1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: those of the podcast author or individuals participating in the podcast, 3 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, Tenderfoot TV, or 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: their employees. This podcast also contains subject matter which may 5 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised. 6 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 2: No sni. 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 3: This is the voice of the priest who oversaw the 8 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 3: funeral of Julian Melissa broadcasted on live television Le plus Feme. 9 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 4: Don't you pok? 10 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 3: The footage is harrowing. The priest is visibly outraged and 11 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 3: flush with anger, shaking as he delivers the sermon. 12 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 5: Psa di classio gid it to. 13 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 4: Girl Evodi lupusa Pussi. 14 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 3: He rails against the hypocrisy and pious declarations, attempting to 15 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 3: smother the questions that are revolted. Hearts push us to 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 3: ask ten thousand people thronged the streets along Saint Martin's 17 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,199 Speaker 3: Basilica of Liege to say their last goodbyes to Julian 18 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 3: Melissa and support the grieving families who capture the hearts 19 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 3: of a nation. In a powerful moment, Julie's grieving father 20 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 3: is greeted upon arrival at the church by Paul and 21 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 3: Betty Marshal, the parents of Anne Marshal, who was still missing. 22 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,479 Speaker 3: At this point, Julie's father pulled Paul and Betty into 23 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 3: a powerful and lasting embrace as the surrounding crowd erupted 24 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 3: in shouts of encouragement. By the time of the funeral, 25 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 3: more information was coming in from various interrogations that linked 26 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 3: a true to the disappearance of two other girls from 27 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 3: the Belgian seaside, Anne Marchal and e Fie Alambraks. Once again, 28 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 3: all of Belgium was hoping against hope for a positive outcome. 29 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 6: Psychobats is somebody who understands emotions. 30 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 7: And I told them it is very exceptional that somebody 31 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 7: abducts two children at the same time. 32 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 5: Should have been the end of it in nineteen six, 33 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 5: but my god, it was just the beginning. 34 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 4: I think Belgium was a paralyzed for perverts in those days. 35 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 3: Welcome Tola Monstra, I'm your host, Matt Graves. The discovery 36 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 3: of Julian Melissa's bodies elicited a wave of collective grief 37 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 3: that reverberated throughout the nation. How could someone murdered these 38 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 3: two little girls we'd seen time and time again on 39 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 3: missing persons posters and news bulletins. The coroner determined their 40 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 3: cause of death as quote deprivation of nourishment. In other words, 41 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 3: they had starved to death. The coroner also confirmed that 42 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 3: both girls had suffered sexual abuse. Words cannot express the horror. 43 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 3: Shortly after Julian Melissa's bodies were discovered, the body of 44 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,799 Speaker 3: a white, middle aged man was also found at the 45 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 3: property in Sars Laoisiere. On the same day of the 46 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 3: gruesome discoveries, de True officially identified the bodies of Julian Melissa, 47 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 3: and he also confirmed the identity of the third corpse. 48 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 3: It was that of his former accomplice, forty four year 49 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 3: old Bernard Weinstein. You recall that in the mid nineties, 50 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 3: Weinstein was in Dtrue's criminal file as a possible accomplice. 51 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 3: They had worked together on various criminal enterprises. Weinstein was 52 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 3: a Frenchman with a long rap sheet. He'd previously been 53 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 3: convicted of theft and armed robbery and had spent nine 54 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 3: years in prison in France. He'd initially come to Belgium 55 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 3: to get away from his past, but soon found himself 56 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 3: back in the game again. Just before his death, there 57 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 3: was a warren out for his arrest. De True was 58 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 3: worried that if Weinstein were arrested, that he'd rat him 59 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 3: out about a heist they'd done together. On the day 60 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 3: Weinstein's body was discovered, the True admitted to murdering him. 61 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 3: He said he'd killed him because Weinstein wanted to harm 62 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 3: Julian Melissa. Now that Weinstein was dead, the True proceeded 63 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 3: to conveniently blame him for almost everything, including the kidnapping 64 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 3: of Julian Melissa. Here are extracts from de True's exact 65 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 3: statement read by an interpreter. 