Emile Louis

Case record: Émile Louis

Background

Émile Louis (born January 21, 1934 in Pontigny, Bourgogne) was a retired French bus driver and was identified as a prime suspect in the disappearance of seven young women in the département of Yonne, Burgundy, in the late 1970s.

Louis had been described as a retired bus driver and as a serial offender in relation to sexual offences. He later confessed to murdering seven girls, then retracted his confession.

Louis was also described as serving a 20-year jail sentence for the rape and torture of his last wife and her daughter.

The offence

Rape and torture of his second wife and stepdaughter

Louis was sentenced by the assize court of the Var for the rape and torture of his second wife and his stepdaughter, to 20 years in prison, two-thirds without parole.

Kidnapping and murders of seven young women

Louis was accused of murdering seven mentally handicapped young women who had gone missing in the same area of central France in the late 1970s. The disappearances initially did not attract much attention because the girls had no close relatives and lived in homes for the handicapped; it was assumed that they had simply run away.

Louis allegedly kidnapped the girls while driving a bus meant to transport them. He had been described as driving the victims between their homes and a day centre for the mentally handicapped.

Louis confessed to murdering the seven girls in 2000 and told detectives he had felt "uncontrollable urges" to murder the women, but he later withdrew his confession.

Louis told investigators at one stage that he buried the bodies in a field at the edge of a river near the town of Auxerre. Forensic experts identified two skeletons as the remains of Jaqueline Weiss and Madeleine Dejust after Louis’s confession.

Remains of the five other women were not found.

Investigation

Louis was described as being a prime suspect in the disappearances in the département of Yonne, Burgundy, between 1975 and 1980.

Gendarme Christian Jambert had submitted a report in 1984 designating Louis as a prime suspect. On August 4, 1997, Jambert was found dead and judicial authorities found the cause to be suicide. An examination of Jambert’s skull on March 31, 2004, indicated that two bullets had entered the brain, and both should have instantly been fatal.

In 1992, Pierre Charrier, the head of the Yonne APAJH association managing the home for handicapped young people where the missing girls had been staying, was sentenced to six years in prison for raping a 23-year-old handicapped woman.

Nine years before, Nicole Charrier, Pierre Charrier’s spouse, had testified in favor of Louis.

In 2001, Nicole Charrier was removed from her management position at APAJH. The lack of reaction by judicial authorities led to suspicions that enquiries were blocked not out of negligence or incompetency, but because of possible involvement of locally well-connected people in a network providing sadistic prostitution services.

The case included an issue of prescription (statute of limitations). The Court of Cassation ruled that certain acts that would previously not have been considered to interrupt prescription did in fact interrupt prescription.

A re-examination of Louis’s case was ordered, with the hope of uncovering more evidence linking Louis or anyone else to the girls. The missing and murdered case files were described as having been repeatedly misplaced, missing, or destroyed from the Auxerre courthouse, including witness statements and DNA evidence in Joanna Parrish’s case.

Investigators re-examining the cases determined it was more likely that gross negligence on behalf of local magistrates was to blame for the mishandling of the cases.

In March 2002, four magistrates from Burgundy faced accusations of gross negligence in the cases of missing and murdered women in their region: Rene Meyer, Jacques Cazals, Daniel Stilinovic, and Bertrand Daillie. They were ordered to appear before a panel of six senior judges reviewing the cases over a three-day period. Stilinovic admitted that "there were people who allowed information to be stifled." He was further quoted saying "magistrates tampered with procedures on behalf of people they wanted to protect. It is a conspiracy at the very top." He maintained his innocence.

The panel returned a verdict in late March and found Stilinovic guilty of negligence; he received the severest penalty and was dismissed from his position. Cazals was found guilty and transferred from his post in Paris. Meyer was stripped of his honorary title after he was found guilty. Daillie received no punishment.

Arrest

Louis had confessed in 2000 and led police to the remains of two victims, Madeleine Dejust and Jacqueline Weis, after confessing their location to the Gendarmerie. Louis then retracted his confession.

Trial

Trial for the rape and torture of his second wife and stepdaughter

Louis was sentenced on March 26, 2004 by the assize court of the Var for rape and torture of his second wife and his stepdaughter, to 20 years in prison, two-thirds without parole.

Trial for the murders of seven young women

Louis’s trial by the Yonne assize court for the seven murders started on November 3, 2004.

On November 10, the court visited the location where the bodies of two victims, Madeleine Dejust and Jacqueline Weis, were exhumed after Louis confessed their location to the Gendarmerie.

Louis retracted his confession and maintained his innocence.

