Parents of murdered Joanna Parrish 'exhausted' from trial

The parents of a murdered student say they are "exhausted" after facing the woman accused in court of helping to kill their daughter.

Joanna Parrish from Gloucestershire was kidnapped and strangled while working at a school in Auxerre in 1990.

French serial killer, Michel Fourniret, confessed in 2018, but died in prison in 2021.

His ex-wife, Monique Olivier, is on trial in Paris for her role in the crime.

Roger Parrish, Joanna's father, said: "We're very tired, exhausted, in fact, both mentally and physically. It's been a long time and many years that we've waited for this moment."

Olivier is also on trial for her role in the kidnapping of 18-year-old Marie Angele Domece in 1988 and the kidnapping and murder of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin in 2003.

Neither of their bodies have ever been found.

Joanna Parrish, a 20-year-old student from Gloucestershire, was kidnapped and murdered by Fourniret

Over the last three weeks, she has been questioned by lawyers for the victims' families several times, revealing the last hours of the couple's victims.

"I had read the post-mortem report, so I knew what had happened anyway," said Pauline Murrell, Joanna's mother, in an exclusive interview with the BBC.

"But I didn't want to hear it on the afternoon they were talking about it with the experts, and so we came out [of court]."

Mr Parrish added: "It is different when you hear it in court and everybody else is hearing it as well."

'Very difficult'

Olivier has accepted she was there when Joanna got into Fourniret's van in May 1990, after he answered her advert offering English lessons.

He raped and strangled her before putting her body in the river, where it was discovered the next day.

"To hear her talking about Jo and the other two cases of the other two young women is very difficult," said Mr Parrish.

"And we now realise, really, what perhaps our lawyers have felt for many years, that the truth comes out very, very slowly.

"It's like a staircase: one step after the other. We're absolutely convinced that she knew what she was doing. And she took an active part in all these crimes."

Monique Olivier, now 75, met serial killer Michel Fourniret in the 1980s and is already serving a life sentence

The state prosecutor and Olivier's defence team are expected to read closing statements on Monday, with a verdict and sentencing on Tuesday.

Olivier has apologised for Joanna's death, but maintains she was controlled by Fourniret and in fear of him.

Neither the victims' lawyers, nor Joanna's parents, accept this defence.

'Eyeballing her'

"It's really difficult, but I've been eyeballing her, hoping she can see the expression on my face" said Mrs Murrell.

"And when she's not saying she can't remember…that's dreadful because it makes you feel as if the person was not important to her.

"I didn't want to hear her go into what Jo did and what she said. I didn't want to hear that at all."

The couple told the BBC they now have "some of the answers, perhaps not all".

"This is what have been working and fighting for, for 33 years. And I think and hope it will end the way we want it to", said Mr Parrish.

Mrs Murrell added: "Just to know that perhaps in a way, it's over now."

Big Cases: The Student Who Never Came Home

If you want to find out more about what happened to Joanna Parrish watch 'Big Cases: The Student Who Never Came Home' now on BBC iPlayer.