66 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,239 Speaker 6: I broke Weinstein to my house to prevent him from 67 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 6: continuing to do stupid things. I had crushed up some 68 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 6: raban and addeded to his soundwitch. He fell asleep, and 69 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:04,919 Speaker 6: I took him down to the cellar and explained to 70 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 6: U Gulie and many said that Wenstein wanted to kill him. 71 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 6: I then took the girls upstairs and told them that 72 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 6: they would be sleeping in the bedroom for a while. 73 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 6: So I put Wenstein on the bed in the cell 74 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 6: and twisted the chain around his neck secute with a 75 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 6: bad luck, and attached it to a ring on the wall. 76 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 6: I left it long enough for him to reach the 77 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 6: toilet bucket in the cell. I then gave him a 78 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 6: big doze and took him to his grave. He was 79 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,040 Speaker 6: still breathing when I buried him. 80 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 3: So the true claiming to be the Great Savior, said 81 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 3: he murdered Weinstein to protect Julie and Melissa. But if 82 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 3: that was the case, why would he go through the 83 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,599 Speaker 3: trouble of imprisoning him for several days before killing him. 84 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,039 Speaker 3: Police questioned the tru's wife, Michelle Martin, about this. These 85 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 3: are her words, not her voice. 86 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 7: Mark asked me to prepare sandwiches to put Bernard Weinstein 87 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 7: to sleep. He wanted to steal five hundred thousand francs 88 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 7: that Bernard had received from his mother to buy her house. Afterwards, 89 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 7: Mark told me that to make Weinstein confess to where 90 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 7: he had hidden his money, he had to finally use torture. 91 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 7: He used clams placed around his testicles, and Weinstein finally 92 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 7: confessed where his money was. 93 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 3: These first hand insights in the Dutruze character paint a 94 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 3: chilling portrait of a manipulative psychopath. He took out Weinstein 95 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 3: to eliminate a thread, but made sure to rob him first, 96 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,720 Speaker 3: he was constantly scheming to maximize advantage. Now he was 97 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 3: again trying to leverage the whole affair to blame Weinstein 98 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:54,839 Speaker 3: for the kidnappings and to justify murdering him out of 99 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 3: concern for Julian Melissa's well being. As this was playing out, 100 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 3: authorities were interrogating one of d'true's accomplices, michel Lelievre. He 101 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 3: admitted to involvement with a separate kidnapping of seventeen year 102 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 3: old and martial an eighteen year old Effia Lambres from 103 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 3: the Belgian seaside. A Doc Martin's shoe matching the size 104 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 3: and description of the shoes Anne Marschall was wearing at 105 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 3: the time of her disappearance, was found in Detru's house 106 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 3: in Marcinelle. Once again, de True was cornered. There was 107 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 3: evidence directly linking him to Anne in Effie's disappearance. Sod 108 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 3: True admitted to seeing the girls, but claimed they'd left 109 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 3: with his associate. Surprise surprise, Bernard Weinstein. 110 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 8: Anne Marshal, and Effia Lambreks were last seen at a 111 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 8: Belgian seaside resort, and in spite of the latest discoveries, 112 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 8: police say they have not lost hope of finding them alive. 113 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 3: After clearly linking the True to Anne in Effie's disappearance 114 00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 3: and then hearing his claims that they had been with 115 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 3: Bernard Wants Einstein. A search was immediately undertaken at Weinstein's 116 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 3: residence in the town of Jumee. The True actually owned 117 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 3: the property and was renting the place to Weinstein at 118 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 3: the time. For the second time in less than a month, 119 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 3: the entire country was watching as police and work crews 120 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 3: searched a property. This time, expectations of finding the girls 121 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 3: alive were low. The families of Anne and Efia held 122 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 3: out hope until the very last minute. This is an 123 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 3: interview with a Flemish TV reporter talking to Jean Lambrecks. 