At the Hauts-de-Seine assize court,
Finally, she spoke. But for what result? One sentence sums up the laborious explanations of Monique Olivier, 75, who was questioned at length this Tuesday morning about her participation in the kidnappings and murders, by Michel Fourniret, of two young girls, in 1988 and 1990. “I don’t know nothing, I don’t know anymore, it’s all so far away. » The president of the Hauts-de-Seine Assize Court, Didier Safar, nevertheless warned the accused before starting. “The civil parties expect a lot from your answers,” the magistrate reminded him, stressing that there remained “many gray areas” to be clarified. Especially, he observes, that throughout the investigation, the ex-wife of the serial killer “lied a lot, and not only by omission”, and often “contradicted herself”.
In the past, Monique Olivier has justified her hesitations, her retractions and her silences by “loss of memory”. “But the experts tell us that your memory capacities are intact, and that you do not suffer from any cognitive deficit,” notes Didier Safar, who is surprised that the accused remembers “more details for older facts” . “I don’t know, some memories are hard to come back. I’m not doing it on purpose, it’s confusing. I can’t answer,” the accused mumbles from her box, her back slightly arched, dressed in the same white sweatshirt as the day before. The president wants to know if she is “ready to give us more details on Marie-Angèle Domece”. “I’ll try,” assures the ex-wife of the ogre of the Ardennes.
“I was used as bait”
Marie-Angèle Domece, 18, disappeared in July 1988, between the Auxerre station where she was to take a train to visit her host family and the home where she was staying. Despite several excavation campaigns, his body was never found. Monique Olivier recounts that, when they lived in Yonne, Michel Fourniret regularly went to town “looking for young girls”. “He sometimes left by car, sometimes on foot. I had to go with him a few times, but not every time. I was used as bait. » At the time, she was 7 months pregnant. Which served as a pretext for the serial killer to approach his potential victims and reassure them. “He would accost people, tell them that he was looking for the address of a doctor. »
On July 8, 1988, the victim got into the killer’s Peugeot 304. “We went into the countryside, on a dirt road. He asked me to get out of the car, to move away, which I did,” continues Monique Olivier. Her ex-husband did not want her to “witness what he was going to do.” Understand, rape and kill the young girl. “Afterwards he joined me with the car, it was no longer there. He told me he put it in the trunk, and that we had to wait to get rid of the body. »
The couple returned to their home in Saint-Cyr-les-Colons. At nightfall, Michel Fourniret went to bury the body of Marie-Angèle Domece. ” Or ? » asks President Safar. “I don’t know, he left me at home,” the accused repeats. She simply remembers “that he feared that the body would come up with the floods”. “Should we believe you? », asks the magistrate. “If I knew it I would say it,” she swears. Why won’t I say it? Out of malice? I’m going to die in prison, why won’t I say it? »
Regrets expressed for not having intervened
President Safar then questions her about the death of Joanna Parrish, 20 years old, in 1990. Monique Olivier confirms that Michel Fourniret contacted the young Briton so that she could give English lessons to their son, who, at the time was only 2 years old. He arranged to meet her, “perhaps in town”. The victim got into the killer’s Citroën C15 van, undoubtedly reassured by the presence of a woman. He planned to take her to their home in Saint-Cyr-les-Colons. “But it didn’t happen, he was in too much of a hurry. »
The couple drove until they found “a deserted place”. This time, she “stayed like an idiot” in the vehicle, while her ex-husband raped and killed the young girl in the backseat. Fourniret, who “always wanted to be first everywhere,” asked her if she was “still a virgin.” “It must have upset him that she told him she had a boyfriend, because that meant she was no longer a virgin. Maybe that’s what prompted him to be violent, to do what he did. » He “punched” her until she lost consciousness. “He had big hands, strength in his wrists. »
“Cowardly”, Monique Olivier “did nothing” to prevent Michel Fourniret from killing Joanna Parrish, even though she heard him “scream a little”. “I didn’t intervene, now I regret. It’s too late to say that. It’s fear, fear of what’s happening. The panic. Unable to do anything,” she claims.
Other bodies?
Me Didier Seban, the lawyer for the Mouzin and Parrish families, is surprised. “Madame Olivier, it lasted sixteen years between the murder of Isabelle Laville and that of Estelle Mouzin. In sixteen years, you haven’t been able to say no? » “No, cowardly,” breathes the accused. Monique Olivier repeats that she does not know where the body of Marie-Angèle Domece is. “At the age I am, I will soon die, what good would it do me to hide it? “, she said again. The lawyer recalls that the serial killer mentioned “thirty-five deaths” in a letter addressed to a fellow prisoner. “We can imagine that there are other bodies in the same place,” he says.
The criminal lawyer requests that two photos of Joanna Parrish, taken during her autopsy, be shown. Monique Olivier puts on her glasses and looks carefully at the photos for about twenty seconds. “It’s not possible, she was beautiful. She didn’t deserve that,” breathes the accused who “really regrets” the fate that was reserved for her. “We are hanging on to your word to find out more, the families would like to know where the bodies are. You are the only one who knows. Tell us ! », tries Me Seban. But once again, the ex-wife of the serial killer kicks in. “I would like to but I don’t know where the bodies are. » The accused will be questioned a second time on Friday afternoon. This time, it will be about the disappearance of Estelle Mouzin.