Marc Dutroux

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Marc Dutroux
Born (1956-11-06) 6 November 1956 (age 61)
Ixelles, Belgium
Criminal penalty Life imprisonment
Criminal status Imprisoned
(Solitary confinement}
Spouse(s) Francoise D.
(1976–1983)
Michelle Martin
(1989–2003)
Children 5 (2+3)
Partner(s) Michelle Martin,
Michel Lelièvre
Details
Victims 11 (possibly more)
Date 19??-1986, 1995-1996
Country Belgium
Killed 5
Date apprehended
 13 August 1996
Imprisoned at Prison of Nivelles
Marc Dutroux from Belgium pronunciation (Voice of America)

Marc Dutroux (French: [dytʀu]; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian criminal and child molester.

Dutroux was convicted in 1989, for the abduction and rape of five young girls (with his then wife Michelle Martin), the youngest of whom was eleven years old. Dutroux was released after serving three years.

In 2004 Dutroux was found guilty of having kidnapped, tortured and sexually abused six girls in the period 1995 to 1996, ranging in age from 8 to 19, four of whom died. His wife, Michelle Martin, was convicted as an accomplice. Dutroux was also convicted of having killed a suspected former accomplice, Bernard Weinstein. Dutroux was arrested in 1996 and has been in prison ever since, though he briefly escaped in April 1998.

Dutroux's widely publicised trial took place in 2004. A number of shortcomings in the Dutroux investigation caused widespread discontent in Belgium with the country's criminal justice system, and the ensuing scandal was one of the reasons for the reorganisation of Belgium's law enforcement agencies.

Early life[edit]

Born in Ixelles, Belgium, on 6 November 1956,[1] Dutroux was the oldest of five children. His parents, both teachers, emigrated to the Belgian Congo, but returned to Belgium at the start of the Congo Crisis when Dutroux was four. They separated in 1971 and Dutroux stayed with his mother.

Personal life[edit]

He married at the age of 19 and fathered two children; the marriage ended in divorce in 1983. By then he had already had an affair with Michelle Martin. They would eventually have three children together, and married in 1989 while both were in prison. They divorced in 2003, also while in prison.

He has been described by psychiatrists who examined him for trial as a psychopath.[2]

An often unemployed electrician, Dutroux had a long criminal history including convictions for car theft, muggings and drug dealing.[3] Dutroux's criminal career also involved the trade of stolen cars to Czechoslovakia and Hungary; all of these activities gained him enough money to live in relative comfort in Charleroi, a city in Hainaut province that had high unemployment at the time[4] and has had for decades.[5] He owned seven small houses, most of them vacant, and used three of them for the torture of the girls he kidnapped. In his residence in Marcinelle (part of Charleroi), he constructed a concealed dungeon in the basement. Hidden behind a massive concrete door disguised as a shelf, the cell was 2.15 m (7 ft) long, less than 1 m (3 ft) wide and 1.64 m (5 ft) high.[citation needed]

First arrest and release[edit]

In February 1986, Dutroux and Martin were arrested for abducting and raping five young girls. In April 1989, Dutroux was sentenced to thirteen and a half years in prison. Martin received a sentence of five years. Showing good behaviour in prison, Dutroux was released on parole in April 1992, having served only three years, by Justice Minister Melchior Wathelet. Upon his release the parole board received a letter from Dutroux's own mother to the prison director, in which she stressed concern that he was keeping young girls captive in his house – which was essentially ignored.[3]

Following his release from prison, Dutroux convinced a psychiatrist that he was psychiatrically disabled, resulting in a government pension. He also received prescriptions of sleeping pills and sedatives, which he would later use on his victims.[6]

Abductions after arrest[edit]

Julie Lejeune and Mélissa Russo (both aged eight) were kidnapped together from Grâce-Hollogne on 24 June 1995, probably by Dutroux,[7] and imprisoned in Dutroux's cellar. Dutroux repeatedly sexually abused the girls and produced pornographic videos of the abuse.