124 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 4: This morning, Old Beeber's are seeing that an if you 125 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 4: could be buried in Jumet, what's a knowable use? Are 126 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 4: you thinking about this too? 127 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 9: I don't want to believe in the possibility that they're there. Yeah, 128 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 9: but yes, as long as I don't have confirmation that 129 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 9: they're there, I don't believe it or I don't want 130 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 9: to believe it. 131 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 3: And here's the voice of Betty Marshall, the mother of Anne, 132 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:16,679 Speaker 3: which is still optimistic. 133 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 10: Yeah, yes, absolutely, I have the impression that things are 134 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 10: moving forward. Yeah, I'm keeping my hopes up. 135 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 4: On Saturday evening you were pessimistic and reports on television. 136 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 10: Yeah, when I heard about Chili and Melissa then. 137 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 4: And also the discovery that Anne, if you were kidnapped 138 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:38,079 Speaker 4: by your psycho party. 139 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 10: Yeah, but I'm holding on to the idea that the 140 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 10: girls are older than the others. Maybe that has something 141 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 10: to do with it. Maybe, to put it bluntly, they 142 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 10: were so old. I don't know. But if that's the case, 143 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 10: then maybe they're live and that gives us hope. 144 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 3: It's tuning to imagine hoping that your daughter was sold 145 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:06,559 Speaker 3: into child prostitution. That being said, it was a better 146 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:09,720 Speaker 3: prospect than the outcome that had befallen Julian and Melissa 147 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 3: Median work crews assailed the site in Juma where Anne 148 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 3: and Effie were thought to be hidden or buried. Bad 149 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 3: weather had hampered the search, but the eyes of Belgium 150 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 3: and now the world were focused on this abandoned property 151 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 3: in Jumae, near Charlewa. After several days of searching without results, 152 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 3: the excavator hit a patch of unsettled earth. They knew 153 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 3: the change in soil cover was a sign that something 154 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 3: had been buried there. Once again, silence descended. Upon a 155 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 3: search site in Belgium. On September third, nineteen ninety six, 156 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 3: the bodies of Anne Marschal and Effie Lambrecks were found 157 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 3: where Bernard Weinstein had been living in the town of Jumae. 158 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:15,680 Speaker 3: Their emaciated bodies showed signs of starvation. However, the cause 159 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 3: of death was determined as suffocation after being buried alive. 160 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 8: Horrifying beyond words, investigations into Dudru's background brought fresh hope 161 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,120 Speaker 8: to the families of two teenage girls, and Marshall and 162 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 8: Effia Lambreks, who had also been missing for a year. 163 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 8: Hope died when the police confirmed human bones they dug 164 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 8: up at one of the houses owned by Mark de 165 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 8: True were those of Anne and Efia. 166 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 3: The failure of authorities to protect Julie, Melissa, Anne and 167 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 3: Effia was now on display for the country to see. 168 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 3: The victim's families had already been publicly critical of the 169 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 3: lack of investigation. Now those criticisms intensified. 170 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 8: At her funeral, Anne's father made it clear he believed 171 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 8: his daughter would still be alive. If the authorities had 172 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 8: acted quicker. 173 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 3: Paul Martial, Anne's father said, quote, for a year, we 174 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 3: were left out in the cold. If forces had been 175 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 3: mobilized like now under Bourlais, we might not have been 176 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 3: having this funeral today. Paul is referring to the King's prosecutor, 177 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 3: Michel Boulet, who you heard from in episode four. Bourlet 178 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 3: and investigating judge Jean Marc Conrad were the only two 179 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:46,359 Speaker 3: officials who were exempt from criticism because, unlike other jurisdictions, 180 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 3: they jumped into action when the cases landed on their desk. 181 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 3: Across Belgium, anger in the streets was beginning to spill over. 182 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 3: Any time the True was transported, a huge police presence 183 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 3: was required to keep keep the crowds at bay, who 184 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 3: smashed barriers and tried to overwhelm police to get at him. 185 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,680 Speaker 3: As people learned of the True's previous crimes of child 186 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 3: abduction and rape in his early release from prison, the 187 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 3: anger started shifting towards the judicial system. 188 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 8: Public outrage at the catalog of atrocities attributed to this 189 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 8: man has escalated into nationwide anger at the system which 190 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 8: allowed the True and his accomplices to operate unchecked and 191 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 8: at will for years Belgium justice is on trial. 