(DCWatchdog.com) – After the tragic events that shocked France many years ago, the now 75-year-old ex-wife of an infamous serial killer was handed a life sentence on Tuesday for her involvement in horrific crimes commited by her former husband.
This somber conclusion comes decades after the crimes were committed by her deceased ex-husband, a notorious French serial killer. Monique Olivier’s trial, which drew significant media attention, revolved around her role in the 1990 murder of Joanna Parrish, a 20-year-old British student, the 1988 murder of 18-year-old Marie-Angèle Domèce, and her suspected involvement in the 2003 disappearance of Estelle Mouzin.
Expressing regret in court, Olivier said, “I regret everything I did, and I ask for forgiveness from the families of the victims, while knowing that it is unforgivable.” This statement, however, does little to mitigate the magnitude of her crimes or the suffering of the victims’ families.
Her ex-husband, Michel Fourniret, infamously known as the “Ogre of Ardennes,” had already been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 for the murders of seven girls and young women between 1987 and 2001. Before his death in 2021, Fourniret confessed to a total of 11 murders. Most of his victims were young women and girls aged between 9 and 30.
Roger Parrish, father of Joanna Parrish, poignantly remarked on Olivier’s role, stating that her presence alone likely gained the trust of the victims, who could never have imagined a woman being complicit in such atrocious and depraved acts.
Earlier in the month, Olivier chillingly recounted to a French court how she remained passive in the couple’s car while her husband committed his vile acts, admitting to hearing Parrish’s screams but being too paralyzed by fear and panic to intervene.
This latest conviction of Olivier, who was already serving a life sentence for her role in her husband’s past crimes, underscores the gravity of her participation in these dreadful acts and delivers a measure of justice to the families of the victims.
