Posted on 06/11/2004 3:23:31 PM PDT by knighthawk
MARC Dutroux, on trial in a horrific child rape and murder case that has haunted Belgium for almost a decade, has denied the most serious charges against him in a final, personal plea to the jury.
"I am not a murderer," Dutroux told the packed courthouse. "I am not asking for forgiveness. I can't do much to change the irreversible."
While offering his "most sincere regrets" to the parents of the victims, he shocked the court when he added: "You are the parents I would have liked to have had."
As the high-profile trial into the kidnap, rape and murder of six girls between the ages of 8 and 19 approached its climax, Dutroux read from a prepared text for more than three hours.
While admitting kidnap and rape charges, he denied that he killed four young girls almost 10 years ago and claimed he was being made a scapegoat for a wider pedophile network.
The 47-year-old electrician, dubbed the Monster of Marcinelle, repeated the defence he had given when he had first spoken from behind his bullet-proof glass cage 15 weeks ago.
He insisted that he was not the lone predator portrayed by the prosecution, and accused investigators of not following up evidence that could have proved the existence of the pedophile network.
He directed the jury to examine specific elements of the 470,000 pages of evidence that he claimed would support his allegations.
Thursday's court session wrapped up more than three months of emotional testimony in a trial that has transfixed the country and much of Europe.
A verdict could come as early as the middle of next week.
Dutroux insisted his role was small, and he sought again to shift responsibility to his three co-defendants and a shadowy crime network he claims is still at large.
He said, nevertheless, that he bore responsibility for the four victims who died, because he "did not protect them enough".
Dutroux portrayed himself as a victim of an unhappy childhood, of unfair media attacks and of miscarriages of justice.
He admitted that he had kidnapped four of the girls, including the two survivors -- Sabine Dardenne, 12, and Laetitia Delhez, 14 -- and had raped three of them, but repeatedly distanced himself from the four gruesome deaths that had shocked the entire nation.
Instead, he laid the responsibility firmly on his three co-defendants: his ex-wife, Michelle Martin, and alleged accomplices Michel Lelievre and Michel Nihoul.
Only Martin, he insisted, could tell the truth about the two eight-year-olds, Melissa Russo and Julie Lejeune, who had starved to death in the underground cell in his Marcinelle home while he was in prison.
Dutroux admitted that he had kidnapped and held prisoner An Marchal, 17, and Eefje Lambrecks, 19, but denied any involvement in their murder, when they were buried alive after being drugged.
Instead, he laid the blame on Lelievre and Nihoul, accusing them of taking the girls away from his protection and introducing them to a sex ring.
Nihoul, in his closing statement, reiterated his contention that he had played no part in the crimes, while Martin said she was sorry for her involvement.
The other defendant, Michel Lelievre, did not speak.
The jury will begin its lengthy deliberations on Monday. They are expected to take two to three days.
But of course, none of them will get the death penalty, which all of them manifestly deserve.
Ping
Other people convicted of nothing more serious than stealing old Citroen automobiles will have to spend time in jail near this animal.
A prisoner will have to dispose of him absent interest by the people or the state!
This episode might get some analysis by John Douglas, former FBI profiler
on his radio show.
It broadcasts Saturdays 7-10PM Pacific Time on 640AM in Los Angeles and over the web at
http://www.kfi640.com
Oh, poor baby.
FYI
"Which points out what a morally monstrous structure European justice systems have become under the EU."
I dont' think you can blame the EU for all of it, I think many of them were very deteriorated even before the EU. It does show the march of the left, how far they advanced. I'm thinking Reagan really did stop that advance to a good degree.
But if even Israel, under almost daily assualt from murderers won't bring back the death penalty, what hope is there for Europe?
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