192 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 3: The King's prosecutor Michel Bourlat and investigating judge Jean Marc 193 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 3: Conrad became the lone symbols of hope for Belgium justice 194 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 3: with support from the victim's families. Also came support from 195 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,680 Speaker 3: the public. The two took on the case with zeal 196 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 3: and began to put the pieces together, investigating the True 197 00:13:56,559 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 3: and his accomplices not only for the six missing girls, 198 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 3: but for their possible involvement in a much larger child 199 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:08,079 Speaker 3: trafficking network. They quickly started focusing on a corrupt businessman 200 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 3: with political connections named Michel Nihoul, who had close contact 201 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 3: with the True in his accomplice Michel Lelievre around the 202 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 3: time of the last abduction of Letitia Dalles. Michel Leoul 203 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 3: was often referred to as Jean Michel. In the days 204 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 3: leading up to Letitia's disappearance, there were no less than 205 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 3: thirty three phone calls between Nihoul, de True and his 206 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 3: accomplice Michel Lelievre. Furthermore, on the day after Letitia's disappearance, 207 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 3: Nihoule gave the True and Le Lievre a thousand ecstasy 208 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 3: pills with a market value of around fifteen thousand dollars 209 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 3: at the time. In early police interviews, Michel Le Lievre 210 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 3: said that the True and Nihoul were trying to get 211 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 3: him involved in a human trafficking scheme with them, but 212 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 3: he claimed he didn't want anything to do with it. Finally, 213 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 3: Letitia de Les testified that one of her first memories 214 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 3: after waking up into True's house after being kidnapped was 215 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 3: overhearing a telephone conversation between De True and a certain 216 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 3: quote Jean Michel, where De True had gleefully exclaimed that 217 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 3: it all worked out. Nioull was arrested and his mugshot 218 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 3: was plastered all over the media. I remember this picture 219 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 3: as looking like the embodiment of sleaziness, his pudgy face, 220 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 3: unshaven after hours of interrogation, and his shark eyes peering 221 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 3: into the camera with scorn. Nioul's face became the symbol 222 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 3: of high level connected corruption in Belgium. Not long after 223 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 3: the rescue of Sabine and Letitia, the prosecutor Boulet and 224 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 3: investigating Judge Conrad were invited to a potluck spaghetti dinner 225 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 3: thrown by Letitia's family and community members to celebrate their rescue. 226 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 3: When a photo of this dinner was published in a newspaper, 227 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 3: De True, whose newly appointed attorneys, protested that Conrad's presence 228 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 3: at this dinner was a violation of the principle of 229 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 3: objectivity that governs investigating judges. It wasn't a problem that 230 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 3: Bourlai was there, as he was a prosecutor. However, Conrad 231 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 3: was an investigating judge whose neutrality was sacricynct. When the 232 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 3: High Court of Appeal was called to deliberate on this matter, 233 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 3: the public was immediately skeptical. Many people felt that this 234 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 3: was a pretext to take out an investigating judge who 235 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 3: was getting too close to the elite powerbrokers with links 236 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 3: to a child trafficking ring. Their skepticism grew into anger 237 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 3: when the decision to suspend Conrad was rendered. 238 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 8: Belgium's Supreme Court agreed, with lawyers acting for Mark de True, 239 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 8: that the judge had lost his objectivity. A week of 240 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 8: wildcat strikes and demonstrations all over the country followed the 241 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 8: dismissal of Conrad, whose investigations into the pedophile gang made 242 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 8: him a nutal hero. Sirens sounding firemen turned hoses on 243 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 8: the law courts, the nation's bikers and Hell's Angels, three 244 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,359 Speaker 8: thousand of them drove through the capital in protest. 245 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 3: All hell was breaking loose in the streets of Belgium. 246 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 3: To understand the context, you have to consider that since 247 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 3: the nineteen eighties, there were a slew of unresolved affairs 248 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 3: in Belgium where police and government officials were suspected of 249 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 3: cover ups. This affair was different. The public had adopted 250 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,439 Speaker 3: the victims and their families into their hearts. We were 251 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,440 Speaker 3: talking about children here who were brutally abused and murdered. 