1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: those of the podcast author or individuals participating in the podcast, 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, Tenderfoot TV, or 4 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: their employees. This podcast also contained subject matter which may 5 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised. 6 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,479 Speaker 2: It was the month of April nineteen ninety eight and 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 2: spring flowers were beginning to bloom in the quaint town 8 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,480 Speaker 2: of neuf Chateau, nestled into the gorgeous Valet du Lac 9 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 2: in the south of Belgium. It's an area where people 10 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 2: come to get away and enjoy the fruits of nature. 11 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 2: With hiking trails along flowing streams leading from one flowery 12 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,840 Speaker 2: village to the next. It seems like a very strange 13 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 2: place to hold Belgium's most hated criminal, but his original 14 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 2: arrest was linked to the disappearance of Letitia Dalas from 15 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 2: the nearby village of Bertrie, and neuf Chateau had jurisdiction 16 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 2: over the case. It had been almost two years since 17 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 2: the true's arrest and there was a new investigating judge 18 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 2: named Jacques l'anlois in charge of the case, as the 19 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 2: previous Judge Jean Marc Conrad had been removed. Judge Langlois, 20 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 2: as well as the king's prosecutor Boulais, and police officers 21 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:20,759 Speaker 2: du Moulin and Adon, whom you heard from in previous episodes, 22 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 2: were toiling away in Enouf Chateau investigating the case and 23 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,199 Speaker 2: preparing for a future trial. Mark d True was also 24 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 2: busy at work in enauf Chateau preparing his defense. Like 25 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,040 Speaker 2: all defendants, de True had the right to consult a 26 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 2: file relative to his case. On the twenty third of 27 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 2: April nineteen ninety eight, the True was in the Justice 28 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 2: Palace of Neufchateau looking over his files under the watch 29 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 2: of two gendarmes. The Justice Palace is somewhat of a 30 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 2: quaint structure right in the center of town, built in 31 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 2: the eighteen hundreds, with a well carved statue of an 32 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 2: angel in front, flanked by a double staircase leading to 33 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 2: the entrance. Given the size of the sprawling case file, 34 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 2: it couldn't be kept all in one place. A file 35 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 2: to True was looking for was on a different floor, 36 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 2: so one of the gendarmes guarding him left him with 37 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 2: the other armed guard to go upstairs. And fetch it 38 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 2: from another repository. D True was unhandcuffed so he could 39 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 2: consult the files, and now it was just him and 40 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 2: the other officer. He saw his chance and took it. 41 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 2: He lurched at the unexpecting officer with a hard punch 42 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 2: and went straight for his gun. It worked. Suddenly the 43 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 2: tables had turned drastically. De True was hands free behind 44 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 2: an unlocked door and armed with a nine millimeters service revolver. 45 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 2: He bolted out the door and flew down the inside stairs, 46 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 2: suddenly finding himself face to face with a deputy Crown prosecutor. 47 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 2: Without hesitation, he pointed the gun straight at the prosecutor's 48 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 2: head while continuing his escape. It wasn't long before he 49 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 2: burst out of the large public entrance into the bright 50 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 2: light of day. He hid behind a wall nearby to 51 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 2: catch his breath and saw a woman stopped in her 52 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 2: car nearby. Without hesitation, he pounced and brutally carjacktor at gunpoint. 53 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 2: Now he had wheels and was speeding out of nef 54 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 2: Chateau into the thick surrounding forest. The True had just 55 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 2: achieved the impossible. Belgium's most notorious criminal had escaped. 56 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 3: Psychobat is somebody who understands emotions. 57 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 4: And I told them it is very exceptional that somebody 58 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 4: abducts two children at the same time. To be theen 59 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 4: of it in nineteen eighty six, but my god, it 60 00:03:59,120 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 4: was just a beginning. 61 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 5: I think Belgium was a paralyzed for perverts in those days. 62 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 2: Welcome to La Monstra. I'm your host. Matt Graves a 63 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:19,720 Speaker 2: stupid vas. 64 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: I love Texuntian for a position. 65 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 2: I'll never forget the day the true escaped. It was 66 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 2: one of those historic moments for Belgium where everyone remembers 67 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 2: where they were when they heard the news. The entire 68 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 2: country was glued to their TVs and radios, from the 69 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 2: north of Flanders to the south of Wologna. Everyone was 70 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 2: holding their breath. How could this be the country's most 71 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 2: dangerous and hated criminal was armed and on the loose. 72 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:11,159 Speaker 2: All of Belgium's police forces were immediately deployed, and both 73 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 2: sides of border patrols in neighboring France, Germany and Luxembourg 74 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 2: were put on high alert. Surveillance aircraft were scrambled, including 75 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 2: search planes and sixteen helicopters. Police were retracing the steps 76 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 2: of the escape they knew to True had burst out 77 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,479 Speaker 2: of the Justice Palace at two forty six pm, and 78 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 2: there were several bystanders who witnessed the escape. One of 79 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 2: these witnesses recognized the True and gave chase, but when 80 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 2: he caught up with him, De True raised his gun 81 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 2: and the man ran for cover. The car he jacked 82 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 2: was a gray Renault Megan model and it was last 83 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 2: seen speeding out of Neufchateau, heading south into the forest. 84 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 2: It had now been over an hour and the search 85 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,119 Speaker 2: was still on once again. Bruno de Nis gives voice 86 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,559 Speaker 2: to what people were feeling in Belgium at the time. 87 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 4: What can I say? I mean, at this point people 88 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 4: already weren't trusting the police, and so I hear in 89 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 4: my car on the radio while driving that the True escaped. 