French couple get life for killings

Self-confessed French serial killer Michel Fourniret (left) arrives at Charleville-Mezieres courthouse on the last day of his…

Self-confessed French serial killer Michel Fourniret (left) arrives at Charleville-Mezieres courthouse on the last day of his trial today. Photograph: Reuters.

A French court today imposed several life sentences on self-confessed killer Michel Fourniret and his wife Monique Olivier in one of the worst serial murder cases in recent French history.

Self-confessed killer Michel Fourniret
Self-confessed killer Michel Fourniret

The court in northern France found Fourniret (66) guilty of killing and raping or attempting to rape seven women and girls aged between 12 and 22 from 1987.

Olivier (59) convicted of acting as an accomplice for four of the murders and acting jointly in the case of a fifth, must serve at least 28 years of her prison term, the court said.

Fourniret, who had admitted to his crimes and said he would not appeal, operated mostly in the heavily wooded Ardennes region of northern France and in Belgium.

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His wife was accused of helping him to select his victims, capture them and hide their bodies.

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