Highlights: Monique Olivier was sentenced on Tuesday evening by the Hauts-de-Seine Assize Court. She was convicted for her complicity in three kidnappings and murders committed by her ex-husband Michel Fourniret. Marie-Angèle Domèce, Joanna Parrish, and Estelle Mouzin were kidnapped, sequestered and killed with the complicity of Monique Olivier. The 75-year-old defendant listened to the verdict with an impassive expression. She had previously asked for "forgiveness" from the victims' families.

After three long weeks of hearings and more than ten hours of deliberation, Monique Olivier was sentenced on Tuesday evening by the Hauts-de-Seine Assize Court to life imprisonment,...

Monique Olivier trial: Michel Fourniret's ex-wife sentenced to life imprisonment

After three long weeks of hearings and more than ten hours of deliberation, Monique Olivier was sentenced on Tuesday evening by the Hauts-de-Seine Assize Court to life imprisonment, with a 20-year probation period, for her complicity in three kidnappings and murders committed by her ex-husband Michel Fourniret.

Monique Olivier sits in the dock of the Hauts-de-Seine Assize Court, November 28, 2023. © RFI/Laura Martel

By: RFI Follow

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The court was convinced of Monique Olivier's guilt ", read the president of the court, Didier Safar. Marie-Angèle Domèce, 18 years old, Joanna Parrish, 20 years old, and finally Estelle Mouzin, 9 years old: the three victims of the serial killer were indeed kidnapped, sequestered, killed with the complicity of Monique Olivier, the court judged, which also acknowledged his complicity in the rape of Joanna Parrish and the attempted rape of Marie-Angèle Domèce.

With her head bowed and her eyes half-closed, the 75-year-old defendant listened to the verdict with an impassive expression. She had previously asked for "forgiveness" from the victims' families and said she regretted "everything I have done".

The court answered in the affirmative to the fourteen questions put to it about the abductions, accompanied by rape or attempted rape, and murders of two young women: Marie-Angèle Domèce in 1988, and Joanna Parrish in 1990. Then there were six other questions about the kidnapping and kidnapping followed by the death of Estelle Mouzin, the youngest of Michel Fourniret's victims, who disappeared in January 2003.

Not releasable before 2035

On Monday, the Public Prosecutor's Office had requested life imprisonment against the accused, with a non-parole period of twenty-two years, "in view of the exceptional gravity of the acts committed, the necessary protection of society".

With a hesitant voice, Monique Olivier presented herself as the victim of her ex-husband, who died in custody in 2021, throughout her third trial before the assizes, which began on November 28. On the side of the civil parties and the prosecution, the lawyers as well as the public prosecutor tried to uncover the enigmatic ex-wife of the killer, accused of not having "saved" the "little" Estelle while she participated in her confinement or of having remained immobile in the front of Michel Fourniret's vehicle while he raped and killed Joanna Parrish.

Read alsoMonique Olivier's trial: life sentence requested against Michel Fourniret's ex-wife

In 2008, the Ardennes Assize Court sentenced Monique Olivier to life imprisonment for complicity in four kidnappings and murders of her husband. Then, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison, 10 years later in Versailles, again for complicity, this time in a heinous murder. She had been sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison during these two previous convictions, and will therefore not be released until 2035.

Monique Olivier trial: Michel Fourniret's ex-wife sentenced to life imprisonment

Monique Olivier trial: Michel Fourniret's ex-wife sentenced to life imprisonment

Not releasable before 2035

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