90 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 4: Are you kidding me? The one guy in the whole 91 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 4: country that shouldn't escape. It was embarrassing. It was like 92 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 4: Belgium was a banana republic. I mean, you can't make 93 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 4: up this kind of stuff. Because there was so little 94 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 4: trust at that time. People were suspicious that the Gendarmerie 95 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 4: was playing games. 96 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 2: While the public was rightly outraged, it was the victims' 97 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 2: families and surviving victims that were once again failed by 98 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 2: the justice system. Letitia Dalis was at school when she 99 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 2: was alerted of the escape. She burst into tears when 100 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,040 Speaker 2: she realized that it wasn't just a cruel joke. The 101 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 2: Legion family went into hiding, fearing that the Truth could 102 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 2: show up at their house. The investigative journalist Douglas Daconic 103 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 2: and his colleagues felt similarly to the public and wondered 104 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 2: if there was something else at play here. 105 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 5: But that day, for the first time in more any year, 106 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 5: it was we heard the voice of Michelle Bourle on 107 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 5: the radio very quick I think, only a few minutes 108 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 5: after the True escaped, saying that he could confirm that 109 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 5: the True had escaped, that he had took a gun, 110 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 5: but the gun was unloaded, and yeah, I don't know 111 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 5: what to think about it, But a lot of journalists 112 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 5: had the idea, why is he saying this publicly so quickly? Afterwards, 113 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 5: there were theories that Gean Darmerie would have liked very 114 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 5: much open fire on Market. True, nobody would have complained, 115 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 5: but it would have been the end of the possibility 116 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 5: to interrogate Market. True. I don't think. Michelle Bourgle suspected 117 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 5: Gehan dear Marie of wanting to kill the True, but 118 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 5: he just wanted to make sure that it wouldn't happen. 119 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 2: Meanwhile, Da Trux was trying to make himself lost in 120 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 2: the forest when he pulled into an unpaved road. The 121 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 2: car got stuck and he had to make a run 122 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 2: for it on foot. A forest ranger saw him and 123 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 2: immediately called it in. It wasn't long before he was 124 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 2: surrounded and had no choice but to surrender. It all 125 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 2: ended as quickly as it started, and after three hours 126 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 2: of stress and disbelief, the country breathed a sigh of 127 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 2: collective relief at the sight of the True being brought 128 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 2: back into custody. Both the ministers of the Interior and 129 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 2: Justice immediately tendered their resignations as the government quickly tried 130 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 2: to draw a line under this embarrassing episode. When things 131 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 2: settled down after d'tru's escape and capture, everyone turned to Noufchateau. 132 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 2: The investigating judge, Jacques l'anois, had the unenviable task of 133 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 2: bringing the case to trial. The French and Belgian judicial 134 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 2: systems are very different to what we're used to in 135 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 2: the Anglo American world, an investigating judge replaces the function 136 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 2: of a grand jury, ultimately deciding if their sufficient evidence 137 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 2: of guilt to warrant a trial. He or she wields 138 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,319 Speaker 2: considerable powers, including the issuing of warrants, seizing of evidence, 139 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 2: and whether or not to take the case forward. In 140 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 2: the end, an investigating judge really determines who is being 141 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:39,840 Speaker 2: charged in the overall shape of the trial. It took 142 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 2: no less than seven years since the arrest of de 143 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 2: True to bring the case forward. For the families of 144 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 2: Julie Lejeone, Melissa Rousseau, Ann Martial and Effie Alambrics and 145 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 2: surviving victims Letitia de Les and sabindardin seven years must 146 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 2: have felt like an eternity. Eventually, Belgian's trial of the 147 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:00,440 Speaker 2: century got under way. 148 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 6: La Poise de. 149 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 7: Marque de Marque Utreu and he is rust to Alta. 150 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 2: It was March two thousand and four at the Court 151 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 2: of the Seas in the city of Arlon in Belgium, 152 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 2: the first day of the biggest trial in the history 153 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:28,359 Speaker 2: of this country. A large field close to the courthouse 154 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 2: was cleared to accommodate the over two hundred and fifty 155 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 2: media outlets covering the trial. In total, there were three judges, 156 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 2: fourteen civil parties, fifteen lawyers, twenty four jurors, over four 157 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 2: hundred and fifty witnesses and four defendants. These were Mark 158 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 2: the True, his wife Michelle Martin, the accomplice Michel Le Lievre, 159 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 2: and corrupt businessman Michel Nihu. The True was led into 160 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 2: the courthouse under heavy guard wearing a kevlar bulletprin fest. 161 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,359 Speaker 2: The four defendants were seated in a specially constructed bulletproof 162 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 2: glass cage in front of the courtroom. I spoke to 163 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,439 Speaker 2: a broadcast journalist from the French TV channel France Du 164 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 2: named Jasmino Farber, who was dispatched to Belgium to cover 165 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 2: the trial. 166 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 6: I was a senior reporter for the Friends two channel 167 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 6: when I was assigned to this trial of Marduttru. We 168 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:30,439 Speaker 6: were three or four journalists, which is not so often 169 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 6: in France to be many journalists to cover a trial. 170 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 6: So this was a really big, big case for us 171 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 6: even in France. The story and the case of Mandutru 172 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 6: had a big, big rotantisman, big echo for us in France. 