Widow of French ‘Ogre of Ardennes’ serial killer begs for ‘forgiveness’ in French court as she faces life sentence for helping her husband murder women including Brit student Joanna Parrish

The former wife of French serial killer Michel Fourniret expressed regret on the final day of her trial Tuesday for her role in the murders he committed, begging the families of the victims to forgive her.

‘I ask for forgiveness,’ Monique Olivier said on the final day of her trial for complicity in three of killings committed by Fourniret, including that of British student Joanna Parrish. ‘Although I know that what I did is unforgivable,’ she added.

Olivier – already serving a life sentence issued in 2008 for complicity in other murders committed by her husband – is on trial for her part in the abduction, rape and murder of Parrish in 1990 and 18-year-old Marie-Angele Domece in 1988.

Olivier is also charged with complicity in the disappearance of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin in 2003, whose body has never been found two decades on despite intensive searches.

On Monday, prosecutors in the trial said they were seeking life in prison for Olivier, without possibility of parole for at least 22 years. Fourniret died in 2021 aged 79 in a secure unit of a Paris hospital meaning he never stood trial for the three killings.

Olivier  is on trial for her part in the abduction, rape and murder of Joanna Parrish (seen right) in 1990 and 18-year-old Marie-Angele Domece in 1988

Michel Fourniret (seen in 2008), nicknamed the ‘Ogre of Ardennes’ after the region on the France-Belgium border where preyed on victims – died in 2021 aged 79 before he could be brought to trial for the three killings, despite him confessing to all three

He confessed to 11 murders before he died, but reports have suggested there could have been many – perhaps two dozen – more.

Olivier, who divorced Fourniret in 2010, accused him of several other killings of which he was suspected of being involved.   

She is already serving a life sentence issued in 2008 for complicity in four kidnappings and murders committed by her husband. 

A decade later she was sentenced to a further 20 years for complicity in another murder.

Like Mouzin, Domece’s remains have never been found, while Parrish’s naked body was recovered from the Yonne river in the French department of the same name.

People sentenced to life in France usually become eligible for parole after 18 to 22 years, but prosecutors asked that Olivier, 75, serve a minimum of 22 years.

Monique Olivier (left), ex-wife of serial killer Michel Fourniret, sits in the courtroom for her trial at the assize court in Nanterre, Paris’ suburb, on November 28

The prosecutors cited ‘the exceptional gravity of the acts committed and the necessary protection of society’.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors highlighted Olivier’s strategy of gaining the trust of Domece and Parrish knowing they would be murdered, as well as her decision to remain silent about killing of Estelle Mouzin.

Didier Seban, a lawyer for the Parrish and Mouzin families, said prosecutors’ call for the maximum sentence was ‘justified by the crimes that were committed’.

‘What my clients want is for her to never get out,’ Seban said.

The verdict in the case is scheduled for later on Tuesday.