Fourniret facespsychiatric exam

17 August 2004

BRUSSELS – Self-confessed serial killer Michel Fourniret has been sent to Lantin prison for a psychiatric examination, it emerged Tuesday.

The Frenchman, who has so far confessed to 10 murders in France and Belgium, was transferred to the Liège prison last Friday.

Dubbed the “monster of the Ardennes” for his crimes, he is being held in solitary confinement over fears for his safety.

Fourniret has also acknowledged raping many of his victims, who were mainly girls and young women.

He will undergo a series of psychiatric tests to try to determine his motivation for the killings. Much of the examination will be personality tests, which evaluate intellectual and social capacities and can bypass any manipulative tricks that could be used to mask the truth.

The psychologists in charge of the tests should, after a few weeks, be able to determine his capacity to discern and whether he is fully responsible for his actions.

Fourniret’s lawyer, Luc Balleux, complained that he had not been told of his client’s transfer to Lantin. Balleux is currently appealing an extradition order to France, which was issued under the new EU arrest warrant.

A Liège court gave an initial positive ruling to the French request, which would take place on 9 September if the appeal falls through.

French police want to question Fourniret about the disappearance of Celine Saison on 16 May 200 and Mananya Thumpong on 5 May 2001.

Subject: Belgian news