173 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 6: We were really shocked about what happened at this time, 174 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 6: so in the spirit of the French people, it was 175 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 6: also very important to hear the end of the story 176 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 6: of Markdutru. So I dived into the dossier and the 177 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 6: horror of the facts, and the first reflex is to 178 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 6: introduce Margdutru as a monster child killer. But I usually 179 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 6: strive to avoid simplistic narratives in my work. For example, 180 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 6: I had the opportunity to cover the trial of two 181 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:28,679 Speaker 6: famous serial killers in France, Guigeorge and Patris Aleg and 182 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:34,080 Speaker 6: they raped and killed women. The facts were terrifying. However, 183 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 6: during the trial we formd a bit of humanity and 184 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 6: fragility in these guys, even if their actions were dreadful. 185 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 6: But in the case of Margdutru, I must say that 186 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 6: I never found an ounce of humanity, nor in the attitude, 187 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 6: neither in his eyes. Quite the contrary. This strengthened opinion 188 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 6: that there was nothing readeemable in this man. For example, 189 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 6: markdut who told the jury he was the victim. It 190 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 6: said that he protected the little girls from a terrible danger. 191 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 6: But what is more terrible that happened to his victims. 192 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 6: We had to listen to him till like you feel sick. 193 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 6: He never second guest himself or showed any form of 194 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 6: regret during the trial. I remember he tried to appear 195 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 6: like an intellectual, very proud of himself, with his little glasses, 196 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 6: he sued his little notes. I remember when he talked 197 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 6: about his childhood, he said that he had no ice 198 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 6: cream during terrible summer holidays. Imagine what it feels for 199 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 6: a kid, he said. And so when you listen to this, 200 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 6: you are you're in the audience, but you think you 201 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 6: are dreaming or making a nightmare. So that's the memories 202 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 6: I have of this guy behind this window, very quiet 203 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 6: and very calm. And even you know that he fell 204 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 6: asleep the first day of the trial. So that was 205 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 6: really crazy. And really I was struck by the dignity 206 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 6: of the parents and the families. Really you had to 207 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 6: keep your calm because he was just unbearable. It's simple, Sve. 208 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 6: This span is the first time in my life, and 209 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 6: I made many trials. The first time in my life, 210 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 6: I say, Okay, you can't change this guy. And maybe 211 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 6: it's the picture of the monster. 212 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 2: When the trial finally kicked off, there was, however, an 213 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 2: important absence. Gino and Karine Rousseau, the mother and father 214 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 2: of Melissa Russo, boycott the entire trial. They never accepted 215 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 2: how the previous investigating judge Conrad had been removed from 216 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 2: the case, and were unhappy with how his replacement, Judge l'anglois, 217 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 2: had put together the trial. In an open letter published 218 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 2: by the national newspaper Lessois, they wrote, quote, because of 219 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 2: the limited scope of police investigations in forensic examination, we 220 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 2: do not know all of the truth about the tragic 221 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 2: end of Julian Melissa, the exact circumstances of their abduction, 222 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 2: and the possible and not yet revealed complicities from which 223 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 2: the true and his associates could have benefited. Unquote. I 224 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 2: asked the investigative journalist Douglas d' konig about the Rousseau's 225 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 2: decision to boycott the trial. 226 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 5: Well, there were from their point of view, and from 227 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 5: a right point of view, there were too many unanswered questions. 228 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 5: They had been arguing with the team of Charqulancois for years, 229 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 5: having all kinds of questions that every normal person would 230 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 5: have had. I think going from Hotel Brazil, the place 231 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 5: where Julia and Melissa were kidnapped, where Chaqueslanglois failed to 232 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 5: prove to make his point because during a trial, jurors 233 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 5: have the right to ask questions, and day after day 234 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 5: it was the jury that was leading the debates. That 235 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 5: was very strange for us, because they asked the right questions. 236 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 5: I remember this one lady number twelve was lost of 237 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 5: the twelve jurors. She did this in a very mutual way, 238 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 5: in a very polite way. She took over the role 239 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 5: that the Russos might have played in this trial. So, 240 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 5: for example, the location where Julia and Melissa were kidnapped 241 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 5: may seem a detail, but it isn't because most people 242 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 5: who know the investigations say that they have been kidnapped 243 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 5: on the motorway in Clausolgnia. There are a lot of 244 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 5: witnesses talking about the red Ford Fiesta. That's what the 245 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 5: Russo's think as well, because I remember the first, the 246 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 5: very first witness of one of the very firsts. I 247 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 5: think this was a very ordinary guy, a policeman, and 248 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,400 Speaker 5: they asked him, yes, sir, can you present yourself? Well, 249 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:10,919 Speaker 5: I'm a policeman and I work with a dog. The 250 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 5: day of the kidnapping of Julia and Melissa, he and 251 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 5: his dog smelled at a pillow of Julia len and 252 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 5: he went straight to the roots red Ford Fiesta place. 