On 22 August 1995, Dutroux kidnapped 17-year-old An Marchal and 19-year-old Eefje Lambrecks who were on a camping trip in Ostend. He was likely assisted in these abductions by his accomplice, Michel Lelièvre, who was paid with drugs. Since the dungeon already contained Lejeune and Russo, Dutroux chained Lambrecks and Marchal to a bed in a room of his house. His wife was aware of all these activities.[8]

Second arrest[edit]

In late 1995, Dutroux was arrested by police for involvement in a stolen luxury car racket. He was held in custody for three months between 6 December 1995 and 20 March 1996. Police searched Dutroux's house on 13 December 1995 and again six days later in relation to the car theft charge. During this time, Julie Lejeune and Mélissa Russo were still alive in the basement dungeon, but in spite of their cries being heard, police failed to discover them. Michelle Martin allegedly fed her husband's German Shepherd dogs but did not follow his orders to feed the girls, later claiming she was too afraid to go into the dungeon.[9] Lejeune and Russo starved to death, and were later buried in bin bags in the back garden.[10]

Two months after his release, Dutroux, with help from Lelièvre, kidnapped 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne who was on her way to school on 28 May 1996. She was imprisoned by him, once again, in the dungeon where he had kept his previous victims.

Third arrest and discovery of the crimes[edit]

On 9 August 1996, Dutroux and Lelièvre kidnapped 14-year-old Laetitia Delhez as she was walking home from a public swimming pool. An eyewitness had earlier observed Dutroux's van, described it and identified part of the license plate.[11] Dutroux, his wife, and Lelièvre were all arrested on 13 August 1996.[12][13] An initial search of his houses proved inconclusive, but two days later, Dutroux and Lelièvre both made confessions. Dutroux led the police to the basement dungeon where Dardenne and Delhez were found alive on 15 August 1996.[14] In an interview conducted several years later, Dardenne revealed that Dutroux had told her that she had been kidnapped by a gang but her parents did not want to pay the ransom and the gang was planning to kill her. Dutroux said he saved her, and that he was not one of the gang members she should fear. He let her write letters to her family, which he read but never sent.[11]

On 17 August 1996, Dutroux led police to another of his houses in Sars-la-Buissière in Hainaut province. The bodies of Julie Lejeune and Mélissa Russo as well as an accomplice, Bernard Weinstein, were found in the garden.[12] An autopsy found that the two girls had died from starvation. Dutroux said he had crushed Weinstein's testicles until he gave him money, then drugged him and buried him alive. Later Dutroux told the police where to find the bodies of An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks. They were located on 3 September 1996 in Jumet in Hainaut, buried under a shack next to a house owned by Dutroux. Weinstein had lived in that house for three years.[12]

Hundreds of commercial adult pornographic videos, along with a large number of home-made sex films that Dutroux had made with his wife Michelle Martin, were recovered from his properties.[15]

Criticism of police investigations[edit]

Authorities were criticised for various aspects of the case. Several incidents suggest that despite several warnings, the authorities did not properly follow up on Dutroux's intentions. Dutroux had offered money to a police informant to provide him with girls and told him that he was constructing a cell in his basement. His mother also wrote a second letter to the police, claiming that he held girls captive in his houses. Dutroux was actually under police camera surveillance the night he kidnapped Marchal and Lambrecks; however, the police had only programmed the camera to operate during the daylight hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.[9]

The police searches of Dutroux's house on 13 and 19 December 1995 in relation to his car theft charge came under the harshest scrutiny.[12] During this time, eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Mélissa Russo were still alive in the basement dungeon, but the police failed to discover them. Since the search was unrelated to kidnapping charges, police searching the house had no dogs or specialised equipment that might have discovered the girls' presence, and in an otherwise decrepit and dirty basement, they failed to recognize the significance of the freshly plastered and painted wall that concealed the dungeon. While in the basement, a locksmith who was accompanying the police said he heard children's cries coming from inside the house, but was overruled by the police, who concluded the cries must have come from the street outside.[12] This was especially remarkable since the country was at that time in the midst of a nationwide search for missing children, and police were in fact searching the home of someone previously convicted of abducting and raping young girls, yet still dismissed claims of hearing children's cries inside the house.

