by SWNS
“Let the guillotine return,” say the parents of a British woman murdered in France 30 years ago
The parents of a British woman murdered in France more than 30 years ago said they wish the guillotine had returned the “evil” couple responsible. Joanna Parrish, 20, was working as a teaching assistant at a school in France when she placed an advertisement offering English lessons in a local newspaper. Michel Fourniret, nicknamed the “Ogre of the Ardennes” and considered one of France’s worst serial killers, responded to the ad in May 1990 and the couple met. Joanna, of Newnham-on-Severn, Gloss., was never seen alive again and her body was discovered in the River Yonne, near Auxerre, France, the following day. Fourniret confessed to murdering 11 women, including Joanna, but he died in 2021 before he could stand trial. At the time he was serving a life sentence for the murder of seven girls and young women, and died in 2021. But after his ex-wife Monique Olivier, now 75, received a second life sentence this week for her role in her in the murders. , Joanna’s parents said they felt some “relief” at the verdict, but felt nothing but hatred toward her killers. Her mother, Pauline Murrell, said: “It really wasn’t necessary for all those other girls to die. I really wish they were still hanging, in fact… I thought a guillotine would be ideal.” That’s what I kept looking at her (Olivier) and thinking. I would guillotine you and sit there knitting and watching.” Olivier was charged with complicity in Joanna’s murder, as well as complicity in the murder of 18-year-old Marie-Angèle Domèce in 1988. He was also charged with the kidnapping of Estelle Mouzin , nine years old, whose body has never been found. The couple said that although Fourniret was not alive to be held responsible for their daughter’s murder, they were relieved that he could no longer hurt anyone. Pauline added: “I think he What I feel most is that, thank God, he’s not here to kill anyone else. “She won’t be there, but I can’t help but think that if the police from the beginning, the gens d’armes, had done their job correctly, then a lot of other girls would still be alive – because they would have caught him. “But I don’t know why They didn’t, they were just completely inadequate. That’s my main feeling; It wasn’t necessary.” Father Roger Parrish added: “I think I would have liked to face him in court, but frankly I don’t think it would have made any difference to him anyway, knowing the type of person. that he was, a psychopath… a completely narcissistic psychopath, who only thought about himself. “I would have liked to have been there when he was still alive. But now he’s dead and the world is a better place for that.” Before the jury retired to consider his verdicts, Olivier said: “I regret everything I did and I apologize to the families of the victims, knowing that it is unforgivable.” The defendant, already serving a life sentence for her participation in the other murders of her husband, was found guilty and sentenced to a second life sentence, with a minimum of 20 years. The couple said they had been fighting for justice for decades and would have kept going for as long as it took. Parrish added: “We were determined from the beginning that it would take as long as it took. Of course, we never really thought it would take 33 years and there have been periods, perhaps during the 1990s, before Fourniret was identified, that we thought , maybe we will have to do this for the rest of our lives. “But as soon as he and Monique Olivier were identified in the early 2000s, I was absolutely convinced that they were responsible, with or without evidence.” “I think “That probably our strongest feeling now is relief, relief that the verdict and that the jurors and the court have recognized Monique Olivier’s leading role in our daughter’s murder.” The couple said the biggest obstacles they faced throughout of the years were the lack of help and information from the French authorities. Parrish added: “The hardest part was convincing the French authorities that we were never going to leave, that we were never going to leave. “It didn’t make any difference. We would keep fighting, you know, we would keep fighting. “We’ve tried to move on with our lives and I think we both have. We both have certain interests and pleasures and of course we now have our grandchildren a big part of our lives. “If we still had to dedicate part of our time to continue this fight, then we would have done it.” In his official statement released after the verdict, Mr. Parrish said they were “pleased that the court has recognized Monique Olivier’s role in the murder of our daughter and sister.” He added: “There has never been any doubt that his presence was an important part of gaining Jo’s trust and his active involvement in her murder has been proven beyond any doubt. “We hope that now, after this latest hurdle, We can remember our daughter and our sister with a smile on our faces, which is how all her friends remember her. “After Christmas, we will take a vacation like this. “It is an extremely personal time for our family and we ask that our privacy be respected at this time.” And they said they wanted to remember their daughter for her kind and bright personality. Mr. Parrish said: “I want her to be remembered for the person she was. We have received many letters and lately emails and comments from friends, people who were neighbors at their elementary school, at their elementary school, at the university. Just people who knew her and who say very, very similar things. That she was kind, helpful, hard-working and very conscientious. “We never had to force her to get down to work, she just did it and we will continue to remember her that way.” Pauline added: “And her smile. I look at the sun and the sun reminds me of Jo, actually. I always think of her. And other people in the village have said the same thing: she smiles and looks at the sun and there’s Jo.” “.