253 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,000 Speaker 5: That's where it all starts. And then long grew a 254 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,159 Speaker 5: few days later appeared with It was very new in 255 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 5: those days, but he brought in a PowerPoint with thousands 256 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 5: of slides just to try and to prove that no, no, no, 257 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:36,920 Speaker 5: the dog was wrong. He had found an old, ninety 258 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,440 Speaker 5: year old lady who's sitting behind her window. She would 259 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 5: have seen the kidnapping, and this would exclude the whole 260 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 5: Fort Fiesta thing. And then he had these jurors. They 261 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 5: just raised their hands and they started asking one question 262 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,439 Speaker 5: after another, and it was obvious that they didn't believe 263 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:57,639 Speaker 5: a word of what Langlois was saying. 264 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 2: You may recall that way back in episode two, I 265 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:06,360 Speaker 2: discussed the various witness reports following the disappearance of Julian Melissa. 266 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 2: There were several witnesses who claimed to have seen a 267 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 2: red Ford fiesta on the side of the highway under 268 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 2: the bridge where the girls disappeared, as well as another 269 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 2: witness who claimed that someone in a red Ford fiesta 270 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 2: tried to kidnap her daughter and friend nearby on the 271 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:28,399 Speaker 2: same day. There was also another witness statement that conflicted 272 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 2: with these sightings, an elderly woman named Marie Louise Henrote, 273 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 2: who thought she saw the girls get into a dark 274 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 2: car on one of the side roads near the highway. 275 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 2: The point here is that Judge Lanlois decided to go 276 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 2: with the elderly woman's version of events for the reconstitution 277 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 2: of the girl's disappearance and subsequent investigations, and therefore didn't 278 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 2: pursue the red Ford Fiesta. Not exploring the red Ford 279 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 2: Fiesta was significant and downplayed the possible existence of other parties. 280 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 2: Rousseau's were not at the trial. Surviving victims Sabin Darden 281 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 2: and Laticia de Leis were in attendance. The media scrum 282 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,160 Speaker 2: went into a frenzy when they entered the courtroom. When 283 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 2: Sabin Darden took to the stand, she was very different 284 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 2: from the twelve year old girl we saw rescued from 285 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,440 Speaker 2: the Truce House of Horrors back in nineteen ninety six. 286 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 2: At twenty one, Sabine entered the courtroom with confidence. She 287 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,440 Speaker 2: faced her tormented directly and spoke with courage and determination. 288 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 2: Journalist Jesmina Farbert brings us back to the scene. 289 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,719 Speaker 6: We all remember the pictures of the liberation of Sabin 290 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:40,879 Speaker 6: Darden and Leticia de Lea, and Sabin crying in the 291 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 6: arms of her parents and saying I missed you so much. 292 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 6: So the testimony of the survivors is always a high 293 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 6: point in a trial because it puts the cues facing 294 00:19:55,560 --> 00:20:00,840 Speaker 6: his acts. The death people can talk, the survivor are 295 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 6: their voices. Sabin faced this severe test with such a dignity, 296 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 6: such a bravery. She knew that when she entered the 297 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,719 Speaker 6: court she would face but trux, so she decided to 298 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,159 Speaker 6: look him in the eyes to get rid of this 299 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 6: problem and stress. She described markdutt Hou like a perverse, 300 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 6: like a madman. She told that margut Hou was saying 301 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 6: to her every day, you are my wife, You are 302 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 6: my new wife. She also remembered his arrogance. He was 303 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:38,640 Speaker 6: so proud, for example, to say that he built the fireplace. 304 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 6: He was proud of everything. I was really really shocked 305 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:47,159 Speaker 6: when she told usdtt Hou told this little girl of 306 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:51,880 Speaker 6: twelve years old that her parents didn't want to pay 307 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 6: the ransom, and that he protected Sabin from people who 308 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 6: wanted to harm her. Sabin in the dungeon she wrote letters, 309 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 6: so dutru took the letters and of course never sent them, 310 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 6: so he really was a perverse and he told her 311 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 6: this little girl it was a moral torture more than 312 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 6: a physical torture. Also because she was raped also every day, 313 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:28,159 Speaker 6: so this was really disgusting. Michelle Martin, the wife of 314 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 6: Mark dut Russe, said she was sorry, but Sabin said 315 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 6: that she couldn't forgive because Michelle Martin knew everything. She 316 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 6: saw them, She saw the girls, and she saw the 317 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:43,960 Speaker 6: girls going down, going up in the rooms and going 318 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 6: down and going up, so she couldn't forgive. Michelle Martin. 319 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 2: I've spoken with many people who experienced this trial firsthand, 320 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,159 Speaker 2: and every single one of them was an agreement that 321 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 2: there was one particular event that marked them for life. 322 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 2: It was the out of court visit of the actual 323 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 2: dungeon in the Truz House in Marsinel, where jurors, lawyers, journalists, 324 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 2: and family members got to see the horror of this 325 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 2: place first hand, and victims Sabine and Letitia returned to 326 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 2: the side of their appalling experience. 327 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 8: Today, victims, parents and members of the jury were given 328 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 8: a guided tour around a family home now taken apart 329 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 8: by detectives. It was the site of the hidden dungeon 330 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:34,680 Speaker 8: that reduced most to tears. Locked in a tiny room 331 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,920 Speaker 8: three feet by six feet, eight year old's Julia Melissa 332 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 8: starved to death. Julie's name is barely visible. 