Several videotapes were also seized from the house that showed Dutroux constructing the secret entrance and the dungeon where the girls were then held. The tapes were never viewed by the police, who later claimed this was because they did not have a videotape player.[9]

Allegations of cover-up[edit]

There was widespread anger and frustration among Belgians due to police errors, evidence that was seemingly ignored, the general slowness of the investigation and the disastrous outcome of the events. This suspicion that Dutroux had been, or was being, protected was raised when the public became aware of Dutroux's claims that he was part of a sex ring that included high-ranking members of the police force and government.[16][17] This suspicion, along with general anger over the outcome, culminated with the popular judge in charge of investigating the claims, Jean-Marc Connerotte, who had played an important role in the liberation of Laëtitia Delhez and Sabine Dardenne, being dismissed on the grounds of having attended a fund-raising dinner for the girls' families[16], in what became known as the "spaghetti-affair". Connerotte was replaced by Jacques Langlois. This was Langlois' first case. Langlois also had a difficult relationship with the public prosecutor Michel Bourlet, the two had different views on the case.

Some of the parents of the victims claim that no new evidence was uncovered after Langlois took on the case. Langlois however claims that much of the evidence that had already been gathered was flimsy or unverifiable and that there seemed to be a lot of conspiracy theories.

The dismissal of Connerotte and the end of the investigation resulted in a massive protest march (the "White March") of an estimated 300,000 people on the capital, Brussels, in October 1996, two months after Dutroux's arrest, in which demands were made for reforms of Belgium's police and justice system.[18]

When the case against Dutroux came to court, Connerotte was called as a witness. On the witness stand, Connerotte broke down in tears when he described "the bullet-proof vehicles and armed guards needed to protect him against the shadowy figures determined to stop the full truth coming out.[16] Never before in Belgian judicial history had an investigating judge or public prosecutor (in this case Michel Bourlet) been subjected to such pressure. We were told by police that [murder] contracts had been taken out against the magistrates." Connerotte also testified that the investigation was seriously hampered by protection of suspects by people in the government. An inquiry was held into the behaviour of Connerotte and that of some policemen. Although they were all cleared, valuable time and manpower in the Dutroux case were lost. "Rarely has so much energy been spent opposing an inquiry," he said. He believed that the Mafia had taken control of the case.[19]

Parliamentary investigation and escape from custody[edit]

A 17-month investigation by a parliamentary commission into the Dutroux affair produced a report in February 1998, which concluded that while Dutroux did not have accomplices in high positions in the police and justice systems, as he continued to claim, he profited from corruption, sloppiness and incompetence.

Public indignation flared up again in April 1998. While being held in a court house in Neufchâteau, where he was allowed to study his own dossier, Dutroux overpowered one of his guards (the other was away on an errand), took the policeman's gun and escaped. He forced a driver at gunpoint to relinquish his car and tried to get away through the forests surrounding Neufchâteau. In record time a massive manhunt was started, in which an estimated 5.000 policemen and a number of helicopters were involved. Police in his native Belgium, and in France, Luxembourg and Germany placed their police forces on an "all-borders alert", effectively closing the borders around Belgium.[20] He was arrested by police a few hours later after having been spotted by a local park ranger, who then called the police. The Minister of Justice Stefaan De Clerck, the Minister of the Interior Johan Vande Lanotte, and the police chief resigned as a result. In 2000, Dutroux received a five-year sentence for threatening a police officer during his escape. In 2002, he received another five-year sentence for unrelated crimes.[15]

Trial[edit]