Louis’s trial was described as being contested through repeated attempts to throw out the case. On November 2, 2004, Louis’s lawyers requested that the case be delayed until after the European Court of Human Rights ruled on their bid to dismiss the case, because they believed "the crimes took place too long ago for the case to be legally valid." The court rejected the defense request and ordered the resumption of Louis’s trial.

The trial was expected to last four weeks, and it was stated that if convicted Louis could face life imprisonment.

More than 90 witnesses were described as expected to testify, including magistrates, social workers, police officers and family members of the victims. The father of British student Joanna Parrish was also expected to be in attendance.

During sentencing deliberations, Louis said: "I'm sorry for the families, but I'm innocent". He was also quoted as follows: "May they haunt your sleep, your days, your nights... the kingdom of emptiness - it is you ..Didier Seban,. Lawyer for victims' families." and "You, Monsieur Louis, will one day have a grave around which your children can gather. They (the victims) will have no grave. "May they haunt your sleep, your days, your nights... the kingdom of emptiness - it is you."

Sentencing

Murder trial

Louis was found guilty of killing the women, and he was sentenced to life in prison on November 25, 2004. It was stated that he would serve a minimum of 18 years.

Rap and torture sentence already imposed

On March 26, 2004, Louis was sentenced to 20 years in prison, two-thirds without parole, for rape and torture of his second wife and his stepdaughter.

Appeals

Louis’s lawyers had sought a delay of the trial pending a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on their bid to dismiss the case. The court rejected the defense request and ordered the resumption of Louis’s trial.

Outcome

Louis was convicted for the murders of seven mentally handicapped young women and was sentenced to life in prison on November 25, 2004.

Louis had previously confessed to the killings in 2000 and then retracted his confession one month later. His confession led police to find the remains of two victims: Madeleine Dejust and Jacqueline Weis.

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the murder trial, families were described as attending in hopes of seeing Louis brought to justice after his earlier avoidance of prosecution for approximately twenty-five years.

Roger Parrish, the father of British student Joanna Parrish, said after the trial: "I don't think he had any direct involvement or contact with Joanna. "He wasn't in the area at the time that she went missing. I believe he was in prison in the south of the country for other sex offences."

Timeline

• 1975–1980 — Seven young women disappeared in the département of Yonne, Burgundy
• 1983 — Louis was convicted of sexual attacks on minors and sentenced to four years in prison
• 1984 — Gendarme Christian Jambert submitted a report designating Louis as a prime suspect; judicial authorities found the cause to be suicide later for Jambert’s death
• 1989 — Louis was twice convicted of sexual attacks on minors and sentenced to five years in jail
• 1992 — Pierre Charrier was sentenced to six years in prison for raping a 23-year-old handicapped woman
• August 4, 1997 — Christian Jambert was found dead; judicial authorities found the cause to be suicide
• March 31, 2004 — Examination of Jambert’s skull indicated two bullets had entered the brain
• March 26, 2004 — Louis was sentenced in the Var for rape and torture of his second wife and stepdaughter to 20 years in prison
• November 2, 2004 — Louis’s lawyers sought a delay pending a European Court of Human Rights ruling; the court rejected the request and ordered resumption
• November 3, 2004 — Louis’s murder trial started in the Yonne assize court
• November 10, 2004 — The court visited the location where Madeleine Dejust and Jacqueline Weis were exhumed
• November 25, 2004 — Louis was sentenced to life in prison

List of alleged victims

• Madeleine Dejust
• Chantal Gras
• Bernadette Lemoine
• Christine Marlot
• Martine Renault
• Jacqueline Weiss
• Françoise Lemoine

Other details

Statements and quotations

Louis initially admitted to the killings and later withdrew his confession. He told detectives he had felt "uncontrollable urges" to murder the women.

A quote attributed to Didier Seban, lawyer for victims' families, stated: "You, Monsieur Louis, will one day have a grave around which your children can gather.

Confession and retraction

It was stated that Louis confessed to murdering the seven girls in 2000, before retracting his statement one month later. His confession led police to find the remains of two victims.

Sexual offences and age-related context in the narrative

Louis had been convicted twice of sexual attacks on minors: in 1983 he was sentenced to four years in prison, and in 1989 with a five-year jail term.

Joanna Parrish case details included in the narrative

Joanna Parrish was described as a British language student whose body was found floating in the Yonne River at Moneteau near Auxerre, Burgundy, in May 1990; she had been tied up and raped before being strangled.

Roger Parrish hoped that the trial might yield vital clues about her death, and he planned to attend part of the trial.