Father of ‘Ogre of Ardennes’ murder victim Joanna Parrish says the family ‘are traumatised to this day’ as he goes face to face with the killer’s widow at her trial over the Briton’s 1990 death
The father of a British woman murdered by a French serial killer dubbed the 'Ogre of the Ardennes' told a court today that his widow was 'an active participant in all his crimes'.
Roger Parrish, 80, spoke on Monday at the trial of Monique Olivier, 75, who helped lure Leeds University student Joanna Parrish to her death when she was just 20 in 1990.
Olivier, described by a judge in 2008 as a “devil with two faces” and her husband's “bloody muse”, is accused of complicity in horrific attacks by her late husband, Michel Fourniret, in eastern France.
She was sitting in the dock at the court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre when Mr Parrish gave evidence.
Holding back tears, Mr Parrish described how Joanna was born on July 3, 1969 – weeks before the first moon landing by American astronauts.
“She fell victim to Fourniret and Olivier five weeks before her twenty-first birthday,” said Roger Parrish (left).
Joanna Parrish, 20, was killed by Fourninet. Her naked body was found in the Yonne River near Auxerre in central France
Monique Olivier is accused of complicity in horrific attacks on her late husband Michel Fourniret
Mr Parrish said: “Every time the moon landings are mentioned, we are reminded of the birth of our beautiful daughter.
'She became a victim of Fourniret and Olivier five weeks before her 21st birthday. We had already started preparing for a family celebration for her.'
Olivier, wearing a black jacket over a gray prison sweatshirt, watched with a blank face as Mr. Parrish continued.
He said: 'The never-ending devastation doesn't even come close to describing the effect Joanna's murder had on our family. The trauma has stayed with us to this day.”
Mr Parrish said his daughter was “an exceptional woman” and that “her life was cruelly ended by a narcissistic psychopath and her female partner who actively participated in all his crimes.”
Monique Olivier was described by a judge in 2008 as a 'devil with two faces' and her husband's 'bloody muse'
She is alleged to have assisted in the kidnappings, rapes and murders of several young women in France
Mr. Parrish was in the courtroom with his ex-wife, Pauline Murrell, Joanna's mother.
Before his death in 2021, Fourniret was accused of murdering eight girls and young women between 1987 and 2001.
Olivier is already serving a life sentence for complicity in four of the murders and a gang rape committed by Fourniret.
She is now on trial for complicity in three other murders, including that of Mrs Parrish, who was originally from Gloucestershire.
Her naked body was found in May 1990 in the Yonne River, near the eastern city of Auxerre.
Mr. Parrish and Ms. Murrell have been fighting for justice ever since.
Fourniret was accused of kidnapping, rape and murder in these cases, but died at the age of 79 before he could be brought to justice.
His crimes date back to 1988 in the case of Marie-Angele Domece, 18, who, like Ms. Parrish, was initially reported missing in Auxerre but whose body was never found.
Olivier is accused of complicity in the kidnapping and murder of both women.
The third charge concerns Olivier's complicity in the 2003 disappearance of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin, whose body has also never been found.
Fourniret is often described as one of France's worst serial killers
“I acknowledge all the facts,” Olivier said on the second day of her trial
Olivier was accused of complicity in the disappearance of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin (photo), whose body was never found twenty years later.
Witnesses in the current trial include Sabine Kheris, the investigating judge who recorded Fourniret's confession.
Ms Kheris is now in charge of a cold cases unit in Nanterre, home of the Hauts-de-Seine assize court.
Fourniret was called the 'Ogre of the Ardennes' after the region on the border between France and Belgium was hunted for victims.
Olivier was given a life sentence in 2008 for her role in four murders and a rape committed by Fourniret.
In 2018, Olivier was sentenced to another 20 years in prison for her role in the murder of Farida Hammiche, the wife of one of Fourniret's former cellmates.
Today's case continues.