Dutroux's trial began on 1 March 2004, some seven and a half years after his initial arrest.[21] It was a trial by jury and up to 450 people were called upon to testify. The trial took place in Arlon, the capital of the Belgian province of Luxembourg, where the investigations had started. Dutroux was tried for the murder of An Marchal, Eefje Lambrecks and Bernard Weinstein, a suspected accomplice. While admitting the abductions, he denied all three killings, although he had earlier confessed to killing Weinstein.[21] Dutroux was also charged with a host of other crimes: auto theft, abduction, attempted murder and attempted abduction, molestation, and three unrelated rapes of women from Slovakia.[22]

Martin was tried as an accomplice, as were Lelièvre and Nihoul. To protect the accused, they were made to sit in a glass cage during the trial. In the first week of the trial, photos of Dutroux's face were not allowed to be printed in Belgian newspapers for privacy reasons; this ban remained in force until 9 March.[23] Throughout the trial, Dutroux continued to insist that he was part of a Europe-wide paedophile ring with accomplices among police officers, businessmen, doctors, and even high-level Belgian politicians.[24]

In a rare move, the jury at the Assize trial publicly protested the presiding judge Stéphane Goux's handling of the debates and the victims' testimonies.[25] On 14 June 2004, after three months of trial, the jury went into seclusion to reach their verdicts on Dutroux and the three other accused. Verdicts were returned on 17 June 2004 after three days of deliberation.[26] Dutroux, Martin and Lelièvre were found guilty on all charges; the jury were unable to reach a verdict on Michel Nihoul's role.[26]

Sentencing[edit]

The death penalty was abolished in Belgium in 1996. The last execution for common law crimes was in 1863. Although the majority of Belgians, at the time of the trial, would have had no problem with Dutroux receiving the death penalty.[27] On 22 June 2004, Dutroux received the maximum sentence of life imprisonment, while Martin received 30 years and Lelièvre 25 years. The jury was asked to go back into seclusion to decide whether or not Michel Nihoul was an accomplice.

On 23 June, Dutroux lodged an appeal against his sentence.[28]

Although Michel Nihoul was acquitted of kidnapping and conspiracy charges, he was convicted on drug-related charges and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. Nihoul was released in spring 2006. He currently resides in Zeebrugge.

On 19 August 2012 about 2,000 people in Brussels demonstrated against Michelle Martin's possible early release from prison. She has since been paroled, 13 years into her sentence [29], and was released into the care of the Poor Clares in Malonne. She was given shelter, although she was not part of the community. The sisters have declared that they were not her guardian and shelter was given under the condition that she would not violate the conditions of her parole.[30]. As the convent has since been sold, she has had to find new shelter or go back to prison. A former judge has created an apartment in his converted farmhouse, where she now lives.[31][32]. Martin may be questioned by the court in 2017, because the father and brother of one of the victims of Dutroux have lodged a complaint of fraud (this happenend before her conviction) against her.[33].

Lelièvre is currently serving his prison sentence in the prison of Ittre. His application for parole in 2013 was denied. He has since then been granted temporary leave, but has violated the conditions of release. He may be released if he can find an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker, which has so far been unsuccessful. The Belgian state was forced to pay Lelièvre 6.000 euros. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that a moral compensation was in order because he was held in custody (nearly 8 years) without receiving answers to his requests.

On 4 February 2013, Dutroux requested the court in Brussels for an early release from prison.[34] He insisted that he was "no longer dangerous" and wanted to be released into house arrest with an electronic tag (ankle bracelet) placed upon him. On 18 February, the court denied his request.[35] Dutroux is currently being held in solitary confinement in the prison of Nivelles.[36]

Legacy[edit]

The Dutroux case is so infamous that more than a third of Belgians with the surname "Dutroux" applied to have their surname changed between 1996 and 1998.[37] The Belgian crime thriller Public Enemy is loosely based on the Marc Dutroux case.[38]

