Serial killer's ex was 'perfect accomplice' in Joanna Parrish murder

Monique Olivier, now 75, met serial killer Michel Fourniret in the 1980s and has been on trial for the past three weeks

A serial killer's ex-wife has been called the "perfect accomplice" as her trial in Paris comes to an end.

Monique Olivier is accused of complicity in the murder of two women, including the Gloucestershire student Joanna Parrish.

Her ex-husband, Michel Fourniret, confessed to Joanna's murder in 2018, but died in 2021.

Summing up, the Avocat General Hugues Julie said: "She was his perfect accomplice."

He added: "This couple could be the worst serial killers in the past 50 years in France and Belgium.

"Raping and murdering was as inconsequential to them as going to the supermarket."

It comes after Joanna Parrish's parents, Roger Parrish and Pauline Murrell, told the BBC they were 'exhausted' from the trial.

Fourniret was arrested in 2003 after a failed abduction and was jailed for life in 2008 for the murders of seven girls and young women.

Olivier also received a life sentence in 2008 and is now facing trial for her role in what happened to Joanna Parrish, as well as the case of Marie-Angele Domece, who disappeared aged 18 from Auxerre and the 2003 disappearance of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin, whose body has never been found.

Joanna Parrish had been working as an English teacher in Auxerre when she was murdered

Joanna was murdered in May 1990 while working as a teaching assistant in Auxerre, south of Paris.

She had placed an advert in a local paper offering English lessons, and Fourniret replied to arrange a meeting in town.

Stephanie Pottier, Avocate General said Joanna was "targeted".

'Her fate was sealed'

She continued: "Olivier was present to reassure this young woman and to get her in the van.

"Her fate was sealed. Joanna Parrish would still be alive if Monique Olivier hadn't been there on the day of the kidnapping."

Olivier's lawyer, Richard Delgenes, concluded his summing up, telling the jury: "You will condemn her because she recognizes the facts. She will not appeal your decision.

"Today she is on another path, which concerns only her and on this path she makes choices and she chooses to confess.

"I believe she does not have two faces, there is only one Monique Olivier."

Fourniret, pictured here in 2004, died in jail two years ago

Ms Pottier continued: "She made the kidnappings, rapes and murders possible.

"It gave her life meaning. It was a murderous team of two absolute criminals who complemented each other.

"Monique Olivier and Michel Fourniret denied the humanity of their victims - they forgot their faces. Their families will never forget their faces."

The three-week trial in Paris is expected to end on Tuesday.