At the Assize Court of Nanterre,
You have to imagine a dingy house in the middle of the Ardennes. The walls are yellowed, the floor is so dirty that it is difficult to distinguish its color. From the living room to the bathroom, from the bedroom to the kitchen, every room is littered with trash. A dump, in short. A haunted house, rather. It is probably there, in this small building in Ville-sur-Lumes which belonged to the late sister of Michel Fourniret, that Estelle Mouzin was kidnapped and then killed. The 9-year-old girl, kidnapped on January 9, 2003 in Guermantes, is the last known victim – also the youngest – of the serial killer. But the man died in May 2021, so Monique Olivier – who shared his life for sixteen years – has been appearing alone since November 28 before the Nanterre Assize Court for complicity.
That morning, when Michel Fourniret left the family home in Sart-Custinne, in the south of Belgium, he did not hide from Monique Olivier that he was going “hunting”. He even asks his wife to create an alibi for him by calling his eldest son, Jean-Christophe, in the evening. “He said correctly, you let it ring, if someone picks up, you hang up,” she remembers. At 5:47 p.m., Michel Fourniret sent him a message to tell him that he had found “a nice little subject” that he intended to “take care of”. In Fourniret language, this means that he is about to commit a kidnapping. So, at 8:08 p.m., Monique Olivier picks up the phone and makes the alibi call. “I didn’t want to do it, but I did it anyway,” she explains in a monotone voice. I didn’t want him to bother me when he got back. »
“I was revolted, I didn’t dare speak to him”
Twenty years after the events, the accused, now 75 years old, becomes confused and lost in this macabre chronology. She no longer remembers whether Michel Fourniret came home the evening of the kidnapping or the next day. On the other hand, she is certain that Estelle Mouzin has never set foot in their home, in Belgium. After her kidnapping, the little girl was probably taken directly to Ville-sur-Lumes. In any case, it was in this freezing building that Monique Olivier saw her the next day. “I am shocked, angry, to see such a little girl,” she insists. Her husband asked her to come because he has to go to work – he is a supervisor in a school canteen – which allows him to have an alibi. Of course, she knew she was going to keep a young girl but she swears she didn’t know her age. “I was revolted, I didn’t even dare to speak to him right away. »
The president, Didier Safar, presses her with questions without giving her time to answer them, cutting her off as soon as she struggles for words. He seems more busy pointing out his lies and contradictions during the investigation than probing his memory. The tone is dry, sometimes brutal and brittle. “What you are saying is not acceptable, Madam”, “it is not satisfactory”, “you are lying”, he regularly judges. Monique Olivier, hunched over in the box, stammers and trembles. His lawyer, Me Richard Delgenes, tries to intervene. In a soft voice, he encourages her. “You need to be able to tell the families”, “don’t be afraid to be shocking”. This is not the practice but the civil parties and the attorneys general approve. The accused relaxes. The magistrate lets him do this for a few minutes before resuming his method without changing anything. And it doesn’t matter that it is obviously not suitable for this trial, not for this accused.
“He didn’t tell me if he got what he wanted.”
In Ville-sur-Lumes, Monique Olivier discovers the little girl sitting on a mattress in a small attic room, upstairs. She is not gagged, she swears, but “a little agitated”. Did she give him medicine? She swears no. And Michel Fourniret? ” I don’t know. » She is also clear about the fact that Estelle Mouzin is dressed. “He shouldn’t have… He didn’t tell me if he got what he wanted…” Sitting on the bench, the little girl’s relatives remain impassive. His father, Eric, takes note of everything.
She estimates that she stayed “an hour or two”, the telephone line suggests that she would, in reality, have spent between four and six hours there. What did she do ? She claims not to have spent much time with the child. She still remembers bringing her a glass of water – but not food – and accompanying her to the toilet. “I talked to her a little bit… She said she wanted to see her mom. I told her she was going to see her soon,” she says. The room is seized with fear. “Did you know Estelle was going to die? », asks the president. Silence. Yes. For the first time, she says she sat for a few moments next to Estelle Mouzin, seeing tears rolling down her cheeks. What did she say to him? What did she do ? Did she hug her or lend her down jacket? The house was not heated. During the night, the thermometer showed minus ten in the region. “No… It’s unbelievable, it’s inhumane,” she whispers.
“Don’t believe that I obeyed out of the goodness of my heart…”
At the end of the day, when Michel Fourniret arrives, Monique Olivier leaves for their home, in Belgium. He will return late at night. “When he came in the evening, he told me, it’s finished,” she reports. “How did she die?” », asks the president. “I didn’t ask any questions but he strangled her… With the hands he had. »
According to his account, the couple returned to collect the body the following evening. A little earlier in the day, Michel Fourniret had gone to a small wood, not far from the house of horror, “to make a location”. Monique Olivier recounts seeing Michel Fourniret place “the little one on a shower curtain to wrap her”. He loaded the body into the car and then the couple drove to the woods. She remained in the car while Michel Fourniret buried the little girl. Where, ask the president and the civil parties in turn. The question has already been asked to him numerous times since the start of the trial. “I don’t know, I don’t know anymore,” she repeats again and again.
If Monique Olivier recognizes the facts with which she is accused, she is nevertheless keen not to be confused with her ex-husband, Michel Fourniret. “I was his accomplice, I know that well, but don’t believe that I obeyed out of the blue, I was following his orders. » Why then did she not release Estelle knowing the terrible fate that awaited her? “I don’t know, that’s what I should have done,” “that’s the question I ask myself today,” she answers tirelessly. And why did she wait almost fifteen years to confess? “Isn’t that the secret to keep because she’s the smallest? », asks the lawyer for the Mouzin family, Me Didier Seban. On the screen, a close-up photo of Estelle Mouzin is projected. Her little face, her green eyes rimmed with gold. Monique Olivier, whose face has been like wax since the start of the trial, is troubled, visibly moved. “It’s disgusting… I’m not crying okay, but I have feelings… A beautiful little girl like that…”
The verdict is expected to be delivered next Tuesday.