In 2008 Nicole Malinconi published a book called Vous vous appelez Michelle Martin (translation: You are called Michelle Martin)[39]

Belgian author Kristien Hemmerechts published a number of novels about the "affair Dutroux". Most notably, in 2007 In het land van Dutroux (translation: in the land of Dutroux)[40]. And in 2014 De vrouw die de honden te eten gaf (translation: The woman who fed the dogs)[41], a fictionalised account of the affair, from the viewpoint of the wife (supposedly Martin). Martin was described, at the time, as the most hated woman in Belgium, even more than a woman who killed her five children.[42]

Dutroux's houses[edit]

Marc Dutroux owned seven houses, four of which he used for his kidnappings:

  • The house on the Route de Philippeville 128 in Marcinelle is most often cited in the media. All girls were held captive here in the basement and bedroom.
    The municipality of Charleroi seized ownership of this house, because of what happened there and the bad state of the house. There are plans to create an open space with a memorial site here. In the Belgian procedure of compulsory purchase, an owner has a last right to visit a house. Therefore, Dutroux visited this house on 10 September 2009, under heavy police guard.[43]
  • A house in Jumet, that has since been demolished. An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks were buried in the garden of this house by Dutroux. Bernard Weinstein lived in this house for a while. A small monument is placed at this location.
  • A house in Marchienne-au-Pont. Julie Lejeune and Mélissa Russo were held captive here for a short while after their kidnapping.
  • A house in Sars-la-Buissière. Lejeune, Russo and Weinstein were buried here after Dutroux killed them. The house was bought by the municipality of Lobbes in the first months of 2009. It is planned to make a park with a monument commemorating the victims of Dutroux here.

  • Murals on a wall opposite the house in Marcinelle.

  • Location of the house of Dutroux in Jumet.

  • House owned by Dutroux in Marchienne-au-Pont.

See also[edit]

Otherwise related:

  • The Alcasser Girls - Influential affair of three Spanish girls who were kidnapped, assaulted and murdered
  • Moors murders - Murder of five children, some of who were sexually assaulted, in the United Kingdom
  • Sachsensumpf - Unresolved scandal of child prostitution in Germany

References[edit]