333 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 5: On the wall. 334 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 2: Only a handful of journalists were allowed to participate in 335 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 2: the visit of d' tru's house. Douglas d'connig was one 336 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 2: of them. 337 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 5: To me the moments who marked me as a as 338 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,399 Speaker 5: a human being, of course, it would be the visit 339 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 5: of the gates in Martinel. This was a feeling during 340 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 5: two minutes because we only were led in a few 341 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:10,000 Speaker 5: minutes in couples. I was with a journalists of a 342 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,879 Speaker 5: liber Belgic just two of us for two minutes in 343 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 5: that cage, and it was the fear, the feeling of, 344 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,639 Speaker 5: how do you say it, experienced by two minutes what 345 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,720 Speaker 5: Sabin a Letitia and Julia Melissa must have experienced. This 346 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 5: there's no words to describe it. You can't even you 347 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,360 Speaker 5: can't stand up in that cage. I'm not very cloustrophobic, 348 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 5: but I was at that moment in a very intense way. 349 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,880 Speaker 2: Again, French journalists, he has mina farber. 350 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:48,959 Speaker 6: Side visits during a trial are called in French transport 351 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 6: justice and they are quite rare. Obviously, it's a key 352 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 6: moment in a trial. To go down these stairs, to 353 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:04,400 Speaker 6: get down into the dungeon of Marcinelle was a journey 354 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 6: to the bottom of hell. Judges, lawyers, survivors, members of 355 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:16,640 Speaker 6: the jury, journalists could touch the horror with their eyes. 356 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 6: And I remember the footages that I used for the news, 357 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 6: the bus arriving, and how Sabine looked at the exterior 358 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,119 Speaker 6: of the locations, and of course because she only knew 359 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:32,640 Speaker 6: the inside of it. 360 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,439 Speaker 8: Facing up to personal horror. Sabine Darden and Letitia Delay 361 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 8: young women returning to the house where they'd been held hostage, 362 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:46,480 Speaker 8: just children. What happened inside this house shocked to nation 363 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 8: and left four girls dead. 364 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 6: The reaction of Leticia Dole, who is going out of 365 00:24:54,119 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 6: the dungeon crying, sella, mehrda, so it's shit, it's wh it. 366 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 8: The memories too much for Letitia murder, reaching instinctively for Sabine, 367 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 8: seeking comfort from their shared pain. Together, they spent eighty 368 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 8: six days in the Truce dungeon. In contrast, the true 369 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 8: showed no emotion, boasting about how he'd built the cellar, 370 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 8: unmoved by the bed where he changed his victims, or 371 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,920 Speaker 8: the pleading handmark outlined on the window. 372 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 6: The father of Al Marshall told us when he came back, 373 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 6: you don't put animals in this place, and he put children. 374 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 6: My boss was one of the few journalists who had 375 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:49,360 Speaker 6: received credentials to go to the dungeon. I saw him 376 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:54,160 Speaker 6: come back so pale. He told us it was beyond 377 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 6: anything one could imagine. He told that he saw on 378 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 6: the yellow role an inscription with a black pencil left 379 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 6: by one of the victims, was written Julie. I was 380 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:15,120 Speaker 6: watching the live and I cried, and Dominique ended the live, 381 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 6: and he left his microphone and he went to walk, 382 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 6: and he didn't come to see us in the technical truck. 383 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,199 Speaker 6: He often told me that he was shocked for the 384 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:32,960 Speaker 6: rest of his life. And Dominique covered hundreds of trials 385 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 6: and very difficult criminal tries. I came back in Paris 386 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 6: after three or four months to cover this case. I 387 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 6: told my other boss, the big Boss. I said, okay 388 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,640 Speaker 6: for me, it's over. I don't want to make any 389 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 6: trial again. 390 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:49,399 Speaker 4: I can't. 391 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 6: I just can't anymore. I was sick, really, I really 392 00:26:54,240 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 6: felt like my body it was hurting everywhere. It's difficult 393 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:04,480 Speaker 6: after to come back to life because when you know 394 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 6: what people what they lived, and it's a vision of 395 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 6: humanity which is a hopeless And I went told so 396 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 6: to war war scenes and I saw difficult stuff. But 397 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:30,320 Speaker 6: I think the true case was one of the most 398 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:32,440 Speaker 6: shocking story of my life. 399 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 2: Hearing these accounts reminds me of something Karine Rousseau said 400 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 2: to me during our interview. She said that although she 401 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 2: and her husband Gino may look like normal people, they're 402 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:53,160 Speaker 2: severely injured in a way that's irreparable. They're handicapped by 403 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 2: the knowledge of what happened to their daughter. Most of 404 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,919 Speaker 2: us are conditioned to avoid thinking about the unthinkable, but 405 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,240 Speaker 2: many people in the world don't have the choice because 406 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 2: they've lived through the unthinkable and it's always there, lingering. 407 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,959 Speaker 2: The only thing we can do is listen and empathize 408 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 2: with them, and above all, try to stop the unthinkable 409 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 2: from happening again in the future. To a certain extent, 410 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:30,439 Speaker 2: the outcomfort to true of the trial was assured the 411 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 2: evidence was overwhelming. His wife, Michele Martin, and accomplice michel 412 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 2: Lelievre were also clearly heading to prison. The fate of 413 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:43,400 Speaker 2: Michelle Nihoul, however, was less certain. Initial DNA testing did 414 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 2: not match me whole. However, over five thousand hares were 415 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 2: found in the basement where Julie and Melissa were held captive. 