CBS News
Serial killer’s widow admits her role in British student’s rape and murder: “I was bait”
The widow of a French serial killer known as the “Ogre of the Ardennes” on Tuesday admitted she was “bait” in the 1990 rape and murder of British student Joanna Parrish by her former husband.
Confronted with images of Parrish’s swollen face after her body was pulled from the river Yonne, Monique Olivier said: “It’s because of me she’s gone, it’s unforgivable.”
She remained silent in the glass-screened dock for long moments as she looked at the pictures, before pushing them away with a trembling hand.
Olivier is on trial for her role in three kidnappings and murders by her late husband Michel Fourniret and her role in rapes and attempted rape in two of the cases.
On “hunts” with her husband, Olivier said during cross-examination: “I was the dog, I was never anything but the dog that must obey” its master.
AP Photo
Last week, Olivier took the stand and admitted to “all the facts” in the cases.
Now 75 years old and serving a life sentence issued in 2008, her case deals with the abduction, rape and murder of 20-year-old Joanna Parrish in 1990 and 18-year-old Marie-Angele Domece in 1988.
Olivier is also charged with complicity in the disappearance of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin in 2003, whose body has never been found two decades on despite intensive searches.
Domece’s remains have also never been found, while Parrish’s naked body was recovered from the Yonne in the French department of the same name.
Olivier recounted how she remained in the front seat of the couple’s car when Fourniret climbed into the back to kill and rape Parrish in May 1990.
“Like a coward, I do nothing, I hear her scream a little but I don’t intervene. It’s fear, panic, (I am) unable to do anything at all,” she said.
The Parrish family had left the courtroom on Tuesday when Joanna’s murder was discussed, staying away during Olivier’s questioning.
“I can’t manage to remember all of the details. I mix them up with other” killings, Olivier told judge Didier Safar.
Fourniret, who sought out virgins to rape and murder over nearly two decades, is believed to have answered a classified ad Parrish bought in a local paper offering English lessons — hoping to earn money to visit her boyfriend in Czechoslovakia.
Parrish’s family, then-boyfriend and their lawyer had on Monday pressed the idea that the young woman would never have got into a car alone with a strange man to highlight Olivier’s vital role.
“I was bait,” Olivier acknowledged on Tuesday.
FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI/AFP via Getty Images
Fourniret himself, who died in 2021 before any trial for the three killings, said of Domece and Parrish in 2018: “I am the only one responsible for their fates… If those people had not crossed my path, they would still be alive”.
Who were the victims?
All of Fourniret’s victims — most of whom were raped — were shot, strangled or stabbed to death, the BBC reported. Most were killed in the Ardennes region of northern France and in Belgium.
Olivier fled in the early 1980s from her violent first husband, with whom she had two children, before becoming a pen pal of Fourniret while he was serving a jail sentence for rape. They allegedly sealed a pact that she would find him virgins to rape if he would kill her then-husband — which he never did.
Pool DEMANGE/MARCHI/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
The BBC reported that the couple’s first known victim was 17-year-old Isabelle Laville.
In 1987, Olivier pulled her van up to Laville when she was walking home from school, told the student she was lost and convinced her to get in the vehicle to help her with directions, the BBC reported. They later stopped to pick up Fourniret, who ultimately raped and murdered the teen, the BBC reported.
For 16 years, the couple worked together in the abduction and murder of at least eight girls and young women, the BBC reported. They were finally stopped in 2003, when a 13-year-old girl Fourniret was trying to kidnap managed to escape, leading to his and Olivier’s arrest.
The BBC reported that Fourniret’s known victims were Isabelle Laville, Fabienne Leroy, Jeanne-Marie Desramault, Elisabeth Brichet, Natacha Danais, Celine Saison, Mananya Thumphong, Farida Hammiche, Marie-Angèle Domèce, Joanna Parrish and Estelle Mouzin.
CBS News
Helene disrupts yellow jacket, bee nests in North Carolina, prompting massive Benadryl, EpiPen requests
Deadly flooding from Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina has disrupted the underground nests of yellow jackets, bees and other insects, causing them to swarm and sting people struggling to recover from the storm.
It has caused such a surge in requests for medication to protect people allergic to stings that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is buying Benadryl and epinephrine injections to help fill requests through hospitals, emergency medical personnel and doctors.
Pharmacists in the state can also provide emergency refills for people who are already prescribed allergy medications, according to a state health department spokesperson. The state is planning to allow people to buy epinephrine injections such as EpiPens without a prescription, and it is working to collect and distribute donations of medicines.
While most people are not allergic to stings from bees and other insects, irritation and pain can be intense and stings can swell and remain painful for days, according to the Mayo Clinic. And some people can have a severe allergic reaction that can lead to anaphylaxis that can cause difficulty breathing, swelling of the tongue and throat, weak pulse and loss of consciousness. In these situations, it’s critical to administer epinephrine immediately.
Being stung more than a dozen times can also cause a buildup of venom in the body that can cause serious sickness that can include dizziness, fever, convulsions or vomiting.