Inline citations
  1. ^ "Marc Dutroux". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2009. 
  2. ^ "Evil Belgian found guilty". The Telegraph India. Calcutta. 17 June 2002. Retrieved 13 August 2015. 
  3. ^ a b "Profile: Marc Dutroux". BBC News. London: BBC. 17 June 2004. Retrieved 28 August 2012. 
  4. ^ Moulaert, Frank (2000). Globalization and Integrated Area Development in European Cities. Oxford University Press. p. 86. 
  5. ^ "Charleroi: the most depressing city in Europe becomes more depressing by the day". The Telegraph. 29 March 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2016. 
  6. ^ "Marc Dutroux ställdes öga mot öga med sitt offer". DN.SE. Retrieved 12 July 2015. 
  7. ^ "Accomplice in Belgian Child Killings Paroled to Convent". 31 July 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2017. 
  8. ^ "Belgians Furious as Child Killer Marc Dutroux's wife Michelle Martin is Freed". 29 August 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2017. 
  9. ^ a b c Van Heeswyck,Marie-Jeanne; Bulté, Annemie; De Coninck, Douglas; The X-Dossiers, 1999.
  10. ^ Black, Ian (28 February 2004). "Eight years on, Dutroux appears in court – but will the truth be heard?". BBC News. Retrieved 6 December 2010. 
  11. ^ a b "Dutroux affair haunts Belgian police". BBC. 22 January 2002. Retrieved 12 July 2015. 
  12. ^ a b c d e "Articles about Marc Dutroux". LATimes.com. Retrieved 12 July 2015. 
  13. ^ "Belgian furious as child killer Marc Dutroux wife Michelle is freed". The Independent. Associated Press. 22 August 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2015. 
  14. ^ Serial Killers: Monster of Belgium (Television Production). Silver Spring, Maryland, US: Discovery Communications. 2008. 
  15. ^ a b Bell, Rachael. "Marc Dutroux, A Pedophile and Child-Killer". trutv. Retrieved 19 December 2012. 
  16. ^ a b c Helm, Toby (17 August 2001). "Belgium accused of cover-up in Dutroux inquiry". Telegraph.co.uk. Brussels. Retrieved 12 July 2015. 
  17. ^ Article by Olenka Frenkiel in the Guardian, giving an overview of the case
  18. ^ Osborn, Andrew (25 January 2002). "Belgium still haunted by paedophile scandal". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2015. 
  19. ^ Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose (5 March 2004). "Judge tells of murder plots to block Dutroux investigation". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 28 September 2007. 
  20. ^ Downing, John (24 April 1998). "Disbelief as Dutroux flees court". Irish Independent. Retrieved 18 December 2012. 
  21. ^ a b "Dutroux trial to revive Belgium's trauma". The Irish Times. 1 March 2004. Retrieved 12 July 2015. 
  22. ^ Marc Dutroux at Kriminalstika.eu. Retrieved 12 July 2015
  23. ^ Siuberski, Phillipe (9 March 2004). "Dutroux lashes out at media". The Age. Retrieved 18 December 2012. 
  24. ^ "Belgium court denies Marc Dutroux release". BBC News. Retrieved 12 July 2015. 
  25. ^ Article in a French Newspaper about the trial (in French)
  26. ^ a b "Belgian paedophile Dutroux guilty of rape and murder". The Irish Times. 18 June 2004. Retrieved 12 July 2015. 
  27. ^ Article in a Dutch newspaper: Not all questions about Marc Dutroux are answered (in Dutch)
  28. ^ "Belgium's Dutroux 'lodges appeal'". BBC News (BBC). 23 June 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2012. 
  29. ^ "Belgians demand pedophile accomplice stays in jail". Sacbee News. 19 August 2012. [permanent dead link]
  30. ^ Article in a Dutch Newpaper, Michelle Martin irrecognisably changed
  31. ^ Article on the website of Belgian television and radiostation VRT (in Dutch): Michelle Martin moves to ex-judge
  32. ^ Website article relating to a Dutch TV program (in Dutch), TV program about the judge who has given Michelle Martin shelter in his converted farm
  33. ^ Article on the website of populist newspaper HLN (in Dutch): Michelle Martin to appear before a judge again?
  34. ^ "Marc Dutroux: Child Killer Wants Early Release". Sky News (BSkyB). 4 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013. 
  35. ^ "Belgium court denies Marc Dutroux release". BBC News. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013. 
  36. ^ "Marc Dutroux op 4 februari voor strafuitvoeringsrechtbank voor enkelband" [Marc Dutroux in court on 4 February to get ankle bracelet]. De Standaard. 27 December 2012. 
  37. ^ "Belgian paedophile's namesakes change surnames". BBC News. 10 January 1998. Retrieved 10 September 2008. 
  38. ^ Nelson, Alex (5 May 2017). "Public Enemy: the Belgian thriller that blends true crime with True Detective". i (newspaper). 
  39. ^ Nicole Malinconi, Vous vous appelez Michelle Martin, Denoël, 2008. ISBN 9782207260036
  40. ^ Hemmerechts, Kristien; In het land van Dutroux; Atlas; Amsterdam; ; pp 397; ISBN 9789045002736
  41. ^ Hemmerechts, Kristien; De vrouw die de honden te eten gaf; De Geus; Breda; ; pp 248; ISBN 9789044531589
  42. ^ Benoot in, Rebecca (19 February 2014). "Flemish author reimagines story of Belgium's most-hated woman". Flanders Today. 
  43. ^ De Bock, Steven (11 September 2009). "Dutroux nog één keer naar huis" [Dutroux even home once]. De Standaard (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 August 2015. 
General references

External links[edit]

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