Monique Olivier: Accessory to Evil

It's a painful case and a difficult wait for one family.

The disappearance of Isabelle Laville, aged 17, near Auxerre,

remains unexplained.

Isabelle Laville was last seen wearing a long, dark blue coat,

jeans, and white boots.

She has long, light brown hair.

On December 11th, 1987,

my husband and I pulled out the sofa bed and left the outside light on all night.

We couldn't sleep.

We went to check the door whenever we heard a noise.

And it was so cold that night.

The coldest it's been in a while.

My daughter didn't come home. She disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Without a trace.

It really was a huge shock.

That morning, she was there. In the evening, she was gone.

They murdered our daughters.

Our children.

There was the serial killer and his girlfriend.

Without her, he wouldn't have been able to do what he did.

I blame her for everything.

It was that vile woman who brought children into the world

but didn't respect other people's children.

Michel Fourniret, the French forest ranger,

had been charged in Belgium for abducting minors and indecent assault.

His wife has accused him of murdering nine children and young girls.

With at least ten murders, usually involving rape,

experts say he is the most prolific serial killer in France.

Whatever may have happened to Estelle, you have to give her back to us.

The murders by the Ogre of the Ardennes and his wife shocked Europe.

The remains of a teenage girl who disappeared ten months ago

have been found in Belgium.

The Fournirets are said to have raped and killed young girls

in France and Belgium in an extremely sadistic manner.

Michel Fourniret's wife presents as a submissive wife

who is scared of her husband,

so has not spoken up until now.

She's a housewife who helps to rape, kill and abduct.

But, in the end, she is a housewife.

ACCESSORY TO EVIL

EPISODE 1 THE MONSTER'S WIFE

In my career spanning 41 years,

I've had some notable cases of rapists,

serial pedophiles and absolutely horrific murders,

but the Fourniret-Olivier case goes far beyond all of those.

FORMER PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

Mentally and morally, no one came out unscathed.

That's for sure.

We've dealt with a few serial killers by themselves.

But he wasn't alone. He was with Monique Olivier.

In January 2003, I was appointed prosecutor in Charleville-Mézières.

I remember the first time I heard about Michel.

The commander of the Reims regional crime squad

called me and said, "The Belgians have just arrested Michel Fourniret

following an attempted abduction."

What struck us immediately was the statement

from the little girl who had been kidnapped.

RECORDING OF VICTIM JUNE 2003

There was a man who asked me... the way.

And I showed him.

And the girl said, "I got in the vehicle to be helpful."

"Then his demeanor completely changed. His eyes glazed over."

I've seen this myself several times.

"He became extremely frightening."

"He asked me if I was a virgin. He told me he was going to take my virginity."

"When I asked him if he was going to kill me,

he said no, with a smile up to his ears."

A smile that meant the exact opposite.

"I was terrified, I knew I was going to die."

She tied my hands to my feet and my whole body in the back of the van.

He put her in the back of his van, and started the engine.

I really started to panic.

And I started to pray.

Luckily, she had extraordinary presence of mind and composure.

She managed to untie herself.

When his van stopped at a light, she took the opportunity to escape.

From there, in a complete state of panic and terror, she stopped a driver

and told him what had happened to her.

He told the girl, "He might make a U-turn, so we might run into him."

They did, in fact, pass Fourniret's van.

The driver took down the registration number

and stopped at the nearest police station to tell them everything.

And Fourniret was arrested.

26 JUNE 2003 DINANT - BELGIUM

It is very rare to catch a suspected pedophile in the act.

This French forest ranger from Sedan has been arrested in Belgium.

Michel Fourniret, aged 62, an unassuming-looking man.

His latest abduction attempt was unsuccessful.

It wasn't the law that stopped him. It was Marie Ascension.

LAWYER FOR THE FAMILY OF MANANYA THUMPONG

So, the only person who was able to be stronger than him was a little girl.

Not a police officer, nor a judge, or an expert.

Sart-Custinne, a remote village with 150 inhabitants and two streets.

This is where Michel Fourniret lived.

Today, excavations began in a house in the Belgian Ardennes.

Belgian authorities have charged Michel Fourniret

with abducting minors and indecent assault.

We first searched his house the day after his arrest, June 27th, 2003.

DIRECTOR OF THE FEDERAL POLICE IN NAMUR

Obviously, we still had in mind what had happened in Belgium

with the investigation into Marc Dutroux,

which had shaken the public opinion a few years earlier.

