to leave everything and live in a chalet in the mountains.

Unfortunately, upon arrival, they find that the construction of their dream house is not finished. Estelle and Patrick Flatiot, the developers who gave them the chalet, offered them an alternative by upgrading to a high-end chalet.

A solution that allows owners who are struggling financially to save time. But little by little, a pair of tenants, immersed in a world at odds with themselves, develop a nagging jealousy of the developers, who seem to be living the “dream life.” The relationship between the two families will gradually deteriorate to the point of tragedy…

A TV movie adapted from a true story

If the plot of “Living Other People’s Dreams” is unfamiliar to you, it’s because the fiction is loosely adapted from a terrible story that happened 20 years ago. The TV movie is actually inspired by the Flactif case, also known as the “Grand-Bornand Killing”, a criminal case that made headlines after the disappearance of real estate developer Xavier Flactif from his wife, Graziella Ortolano, and. Their three children are Gregory, 7, Leticia, 9, and Sarah, 10.

This is April 12, 2003. Mario, 14, Graziella’s son, goes to Grand-Bornand to spend Easter. On the spot, he finds that the straw, normally full of life, is empty. The family car, a big red 4×4, is not parked in front of the chalet.

There is no disorder to be regretted, everything was in order. At first, police thought it was a traffic accident, but their search turned up nothing. On April 22, 2003, a judicial investigation on charges of “kidnapping and seizure” was officially launched.

The police then combed the chalet but found nothing suspicious. Very quickly, the hypothesis of flying abroad was satisfied. Xavier Flecktiff did indeed have major financial problems and was deeply in debt. The family car was also found in the parking lot of Geneva International Airport.

If the investigators consider this escape hypothesis, they cannot rule out a criminal trail. On May 5, the prosecutor announced that traces of blood were found in the chalet, which contained the DNA of 5 members of the Flektif family, as well as unknown DNA.

Pieces of baby teeth and gun casings were also found in the chalet. Investigators are now convinced that they are dealing with a crime.

It is a matter of jealousy

The DNA found in the chalet was only identified on July 8, 2003. It is owned by David Hottiatt, one of the tenants of Xavier Flecktiff. From the first hours of his imprisonment, he confessed to the quintuple murder and led the investigators to the forest of Thones, where he cremated the bodies.

Driven by jealousy, he claims that on April 11, 2003, he single-handedly destroyed his family. He shot his father with a revolver, and then killed his wife and three children with sharp objects. He then enlisted the help of his wife, Alexandra Lefebvre, and some friends, Haremza.

At their trial in 2006, Stephan Heremza, Isabelle Haremza, and Alexandra Lefebvre received 15, 7, and 10 years in prison, respectively. On the other hand, David Hotiat has been sentenced to 22 years of security.