416 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 2: Judge l'angois refused to have them tested, despite the urging 417 00:28:55,480 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 2: of Michel Boulet. According to prosecutors, they didn't believe anyone 418 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 2: else was involved. In fact, they were even accused of 419 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 2: lying and saying that the hairs had been tested. At 420 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:11,240 Speaker 2: the end of the day, Nihu would be pivotal because 421 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 2: he represented a link to a possible wider network. Thus 422 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 2: developed a deep schism between the judge l'anglois, along with 423 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 2: certain investigators, lawyers, and journalists on one side, who wanted 424 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 2: to focus exclusively on to true in its direct accomplices, 425 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 2: versus the prosecutor Boulet along with other investigators, lawyers and 426 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,360 Speaker 2: journalists who wanted to dig into the question of a 427 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:39,560 Speaker 2: wider network. Still today, when discussing the affair, there are 428 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:44,600 Speaker 2: two camps what they call in French, the quillon or 429 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:49,000 Speaker 2: believers of a wider network versus the non Quyon or 430 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 2: non believers. The schism became so entrenched that it divided friendships, families, 431 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 2: and even changed the course of careers of police, journalists 432 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 2: and magistrates. The lawyers of Letitia de Les took the 433 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 2: lead in making the case against Nahoul and therefore opening 434 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 2: the door to a possible wider network. The charge they 435 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,880 Speaker 2: needed to prove was that Nihool was involved with the 436 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,920 Speaker 2: kidnapping of Letitia de Les. They started by reminding the 437 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 2: court that shortly after being arrested, De True's accomplice, michel 438 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 2: Le Lievre, said that both Nihoul and de Trux wanted 439 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 2: him to get involved with their human trafficking scheme. The 440 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 2: plan had been to bring young women from Slovakia to Belgium, 441 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:35,960 Speaker 2: where Nihool would place them in prostitution networks. From there. 442 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 2: Letitia's lawyers drilled into the hard to ignore circumstantial evidence, 443 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 2: namely the frenzy of phone calls between Nihoul, De True, 444 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 2: and l Lievre on the days leading up to of 445 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 2: and just after Letitia's disappearance, the quote payment of fifteen 446 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 2: thousand dollars worth of ecstasy pills from Nihoul to l 447 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 2: Lieva and De True on the day after the kidnapping, 448 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 2: and the testimony from Letitia herself that just after being kidnapped, 449 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:09,000 Speaker 2: she overheard a telephone conversation between the True and a 450 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 2: certain Jean Michel where de True had said quote it worked. 451 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,960 Speaker 2: Remember that Michel Nihoul was often also referred to as 452 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 2: Jean Michel. You'll recall that after the True and Nihoule 453 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,080 Speaker 2: were arrested back in nineteen ninety six, there was a 454 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 2: public call for any other witnesses to come forward with information. 455 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 2: The people who came forward were called the ex witnesses 456 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 2: to protect their identities X one, x two, x three, 457 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 2: and so forth. In the last episode, we covered the 458 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 2: shocking testimony of one of these ex witnesses named Regina Louf, 459 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 2: concerning Nihoul's direct involvement with her abuse as a child. 460 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 5: I remember Jean Michel nut as a very cruel man. 461 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,800 Speaker 5: He abused children in a very sadistic way sometimes during 462 00:31:56,920 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 5: these parties. 463 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 2: Regina Loof was not called to testify the trial because 464 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,240 Speaker 2: the investigation of her and other so called ex witnesses 465 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 2: was suddenly shut down back in nineteen ninety eight. Rudy Hoskins, 466 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 2: one of the gen Darmes who worked on the team 467 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 2: investigating Regina loose testimony, explain to me how this played out. 468 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,840 Speaker 3: And at a certain point in time they started accusing 469 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 3: of of being suggestive and stuff like that. Wish was 470 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 3: for me, not the case. It was fact based. And 471 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 3: also the interviews everything was on tape. Everything was written 472 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 3: down literally because we had people just writing every word 473 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 3: literally down. So for us there was no suggestivity. Was 474 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 3: just asking questions and getting answered and putting it on paper. 475 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 3: And then at a certain point in time they started 476 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 3: accusing us. We were like suspended, and then they came 477 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 3: with why they called it proof. We called it like forgery, 478 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 3: and they changed to words and then we said, hey, guys, 479 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 3: this is not good. What are they doing because this 480 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:02,480 Speaker 3: is not what we have written. And we still have 481 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:04,720 Speaker 3: that copy that's not the same and that is the 482 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:07,880 Speaker 3: one we signed, but that's not what we wrote. And 483 00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 3: there are more of them. 484 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,720 Speaker 2: Remember, Rudy Hoskins and his team were originally brought in 485 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,000 Speaker 2: to investigate Regina Loof and other ex witnesses at the 486 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 2: request of Judge Conrad. When Judge Conrad was removed from 487 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 2: the case, a new judge named Jean Claude van Espen 488 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 2: was put in charge of the ex witnesses, and he 489 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:29,120 Speaker 2: quickly moved to shut down the investigation. 490 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 3: We wrote like a memo to the judge to Valestment 491 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 3: to say, okay, that's what we sent to Now we 492 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 3: see this against us, what's happening? Tell us we want 493 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:41,800 Speaker 3: to see you, we won't talk to you, and you 494 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,480 Speaker 3: refuse to see us anymore. Because Vanestment was a financial 495 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,600 Speaker 3: judge and we used to work with him a lot. 496 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,400 Speaker 3: We were his preferred team, he was or preferred judge, 497 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:55,000 Speaker 3: and at a certain point he didn't want to work 498 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 3: with us anymore. He didn't believe us anymore and he 499 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 3: didn't want to receive us anymore. And also van Espin 500 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:02,479 Speaker 3: he was also the judge on the Championet case in 501 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:05,440 Speaker 3: eighty four when he was a young judge right, which 502 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:07,960 Speaker 3: was also a bit a bit worrying. 