CHARLEVILLE-MEZIERES, France – A man accused of seeking young virgins to rape and kill was convicted Wednesday of seven murders and sentenced to life in prison.
Michel Fourniret, 66, was given the maximum sentence by the jury in northeast France. In a particularly severe sentence for a French court, he cannot be considered for parole before serving 30 years behind bars.
His wife, Monique Olivier, 59, also was convicted of complicity in four of the murders and sentenced to life in prison. She must serve at least 28 years before she can be considered for early release.
The verdict closes a two-month trial that riveted France and neighbouring Belgium, where one of the victims was killed.
The young women, aged 12 to 21, were strangled, shot or stabbed with a screwdriver between 1987 and 2001 to feed what prosecutors called Fourniret’s obsession for virgins. Fourniret also was convicted of kidnapping and rape or attempted rape of all seven victims.
The lead prosecutor called Olivier “a witch,” while Fourniret’s court-appointed defence lawyer described him as “indefensible.”
Fourniret refused counsel and remained silent through most of the proceedings.
Lawyers for the couple had said they did not plan to appeal in the event of a conviction.
Prosecutors said Olivier helped Fourniret track down virgins to feed his morbid fantasies.
Belgian police detained Fourniret in June 2003 after his bungled kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl.
The girl gave authorities his licence plate number after she managed to unbind her hands and escape from the back of his van.
Olivier was extradited to France in 2005, and Fourniret in 2006. Judicial officials in both countries decided the case should be tried in France because six of the victims were French citizens.
Investigators suspect Fourniret may also have been involved in several other murders.
The Fourniret case has drawn comparisons with that of Belgium’s notorious pedophile Marc Dutroux, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for a string of child kidnappings, rapes and murders.