To reduce the risk of getting stung, experts recommend wearing long and light-colored clothing that has a smooth finish, avoiding perfumes and smelly soaps and deodorants.
If there’s only one stinging insect around, they recommend staying calm and still, and to avoid swatting at it. But if several are stinging, they say it’s better to try to quickly get indoors or into a shaded area. Bees release a chemical when they sting that attracts other bees.
Several hospitals across the U.S. are grappling with shortages of IV fluid after flooding from Hurricane Helene forced medical fluid manufacturers to halt production.
Baxter International, the leading supplier of IV fluids to hospitals, said its facility in Marion, North Carolina, remains closed for the foreseeable future.
“Baxter’s North Cove facility affected by flooding and currently closed for production as the company assesses extent of the impact,” the company says in a statement on its website.
The company, which supplies about 60% of the country’s IV fluid bags, added that it’s working with federal agencies to support recovery efforts and “mitigate supply disruption to patients.”
IV fluids are administered intravenously to treat dehydration and are critical for surgery, during which patients are asleep for a long time and unable to eat and drink.
“Remediation efforts are already underway, and we will spare no resource — human or financial — to resume production and help ensure patients and providers have the products they need,” José (Joe) E. Almeida, chair, president and chief executive officer at Baxter, said in a statement.
Mass General Brigham is among the health care systems that has not received its usual supply of IV fluid. Chief preparedness and continuity officer Dr. Paul Biddinger said during a press conference Friday that the hospital network expects to receive about 40% of what it usually gets from Baxter.
Biddinger called the supply constraint “one of the biggest shortages” the hospital network has ever dealt with.
Other manufacturers of IV fluids say they’re ramping up production to help cover the shortage. B. Braun said none of its manufacturing sites were affected by the Hurricane Helene, and that it’s “taking immediate steps to increase production at our pharmaceutical manufacturing sites in Irvine, California, and Daytona Beach, Florida, focusing on critical IV fluids.”
The company as also placed its products on “protective allocation” and is encouraging providers that administer IVs to practice conservation, including by using alternative hydration methods, a spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
ICU Medical, another IV fluid manufacturer, said it’s also taking steps “to increase production to help meet market needs while continuing to support our existing customers.”
Hospitals also experienced IV fluid shortages in 2017, when Hurricane Maria disrupted manufacturing.
“Having experienced similar challenges in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017, we continue to be mindful of how we manage the supply of these medications to ensure minimal impact on our patients. Hospital operations continue as normal and patient care remains unaffected,” Dr. Biddinger of Mass General Brigham said in a statement.
Several hospitals across the U.S. are grappling with shortages of IV fluid after flooding from Hurricane Helene forced medical fluid manufacturers to halt production.
Baxter International, the leading supplier of IV fluids to hospitals, said its facility in Marion, North Carolina, remains closed for the foreseeable future. In a statement on its website, the company says, “Baxter’s North Cove facility affected by flooding and currently closed for production as the company assesses extent of the impact.”
The company, which supplies about 60% of the country’s IV fluid bags, added that it’s working with federal agencies to support recovery efforts and “mitigate supply disruption to patients.”
IV fluids are administered intravenously to treat dehydration and are critical for surgery, during which patients are asleep for a long time and unable to eat and drink.
“Remediation efforts are already underway, and we will spare no resource — human or financial — to resume production and help ensure patients and providers have the products they need,” José (Joe) E. Almeida, chair, president and chief executive officer at Baxter, said in a statement.
Mass General Brigham is among the health care systems that has not received its usual supply of IV fluid. Chief preparedness and continuity officer Dr. Paul Biddinger said during a press conference Friday that the hospital network expects to receive about 40% of what it usually gets from Baxter.
Biddinger called the supply constraint “one of the biggest shortages” the hospital network has ever dealt with.
Other manufacturers of IV fluids say they’re ramping up production to help cover the shortage. B. Braun said none of its manufacturing sites were affected by the Hurricane Helene, and that it’s “taking immediate steps to increase production at our pharmaceutical manufacturing sites in Irvine, California, and Daytona Beach, Florida, focusing on critical IV fluids.”
The company as also placed its products on “protective allocation” and is encouraging providers that administer IVs to practice conservation, including by using alternative hydration methods, a spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
ICU Medical, another IV fluid manufacturer, said it’s also taking steps “to increase production to help meet market needs while continuing to support our existing customers.”
Hospitals also experienced IV fluid shortages in 2017, when Hurricane Maria disrupted manufacturing.
“Having experienced similar challenges in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017, we continue to be mindful of how we manage the supply of these medications to ensure minimal impact on our patients. Hospital operations continue as normal and patient care remains unaffected,” Dr. Biddinger of Mass General Brigham said in a statement.
Helene disrupts yellow jacket, bee nests in North Carolina, prompting massive Benadryl, EpiPen requests
Hospitals across the U.S. face IV fluid shortage after Hurricane Helene
Hospitals across the U.S. face IV fluid shortage after Hurricane Helene
Helene disrupts yellow jacket, bee nests in North Carolina, prompting massive Benadryl, EpiPen requests
Hospitals across the U.S. face IV fluid shortage after Hurricane Helene