503 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:12,000 Speaker 2: So the new judge van Espin was the original judge 504 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 2: who oversaw the horrific Champignier case in the eighties that 505 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 2: Rudy and his team were now reinvestigating, which meant the 506 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,759 Speaker 2: judge would have to overturn his previous decisions and have 507 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:26,520 Speaker 2: his judgment question if the new investigation were to yield results. 508 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:30,600 Speaker 2: This was a clear conflict of interest. There's another important 509 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,560 Speaker 2: detail about Judge van Espin that Rudy and his team 510 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,480 Speaker 2: didn't know at the time that he had a connection 511 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:40,560 Speaker 2: with Michelle Nihoul. He and his ex wife reportedly had 512 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 2: been friends with Nihoul, and van Espin had represented Niehool's 513 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 2: wife as a young lawyer, and his sister was the 514 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:49,840 Speaker 2: godmother of one of Nihoul's children. 515 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:52,279 Speaker 5: And then it. 516 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,359 Speaker 3: Started getting worse, and so we were suspended to We 517 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 3: were put in a room without any cases anymore, without 518 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:01,959 Speaker 3: any work and h We asked ourselves every day, why 519 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:06,480 Speaker 3: what did we do wrong? We also got discilinary proceedings 520 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 3: against us. Everything they could. 521 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:12,879 Speaker 2: They did they could. Why do you think they were 522 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:13,279 Speaker 2: doing that? 523 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:15,880 Speaker 3: That's a good question. We still ask ourselves that question. 524 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,160 Speaker 3: That we came too close. Probably were there some things 525 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,840 Speaker 3: that they didn't want us to dig up? Probably? Was 526 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 3: it all through what he was seeing? Probably not? Was 527 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,759 Speaker 3: it all through that the other axes were saying? Probably not? 528 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:32,280 Speaker 3: But some things were right. But what things that happened 529 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:37,960 Speaker 3: in that that pier were so strange. I still remember 530 00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:41,880 Speaker 3: driving home every evening and asking myself, are we followed 531 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:46,040 Speaker 3: or not? I slept my gun on my pillow every night. Really, 532 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:48,680 Speaker 3: what the fuck did we do wrong? We just did 533 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 3: or work, We checked facts and how we like the 534 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:54,399 Speaker 3: criminals of Belgium. 535 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 2: All charges against Root and his team were eventually dropped 536 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,759 Speaker 2: and they were completely clear any wrongdoing. But after the 537 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:05,640 Speaker 2: case was shut down, Regina Loof was almost totally discredited 538 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 2: as an unstable fantasist who made the whole story up. 539 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 2: The majority of Belgium press aligned with the police in 540 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 2: judicial hierarchy to declare that Regina Loof was making it 541 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,360 Speaker 2: all up. In an interview on Belgium's national TV channel, 542 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,759 Speaker 2: Regina's parents were portrayed as a sweet old couple who 543 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:27,280 Speaker 2: were shocked and ashamed about the delusions of their phantasist daughter. 544 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 2: They completely denied her claims that she was abused as 545 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,840 Speaker 2: a child by a family friend, despite actually having admitted 546 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,760 Speaker 2: that this was true to police and that they knowingly 547 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 2: allowed the abuse to continue for several years. According to 548 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:46,759 Speaker 2: the psychologist who led the council of five psychiatrists to 549 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:50,759 Speaker 2: assess Regina on order of the judiciary, it was determined 550 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:54,840 Speaker 2: that Loof had certainly suffered severe and prolonged sexual abuse 551 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:58,080 Speaker 2: in her childhood, and that her testimony should be considered 552 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:02,400 Speaker 2: as credible. The shocking facts were reported by a small 553 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:05,320 Speaker 2: group of plucky journalists at the time. However, it was 554 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:09,440 Speaker 2: too late. The media cycle had moved on, The case 555 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,760 Speaker 2: was closed and Regina Aloof was not invited to testify 556 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:15,400 Speaker 2: at the trial in two thousand and four. Her testimony 557 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:17,799 Speaker 2: may not have been needed to convict the True, but 558 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:20,920 Speaker 2: she was another link that connected Michel Nihul to a 559 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:27,319 Speaker 2: wider conspiracy. On June twenty second, two thousand and four, 560 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:28,799 Speaker 2: the verdict came in. 561 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:34,480 Speaker 7: The most reviled man in Belgium, Mark du True, was 562 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:38,760 Speaker 7: convicted of kidnapping and holding six hostage, and of torturing 563 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:43,280 Speaker 7: and killing four of them. The twelve member during an 564 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:45,480 Speaker 7: army base for fear an attempt would be made on 565 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 7: his life. 566 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:48,040 Speaker 3: Had sat through three months. 567 00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:51,239 Speaker 7: Of evidence horrific details which will stay with them. It 568 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,040 Speaker 7: had taken just three days to consider two hundred and 569 00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:57,399 Speaker 7: forty three counts against the True and against his ex 570 00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 7: wife and two other alleged accomplices. 571 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:03,200 Speaker 2: Finally, the truce fate was known. He was sentenced to 572 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,280 Speaker 2: the maximum life in prison. His wife, Michelle Martin, received 573 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 2: thirty years and l'alevre got twenty five years. The crux 574 00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:15,960 Speaker 2: of the case now centered on Michel Niho. The jury 575 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,320 Speaker 2: convicted him of drug charges related to the ecstasy trafficking, 576 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 2: but they got stuck on the question of his involvement 577 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:26,520 Speaker 2: with the disappearance of Letitia de Les. Douglas Daconic takes 578 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:28,000 Speaker 2: us back to this key moment. 579 00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:32,560 Speaker 5: Mainly the verdict in Belgium starts with guilty, yes or no. 580 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:34,720 Speaker 5: And it's not just guilty of one crime. 