Trial held under media spotlight

By Alasdair Sandford
BBC News, Charleville-Mezieres

Families of the victims arrived at the courthouse on Thursday

The sirens howled for only five seconds as the police van sped past the waiting photographers, whisking the alleged serial killer into the court buildings.

Outside, TV reporters continued their live broadcasts in the pouring rain of northern France.

Such is the media interest here, that a special annex has been bolted on to the Cour d'Assises at Charleville-Mezieres.

In a construction resembling a church hall, journalists and members of the public sit in pews watching the proceedings unfold on a large screen.

Inside the courtroom, the "duo diabolique" - one newspaper's description of the accused couple - will spend much of the next two months side by side in the dock, divided from the outside world by bulletproof glass.

Details contested

More than 20 years after the first alleged victim was lured to her death under the obscure pact he is said to have struck with his wife, Michel Fourniret and Monique Olivier are finally facing trial.

They have broadly confessed to what they did, although some details are contested.

Alain Behr is representing the family of Isabelle Laville, the first victim

Dressed in a blue jumper, Michel Fourniret replied to the presiding judge's opening questions by holding up a sheet of paper.

"My lips are sealed if there is no closed-door hearing," it read, making clear he did not intend to speak as long as the proceedings were conducted in public.

He handed over another rolled-up document which was passed on to the judge.

In the court's entrance hall, police kept a check on the wall of microphones and cameras.

The first break produced a clamour for reaction from the families' legal teams.

'Manipulate'

Alain Behr, representing relatives of the couple's first alleged victim - Isabelle Laville, who died in 1987 - said they were under no illusions that Mr Fourniret would not try to manipulate the proceedings.

"He wants to be the master of this trial," he said.

"It's very difficult for the family. For 20 years they've been waiting for this, and today Michel Fourniret is again playing with them."

Fourniret was first detained by Belgian police in 2003

Philippe Jumelin, one of the lawyers defending Michel Fourniret, said the paper his client passed to the judge contained a declaration that he had intended to read out.

He was not surprised by Mr Fourniret's attitude in court, describing it as typical of his character.

"For him, the outcome is known," he said, but did not rule out that the defendant would intervene at some stage.

In court, Monique Olivier sat on the same bench as her husband, separated from him by two police officers.

Her hair now completely grey, she spoke only briefly to confirm her legal team.

Her lawyers have been keen to portray their client as a submissive partner, in fear of her husband.

The Laville family interpret Ms Olivier's role somewhat differently.

Maximum sentence call

They are among several relatives who have come to attend the trial.

Isabelle's father, Jean-Pierre, believes Mr Fourniret's wife played a highly pro-active role in his daughter's murder, luring the 17-year-old into her car and driving her to the killer's home.

"In my eyes she is 100% guilty", he told Le Parisien, calling for the maximum sentence.

Over the following two months the court will seek to establish the precise roles played by both husband and wife.

It may also highlight shortcomings in the investigations in both France and Belgium that enabled the crimes to go unsolved for so long.