Michel Fourniret (born Sedan, April 4, 1942) is a French serial killer who confessed, in June and July 2004, to kidnapping, raping and murdering nine girls in a span of fourteen years during the 1980s and the 1990s. He is also suspected of ten additional murders, nine in France and one in Belgium. He is currently detained in Belgium awaiting trial. He is sometimes referred to as the "Ogre of the Ardennes".
His wife, Monique Olivier, denounced him following the conviction of Michelle Martin, wife of convicted child murderer Marc Dutroux for complicity in his crimes. Fourniret has been charged with the abduction of minors and sexual misconduct, and has been in detention since June 2003 for the attempted kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl in 2000.
Fourniret buried at least two of his victims at his Sautou chateau in the late 1980s. On 3 July 2004, a team of French and Belgian police recovered the bodies of two of Fourniret's victims near the castle.
He is suspected to have ties with the infamous French Action Directe gang.
Confessed murders
- Isabelle Laville - a 17-year old French girl. She disappeared in Auxerre, France, on her way from school to home.
- Fabienne Leroy - a 20-year old woman. She disappeared in 1988 in Mourmelon, and her body was later found in the nearby woods.
- Jeanne-Marie Desramault - a 22-year old French student. She disappeared in 1989 from the railway station of Charleville-Méziere, and her body was recovered from the estate of Fourniret with his assistance.
- Elisabeth Brichet - a 12-year-old Belgian girl. She disappeared from Namur in 1989 after playing with a friend. Her disappearance was long thought to be at the hands of Marc Dutroux, until Fourniret led police to her burial site on his estate in France.
- Natacha Danais - a 13-year old French girl, disappeared in 1990.
- Farida Hellegouarch - the girlfriend of one of the leaders of Action Directe, a former cellmate of Fourniret's. Fourniret killed her in 1990 to access the group's funds. He bought his castle in France with the money.
- Céline Saison - 18-year old who disappeared in 2000 in Sedan, her body was found in Belgium.
- Manyana Thumpong - 18-year old who disappeared in 2001 from Charleville-Méziere. Her body was also later found in Belgium.
- An unidentified man - Fourniret killed this man in a robbery for some quick cash.
Fourniret's wife has also said that Fourniret killed a 16-year old girl who had worked as an au pair at their house. Fourniret allegedly killed her in 1993, but this has not been confirmed. The identity of this alleged victim is not known.
Other crimes?
Fourniret himself says he did not commit any crimes between 1990 and 2000. Police in at least five countries (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark) have taken a fresh look at old rapes, disappearances and murders, however. In Denmark, police noticed that a police sketch of a rape suspect looked a lot like Fourniret, but a DNA-test showed no comparison. In the Netherlands, investigators in the disappearances of Tanja Groen and Nicky Verstappen have investigated Fourniret.
In 2006 rumors swirled that Fourniret might have been the real murderer of eight year old Marie-Dolores Rambla, and not Christian Ranucci, a 22 year old man convicted of the crime, and beheaded in France with the guillotine on 28 July 1976. The case has always been controversial:
New evidence showed that Fourniret was taking a holiday in Marseille at the same time and place Rambla was murdered. On 3 June 1974 Rambla and her brother Jean met a man in a car who claimed he was searching for his dog. Marie-Dolores joined the man in his car and was kidnapped. Over an hour after her disapperarance, the car of the kidnapper was involved in a car accident with a person named Martinez but the kidnapper drove away. Followed by an elderly couple, he was seen carrying a big package. The police suspected there was a connection between the kidnapping and the fleeing driver. Following an extensive search, the body of Marie-Dolores Rambla, stabbed to death, was found in some bushes. Ranucci was arrested since he was in a car accident that day and was carrying a large package. In Ranucci's car, the police discovered a pair of pants with dried blood of the same blood type as Rambla.
Ranucci confessed to killing the girl and told the police where the knife was hidden (the bushes). But Ranucci only confessed to things discovered by the police in the first 48 hours. A day after, Ranucci denied being the murderer. It has been suggested that Ranucci's file was altered and certain pieces of evidence were hidden to match his "confession". For example, the bloodstains on his pants were much older than the day of the murder, and could be explained due to a fall from his motorcycle. Ranucci had the same blood type as Rambla. The elderly couple claimed they saw the girl in the back of Ranucci's car and heard her screaming. But the couple did not leave their car and Ranucci's car door was broken on the side they claimed he had opened to snatch the girl out of the car. Further investigation showed that a red sweater found at the scene of the crime did not belong to Ranucci, as previously thought.
Later, five people told the police they saw the kidnapping but none of them identified Ranucci as the perpetrator.
The big media fuss about the case made Ranucci guilty before his case was even brought to the court. He received the death penalty. But other facts point to Fourniret's possible involvement in the crime. He was on vacation in Marseille in June 1974, drove a car of the same color (grey), was 32 years old and, unlike Ranucci, had a record of criminal sexual deeds. Fourniret used many tricks, similar to the lie about the lost dog. Also, Rambla showed no signs of being sexually molested. Fourniret often ejaculated in front of his victims instead of sexually assaulting them.
See also
External links