252 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 3: First there was shock at the discovery and what had 253 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 3: happened to these girls. Then there was anger at a 254 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 3: judicial system that allowed a man like the True out 255 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 3: of prison. Now there was rage against the entire institution 256 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 3: of the Belgian state. Remember that Mark the True had 257 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 3: already been convicted of kidnapping and raping girls in the 258 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,439 Speaker 3: eighties and only served a few years of a relatively 259 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:12,920 Speaker 3: light sentence. People were beginning to believe that there was 260 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,920 Speaker 3: a high level cover to hide the states in competence, 261 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 3: or even worse, to protect powerful people. As you heard 262 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,719 Speaker 3: in the CNN cliff, Hell's Angels descended upon Brussels, and 263 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 3: fire departments turned their hoses against court houses. Imagine the 264 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 3: scene of entire fire department brigades pulling up to the 265 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 3: Supreme Court and giving it a good hosing down. The 266 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 3: symbolism was powerful. The firemen were rebelling against the judicial 267 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 3: system that they saw as dirty and corrupt and in 268 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 3: need of cleaning up. This was a pivotal moment in 269 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 3: the history of this country. If one of the parents 270 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 3: would have grabbed a megaphone and called for the people 271 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,440 Speaker 3: to burn the city down, I'm convinced it would have happened. Instead, 272 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 3: they called for citizens to join them in a peaceful protest. 273 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 3: They called La mache blanche or White March, symbolizing peace 274 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 3: and innocence. 275 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:12,679 Speaker 8: The Pies de resistance the White March. Three hundred and 276 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,879 Speaker 8: twenty five thousand people, more than three percent of the 277 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 8: population rallied to the call to march on Brussels. Led 278 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 8: by the parents of Dutru's victims and families of children 279 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 8: still missing, the country is calling for change. Among them 280 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 8: a fourteen year old girl whose rescue from the clutches 281 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 8: of Mark de True and his gang led to their arrest. 282 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:39,200 Speaker 3: Official estimates of protesters were revised upwards after that report. 283 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 3: It's now thought that up to four hundred thousand people 284 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 3: took part, over three percent of the population at the time, 285 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 3: making it the largest protest in the history of Belgium. 286 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 3: For comparison, this would be the equivalent of ten million 287 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,280 Speaker 3: U S citizens protesting in the streets. It was a 288 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 3: moment of national solidarity across all strand hands of Belgian society. 289 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 3: This is Bruno Denis, a Belgian citizen who shared with 290 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 3: me what it was like to be part of the 291 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 3: Marche blanche or white March. Yeah, it was. 292 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 4: It was a crazy time. 293 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:17,199 Speaker 5: I mean we it was a shock for all of us. 294 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 5: I mean I had small daughters at that time, myself 295 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,959 Speaker 5: pretty much the same age as the as the victim. 296 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 5: So I was very, very shocked. And every Belgian was 297 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 5: revolted by the police that was so disorganized, and and 298 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 5: the fact that people were not communicating to each other. 299 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:43,400 Speaker 5: We still had two different police departments, Jean Darmerie and 300 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,480 Speaker 5: local police, so it was it's it brought to the 301 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 5: surface all the frustration of the population. Now remember when 302 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,920 Speaker 5: I walked into the streets and we did the marchial blanche. 