There was obviously pressure from the public and from the media.

We used a lot of resources, like a georadar in the garden and excavators.

Any means that would, quote unquote, "guarantee" we wouldn't miss anything.

The Ardennes is a region that is shared with France.

It's an area that has a culture of discretion and reticence.

Colleagues sometimes refer to it as a "code of silence."

We don't pry, we don't get involved in other people's business.

If we hear of something, we might not mention it.

Neighbors described the Fourniret couple as sad people who don't enjoy life.

People who lived quite discreetly in the village.

They came about ten years ago to buy this house.

And at first, it was fine. But after a time, he disappeared out of sight.

He always worked at home, we thought.

Nothing else.

He was aggressive with the neighbors.

He was really odd. He would kill cats

because he didn't like them going into his garden.

He buried them on his property.

Mr. and Mrs. Fourniret were more like friends. They weren't a normal couple.

Did they ever confide anything private to you?

Private? Well, yes.

That, um, apparently, Michel no longer found her that attractive.

Just that.

She wasn't a very expressive woman.

She didn't smile or talk very much.

But she was nice and gentle.

While we were there, Monique Olivier arrived, Michel Fourniret's wife.

A woman... without any notable physical features.

She looked like a witch, but maybe that's a bit excessive.

But she had long black hair, and her face was quite apathetic.

She hadn't been informed about Fourniret's arrest the night before.

But his overnight absence didn't surprise her. It happened.

She said, "He leads the life he wants."

So, he came and went as he pleased.

He would be away for several days.

That's what he was like, and she had no say.

FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE

She was a submissive, fearful woman, who didn't look up from her feet.

She seemed like the local poor, unfortunate wife.

She was pretty much isolated at home.

Their house was quite untidy. It was a mess.

What we found interesting to help us do our job were the cell phones.

And also documents in which we hoped to find information that we could use later.

The search of Fourniret's home was very revealing,

because we found handcuffs in the cellar.

And children's clothing.

We found masks for putting people to sleep,

condoms,

pistols, and handguns.

We found ropes, Scotch tape, gags, ski masks.

We found a whole array of things that could be used by a burglar,

or... by someone else.

But... very troubling things.

Inhaler masks, things like that.

Ether bulbs. So, yes, well...

Monique Olivier didn't know anything. She hadn't seen anything.

We really got the impression that we were dealing with a real pushover.

The submissive wife who asked no questions.

But you got the sense she could bring something to the investigation.

She undoubtedly had things to say.

Because at that time, we thought we were dealing with a serious criminal,

someone who had committed other similar crimes.

The investigators are focused on this character,

who they say is an extremely dangerous pervert.

No doubt, investigators in Dinant are, naturally, very worried.

They want to check everything.

And above all, they don't want any victims left behind.

We couldn't overlook any unsolved cases he might have been involved in.

We had the very strong sense that he could be a serial pedophile.

And perhaps more than a pedophile, a child murderer.

I thought, "There are other victims."

My name is Daniel Bourgard.

I'm a chief of police from the Reims regional crime squad.

On May 17, 2000, I got a phone call from a police officer

who said that his niece from Charleville, Céline Saison, had disappeared.

APPEAL FOR WITNESSES

He said, "Listen, I think that the police station thinks she's run away."

"I know my niece, I know the context, and there is no way she's run away."

"This is a worrying disappearance. Try to look into it."

We worked on that basis. We looked into it but it didn't lead to anything.

CHARLEVILLE SEARCHES FOR CÉLINE

Until July 22nd, when a body was found in Belgium, just across the border.

The body belonged to Céline Saison.

And a year later, May 5th, 2001, a second girl disappeared in Sedan.

5 MAY 2001 SEDAN - FRANCE

It is a month to the day since Mananya disappeared.

The 13-year-old girl was last seen leaving the media library in Sedan.

They believed her to be a runaway. Her mother waited for news,

holding onto the belief that her daughter remains alive.

Mananya was a 12-year-old girl, full of laughter and joy.

Her nickname was "Eyes".

Her mom said when she was born, "All you could see was her eyes."

MANANYA'S STEPFATHER

So, that's how she got her nickname.

I think she was the child that all parents dream of having.

I didn't know her for very long, but...

The little I knew of the girl was wonderful.

On May 5th, 2001, I left with her mom at around 2:30, three in the afternoon