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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Life sentence for French killer | Life sentence for French killer |
| (11 minutes later) | |
| A French court has sentenced a 66-year-old man to life in prison for murdering seven girls and young women. | A French court has sentenced a 66-year-old man to life in prison for murdering seven girls and young women. |
| Michel Fourniret, dubbed the "Ogre of the Ardennes", had admitted kidnapping and killing them between 1987 and 2001. | Michel Fourniret, dubbed the "Ogre of the Ardennes", had admitted kidnapping and killing them between 1987 and 2001. |
| The court, in the town of Charleville Meziere, also gave his wife Monique Olivier a life sentence for complicity. | The court, in the town of Charleville Meziere, also gave his wife Monique Olivier a life sentence for complicity. |
| She was accused of helping to trap the victims - most of whom were raped. It is one of France's biggest serial killing cases in decades. | She was accused of helping to trap the victims - most of whom were raped. It is one of France's biggest serial killing cases in decades. |
| Enigma | Enigma |
| The seven victims were aged between 12 and 22. Most were killed in the Ardennes region of France and Belgium. | |
| MURDER VICTIMS Isabelle Laville: Kidnapped in 1987 in Auxerre, central France, aged 17, and raped. Body found in 2000Fabienne Leroy: Kidnapped and raped in Chalons-en-Champagne, eastern France, in 1988 aged 20. Found next dayJeanne-Marie Desramault: Kidnapped in Charleville-Mezieres in 1989, aged 22. Body found in 2004 at Fourniret's ex property nearbyElisabeth Brichet: Abducted in Namur, Belgium, in 1989, aged 12. Found in 2004 at Fourniret's ex-propertyNatacha Danais: Kidnapped in 1990 near Nantes, western France, aged 13. Found three days later on nearby beachCeline Saison: Kidnapped in Charleville-Mezieres in 2000, aged 18, and raped. Body found three months later in BelgiumMananya Thumphong: Abducted in 2001 in Sedan, north-east France, aged 13, and raped. Found in Belgium in 2002 Trial under media glare | |
| Fourniret would spot a potential victim while driving and stop to ask for directions, then persuade the person to get into his car. | Fourniret would spot a potential victim while driving and stop to ask for directions, then persuade the person to get into his car. |
| Ms Olivier's presence in the vehicle was designed to help reassure the future victim, according to the prosecution. | Ms Olivier's presence in the vehicle was designed to help reassure the future victim, according to the prosecution. |
| Correspondents say the court proceedings failed to unlock Fourniret's personality and motives. | Correspondents say the court proceedings failed to unlock Fourniret's personality and motives. |
| Although he had confessed to the murders, he refused to co-operate during the two-month trial. | Although he had confessed to the murders, he refused to co-operate during the two-month trial. |
| "This is the closure of the trial but not the closure of a life", Jean-Pierre Saison, father of 18-year-old Belgian victim Celine, told the Associated Press news agency. | |
| Fourniret said he would not appeal against his sentence. | |
| He is also suspected of kidnapping, raping and murdering British teaching assistant Joanna Parrish, 20, in 1990 while she was working in the French town of Auxerre. | |
| He is also being investigated over the kidnap, murder and attempted rape of Marie-Angele Domece, a 19-year-old disabled woman from France. | |
| He denies involvement in either woman's death. | |
| Fourniret was arrested in Belgium in 2003 after an attempt to kidnap a 13-year-old girl. | Fourniret was arrested in Belgium in 2003 after an attempt to kidnap a 13-year-old girl. |