"Bring back the guillotine," say parents of a British woman murdered in France 30 years ago
The parents of a British woman murdered in France over 30 years say they wish the guillotine had been brought back for 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, dubbed the 'Ogre of the Ardennes' and considered one of France's worst serial killers, responded to the ad in May 1990 and the pair met. Joanna, of Newnham-on-Severn, Glos., was never seen alive again and her body was discovered the next day in the River Yonne, near Auxerre, France. Fourniret confessed to killing 11 women, including Joanna, but died in 2021 before he could stand trial. He was serving a life sentence at the time for the murders of seven girls and young women - and died in 2021. But after his ex-wife Monique Olivier, now 75, was given a second life sentence this week for her role in the murders Joanna's parents said that they felt some 'relief' at the verdict, but harbored nothing but hatred for her killers. Her mother Pauline Murrell said: "There was really no need for all those other girls to die. I really wish they would still be hanged, actually... I thought a guillotine would be ideal." That's where I kept looking at her (Olivier) and thinking. I would guillotine you and sit there with my knitting and watch." Olivier was charged with complicity in the murder of Joanna, as well as complicity in the murder of 18-year-old Marie-Angèle Domèce in 1988. She was also charged with complicity in the murder of Joanna. accused of kidnapping nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin, whose body was never found. The couple said that although Fourniret was no longer alive to be held responsible for their daughter's murder, they were relieved that he was no longer alive could hurt Pauline added: "I think my main feeling is that, thank God, he's not around to kill anyone else. "She won't be there, but I can't help but think If the police, the gens d'armes, had done their job well in the beginning, many other girls would still be alive. - because he would have been caught. "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 wanted to meet him in court, but to be honest I don't really think that would have made any difference to him, knowing what kind of person he was, a psychopath... a complete narcissistic psychopath, who only thought about himself. "I wanted to be there when he was alive. But he's dead now and the world is a better place for it." Before the jury retired to consider their verdicts, Olivier said: "I regret everything I have done and I ask for forgiveness from the victims' families, knowing it is unforgivable." The defendant, who has already serving a life sentence for her involvement in her husband's other murders, was found guilty and sentenced to a second life sentence, with a minimum of 20 years. The couple said they have been fighting for justice for decades and that for so long would have persevered as necessary. Mr Parrish added: "We were determined from the start that it would last as long as it needed to. "Of course we never really thought it would last 33 years and there have been periods , maybe in the 1990s, before Fourniret was identified, which we thought: maybe we should keep doing 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 "I think our strongest feeling now is probably a sense of relief, relief at the verdict and that the jurors and the court have recognized Monique Olivier's key role in the murder of our daughter." The couple said the biggest obstacles they have faced over the years have been a lack of help and information from French authorities. Mr Parrish added: "The hardest part was convincing the French authorities that we would never leave, that we would never leave. "It made no difference. We'd still keep fighting, you know, we'd still keep struggling. "We tried to get on with our lives and I think we both did. We both have certain interests and pleasures and, and of course now we have our grandchildren, a big, big part of our lives. "If we still had to spend some of our time continuing this fight, we would have." In their official statement released after the verdict, Mr Parrish said they were "pleased that the court has recognized Monique Olivier's role in the fight. murder of our daughter and sister." He added: "There has never been any doubt in our minds that her presence played an important role in gaining Jo's trust and her active participation in her murder has been proven beyond doubt. "We now hope, after this last obstacle, that we can remember our daughter and sister with a smile on our faces, as all her friends remember her. "After Christmas we go on holiday like this is an extremely personal moment 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've had so many letters and lately emails and responses from friends, people who were neighbors at her elementary school, at her high school, at college. Just people who knew her, all saying very, very similar things. That she was friendly, helpful, hardworking and very conscientious. "We never had to force her to work, she just did it and that's how we will always remember her." Pauline added: "And her smile. I look at the sun and the sun actually reminds me of Jo. I always think about her. And other people in the village have said the same thing: smile and look at the sun and there is Jo."
Tags Hayley Macfarlane, Houthuis Moor, James Entwistle, Leeds Magistrates Court, Senior investigating officer, tragic incident
