Montes ‘wanted to kill’ schoolgirl

14 June 2004

RENNES – The man accused of raping and murdering Caroline Dickinson had intended to kill the 13-year-old, prosecutors told his trial Monday.

Lawyer Francois-Rene Aubray said Francisco Arce Montes, 54, had intended only to rape the British schoolgirl.

“The intention to kill came later on the spur of the moment, but he did want to kill her, it wasn’t an accident,” Aubray said.

Montes denies killing Caroline at a hostel in north-western France in 1996 but has admitted sexual assault.

Aubray asked the jury to convict Montes of murder, and added that he should be given no chance of parole for 22 years.

He had a ferocious will and he applied himself with absolute ferocity to his victim Herve Rouzaud-le-Boeuf, lawyer for the Dickinson family

“He doesn’t have the excuse of a mental illness. There is nothing in his life which could give an explanation or an excuse,” Aubray added.

The court has heard prosecution claims that Caroline died from asphyxiation by a wad of cotton wool, which Montes has denied using.

In his closing speech to the jury, the Dickinson family lawyer Herve Rouzaud-le-Boeuf said: “When you force yourself with a wad of cotton wool – I believe with two hands – you cannot be unaware of the fatal consequences of your actions.”

Caroline, from Cornwall, south-west England, died in the early hours of 18 July 1996 in a shared dormitory in a hostel in the village of Pleine-Fougeres while on a school trip.

The court has heard that Montes, originally from Gijon, Spain, had tried to attack an English girl at another hostel earlier that night but was scared off.

Rouzaud-le-Boeuf said Montes was “frustrated by his failure and from that moment he was determined to obtain satisfaction, come what may, and whatever the cost to his victim”.

Montes drove 25 miles to Pleine-Fougeres, where Caroline was staying with 40 other school pupils, the court heard.

He attacked Caroline while she slept on the floor of the dormitory.

“He had a ferocious will and he applied himself with absolute ferocity to his victim,” Rouzaud-le-Boeuf said.

The final stages of the trial Monday were watched by Caroline’s parents, John Dickinson, 48, and his 46-year-old ex-wife Sue.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news