581 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:34,800 Speaker 1: No. 582 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 5: He divides the question in like hundreds of sub questions, 583 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:40,600 Speaker 5: and we were there with your list and your number, 584 00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:43,279 Speaker 5: and it was number one, yes, yes, yes, number two yes, 585 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,440 Speaker 5: yes yes, for maybe an hour that just went on 586 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 5: and at a certain moment to reach the moment where 587 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:52,279 Speaker 5: he had the accusation against Michelle Niull being part of 588 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:55,880 Speaker 5: kittapping of Letitia del that was like the main point, 589 00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:59,000 Speaker 5: but there it was five seven. That means that jurors 590 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:03,640 Speaker 5: don't want to take a decision. Theoretically they have voted 591 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:09,399 Speaker 5: and seven have set guilty, five accept none guilty, And 592 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 5: in that case it's the president of the trial who 593 00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,600 Speaker 5: must answer the question does he follow the majority or not? 594 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:19,320 Speaker 2: So despite the seven to five guilty vote. The president 595 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:21,920 Speaker 2: of the trial made the final call and decided that 596 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:25,160 Speaker 2: there wasn't enough evidence to convict the whole of involvement 597 00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:29,160 Speaker 2: with the disappearance of Letitia d Llas. It's incredible how 598 00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:31,160 Speaker 2: closely who was to being convicted. 599 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,520 Speaker 5: But just a few weeks earlier you had the lawyer 600 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:38,560 Speaker 5: of Michellalevren. He was very close to the defense of 601 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,400 Speaker 5: Michelle mule and during the trial I had the impression 602 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 5: that he was working for Michelle Yulee, not for Lievre. 603 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:48,480 Speaker 5: And so what happens at a certain moment. There's a 604 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:51,960 Speaker 5: guy it was during number five. He was a butcher 605 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:55,640 Speaker 5: from a village near Arlons and he asked the question, 606 00:39:56,520 --> 00:40:00,360 Speaker 5: but is the lawyer of Lalievre said in his question, 607 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:04,600 Speaker 5: he has used this word, which means that he already 608 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:06,799 Speaker 5: has an opinion about the guilt of my client. And 609 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:08,439 Speaker 5: in that case, if you do that as a juror, 610 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:12,239 Speaker 5: they sent you away us as reporters. He didn't say 611 00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:14,879 Speaker 5: that word. He didn't. I know these jurors as well, 612 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:17,719 Speaker 5: was saying, well, what's happening here, and he's just inventing 613 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,600 Speaker 5: because they were warned not to ask leading questions but 614 00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:24,360 Speaker 5: this guy is during number five, he starts panicking and 615 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:28,520 Speaker 5: he takes his hands makes the form of a gun. 616 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:31,479 Speaker 2: So juring Number five made the sign of a gun 617 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:34,279 Speaker 2: with his hand in a way to say, shoot me now, 618 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:36,840 Speaker 2: which was an obvious no note in the world of 619 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:37,680 Speaker 2: jury behavior. 620 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,120 Speaker 5: That was the point when he had to be sent away, 621 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:44,279 Speaker 5: not because of the words he used, because of his 622 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:49,239 Speaker 5: stupid reaction. And afterwards, after the five seven verdict, all 623 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,799 Speaker 5: these jurors were in the bar where we as journalists 624 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:57,120 Speaker 5: had spent four months having lunch drinking beers. So he 625 00:40:57,200 --> 00:40:59,640 Speaker 5: approached them and he said, hi, oh a. We said, 626 00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:02,319 Speaker 5: we are allowed to talk to jewelers, but everybody knows 627 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,280 Speaker 5: it happens, and they all said the same thing. Nil 628 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:09,040 Speaker 5: has been saved by sending away number five because number thirteen, 629 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:12,560 Speaker 5: who replaced him, she was the one. She hadn't followed 630 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:16,879 Speaker 5: the trial that much to her vote that decided that 631 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:21,600 Speaker 5: Michel Jule did not kidnap more than one jewelers said 632 00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:23,160 Speaker 5: the butcher would have been there, it would have been 633 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:25,560 Speaker 5: eight four, and eight four is guilty. 634 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:30,240 Speaker 2: By the skin of his teeth. Nihul avoided being convicted 635 00:41:30,239 --> 00:41:33,799 Speaker 2: of involvement with the kidnappings, thus officially closing the door 636 00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:38,160 Speaker 2: on the question of a wider network. By throwing out 637 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:42,080 Speaker 2: the testimony of ex witnesses not presenting the theory involving 638 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:46,080 Speaker 2: the red Ford Fiesta, and the unwillingness to explore additional 639 00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:50,359 Speaker 2: DNA testing on over five thousand hairs, the judiciary sent 640 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,359 Speaker 2: a clear message they had no interest in finding out 641 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:58,200 Speaker 2: who else may have been involved next time on the Monstra. 642 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:02,120 Speaker 2: While the trial may have brought some closure, the aftermath 643 00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:06,400 Speaker 2: offers more pain as accomplices one by one walk free 644 00:42:06,719 --> 00:42:09,720 Speaker 2: and Mark de True makes his plan to join them. 645 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:13,440 Speaker 2: Episode eleven will be released on November eighth, followed by 646 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:26,480 Speaker 2: the season finale on November fifteenth. Stay Tuned le Monstra 647 00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:30,400 Speaker 2: is a production of Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Radio, hosted 648 00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:34,240 Speaker 2: and executive produced by me Matt Graves, produced by Thomas 649 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:38,160 Speaker 2: Resimont of Bubble Sound. Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay are 650 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:41,880 Speaker 2: executive producers on the behalf of Tenderfoot TV with producer 651 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:45,719 Speaker 2: Makeup and Vanity Set. Matt Frederick and Alex Williams are 652 00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:50,120 Speaker 2: executive producers on the behalf of iHeartRadio with producer Trevor Young. 653 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:54,920 Speaker 2: Original music by Jay Ragsdale. Sound design by Cooper Skinner 654 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:59,120 Speaker 2: and Thomas Resimont, mixed and mastered by Cooper Skinner. Cover 655 00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:03,200 Speaker 2: design by Tree Trever Eiler. La Monstra includes archival audio 656 00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:08,920 Speaker 2: from SONYMA, RTBF Archives and CNN Archives. Special thanks to 657 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:13,920 Speaker 2: Backmedia and Marketing Station sixteen, Jean Savigna, and the teams 658 00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:17,920 Speaker 2: at iHeartRadio and tenderfoot TV. Find us on social media 659 00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:22,799 Speaker 2: at Monster Underscore pod. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or 660 00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:27,400 Speaker 2: Tenderfoot TV, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 661 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:32,080 Speaker 2: you listen to your favorite shows,