In the third episode of “Monique Olivier: Accessory to Evil,” Monique revealed more details about Fourniret’s past. She told them about the missing babysitters that Fourniret had killed. Moreover, none of their bodies had been found. The shocking murders of Joanna Parish and Jeanne-Marie were very disturbing, and these cases proved that Monique had also played a role in the murder of some of the victims. Monique and Fourniret were on trial for the first time in 2008, and although she had committed so many crimes, Monique remained unimpressed by the gravity of the situation.
Episode 4 of “Monique Olivier: Accessory to Evil” showed the prosecutors and their struggle with Monique’s sentence. Her lawyer, Richard, believed that Fourniret was the main perpetrator of these murders, and he would have committed these crimes regardless of Monique’s presence. There were also about 400 journalists in the courtroom. People began to hate Monique, and since she was a woman, the misogyny added to it. Richard felt that people started imposing their sexist norms on the couple. Since Monique was a woman and a mother, she got all the hate because she had murdered small children.
But the same did not happen to Fourniret, and Monique’s lawyer wanted to prove that she was a weak and submissive woman. She listened to her husband’s wishes and had no individuality of her own. If Richard had succeeded in proving that she was afraid of Fourniret, Monique would never receive the same punishment as her husband.
Spoilers Ahead
Was Monique Oliver Really A Victim?
On March 27, Monique appeared for her first trial, and people around began to stare at her. But Monique was completely expressionless and showed no signs of stress or fear. During the interrogation, Monique took a huge pause and then gave her answer. She immediately started shaking, but Monique’s lawyer wanted her to cooperate. Moreover, the journalists could not take a single picture of Fourniret. He refused to say anything because he had requested a private session. Monique wanted people to believe that she had been a victim all along. Monique had revealed that she suffered from a severe inferiority complex and always obeyed Fourniret’s orders. The psychologist claimed that she often described men as strong and powerful. She understood that she tended to be dependent on Fourniret and believed that she had no personality or existence of her own. Yet Monique was very flexible and intelligent when dealing with other people. In reality, Fourniret had chosen Monique to control her because she was the perfect accomplice.
Monique revealed that Fourniret had threatened to kill her and Selim. However, there are other theories that depict the dominance of Monique and Fourniret over each other. They believed that Monique would not have managed to kill so many people if she had been afraid. In 2005, an extensive psychological investigation was conducted to determine Monique’s IQ. They wanted to find out if she was easily manipulated, but the results were shocking. The average score was 11 out of 40, but Monique scored 36, which was enough to understand that she was not a person who could be easily manipulated. Monique had a higher intelligence level than Fourniret. Even though she had an IQ of 131, she did not want people to think she was someone who could easily murder. Monique began to protest the psychologists’ findings, claiming they did not understand her.
A Shocking Revelation
Prosecutors began to investigate Monique and Fourniret’s private lives. Monique had revealed that each victim had to beg Fourniret to physically assault them. Initially, the couple had concealed everything in their intimate life. The psychologists believed that she was not forced to live with her husband because she had enjoyed everything he did with his victims. For 18 years is a very long time, Monique could have easily reported him to the police. It was pretty clear that the couple worked together, and people started referring to them as ‘The Devil.”
People believed that Monique and Fourniret were the two faces of the devil. If you examine the case closely, there is no doubt that Monique inspired Fourniret to kill all those young girls. Now, all the attention was focused on Monique. Richard had to deal with massive public hatred towards him for supporting the woman who was responsible for the death of the girls. On March 27, it was time for the final hearing, and at that point, things started to get even more complicated because people were spitting on Richard to support Monique. Even though it was a difficult case, Richard had to do his job.
When Monique made her defense plea, all the parents left the courtroom because they believed she was as responsible as Fourniret. Richard wanted people to understand that they blamed Monique for the murders but did not realize that Fourniret was also a father and yet did not think before killing the children. Richard had acknowledged his client’s guilt, but he wanted a small difference between the sentences. On March 28, it was time for the final verdict, the last step toward justice. In the end, Fourniret was sentenced to life in prison, while Monique was sentenced to 28 years in prison and was denied the chances of parole. The families were angered by the sentences and wanted the murderers to atone for their crimes. These parents had lost children, and no one could bring a person back from the dead. Still, prosecutors were convinced that there were more victims in this case.