303 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:04,920 Speaker 5: So it was like a huge national gathering where everyone 304 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,639 Speaker 5: and all the souls of Belgians, being from Brussels or 305 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 5: being from Wallunia or from Flanders, even though we speak 306 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 5: different languages, were all in that together. You know that 307 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 5: the families of the victims were like typical Belgian families, 308 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 5: like one family was from the Flemish side, the other 309 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,440 Speaker 5: one from the Walloon sides, but pretty much people that 310 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 5: are paying their tax, going every day, working in normal jobs. 311 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 5: And it's also created this sense of gosh, there is 312 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 5: something wrong in this country the way it's organized, Like 313 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:48,640 Speaker 5: there is us as normal people, let's say, and there's 314 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 5: those politicians organizing a system which is failing. And that 315 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 5: created a huge support for those families because I think 316 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 5: everyone was very yeah, we felt like them actually, and 317 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 5: that's why so much people supported them at empathy for them, 318 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 5: and we all went through this this White March and 319 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 5: Marche Blanche. So there's been a very very emotional and 320 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:26,159 Speaker 5: at the same time defining moment for Belgium as a 321 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 5: national state. 322 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:27,880 Speaker 6: I would say. 323 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,880 Speaker 2: Nothing would surprise those still morning the dead. They gather 324 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 2: outside mark the Truz shabby wooden house in the village 325 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 2: of Jumae, where the bodies of two teenage girls were unearthed. 326 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 2: We never doubted powerful people were involved, said one man. 327 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 11: This woman a greed. Everyone has their price, she said. 328 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 11: Revulsion at the crimes committed in the houses used by 329 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 11: Marca true has now been compounded by deepening suspicions of 330 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 11: political scandal and cover up. With police officers under arrest 331 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 11: and the search for bodies continuing. It seems the revelations 332 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 11: in this horrific case have only just begun. Timu at 333 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 11: News ten at Jumei in southern Belgium. 334 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 3: It's easy to beat up on police investigations with twenty 335 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 3: twenty hindsight, but what I've learned about this case goes 336 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:36,959 Speaker 3: way beyond armchair criticism of a botched investigation. To understand it, 337 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,639 Speaker 3: we need to rewind back to the summer of nineteen 338 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 3: ninety five, just after the first two victims, Julie and Melissa, 339 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 3: were kidnapped. 340 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,640 Speaker 7: Me vis unvouve. 341 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,680 Speaker 12: This is a message to the kidnappers. We are still 342 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 12: without any news of our girls, Julie and Melissa for 343 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,360 Speaker 12: two weeks now. We've been waiting in inside. We can 344 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 12: no longer take this situation. 345 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 3: On the seventh of July nineteen ninety five. Just two 346 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 3: weeks after the abduction, the Gendarmerie of Charlerois, where Mark 347 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 3: d Trux was living at the time, sent a fax 348 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 3: to their office in Grasselonne, where the girls disappeared. In 349 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,800 Speaker 3: this facts they called attention to Mark da True as 350 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:25,159 Speaker 3: a possible suspect and pointed out as prior record and 351 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 3: conviction for kidnapping and rape of miners. After a month 352 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:33,120 Speaker 3: of back and forth within the Gendarmerie, they asked their 353 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 3: central intelligence arm to build a case against a True, 354 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 3: and on August ninth, nineteen ninety five, they held an 355 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 3: internal meeting with other regional offices to discuss it. During 356 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,920 Speaker 3: the same week, they received two separate tips from informants 357 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 3: claiming that the True might have been involved with the 358 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:57,399 Speaker 3: disappearance of Julian Melissa. This came on top of previous 359 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 3: informant statements that d True was building prison cells in 360 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 3: his basement to hide future kidnapping victims. This was the 361 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 3: moment it all should have ended. Any investigating judge in 362 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,919 Speaker 3: Belgium would have granted a warrant to search d Tru's 363 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 3: property based on this information. Think about it. De True 364 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 3: was a known sex offender, previously convicted for kidnapping and 365 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:26,360 Speaker 3: raping five girls. Since his release in nineteen ninety two, 366 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 3: he had been arrested for molesting a miner at an 367 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 3: ice skating rink, and police informants had testified that he 368 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 3: was building prison cells in his basements to hide away 369 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:40,480 Speaker 3: kidnapped girls. In August of nineteen ninety five, roughly a 370 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,919 Speaker 3: month after the disappearance of Julian Melissa, two separate informants 371 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 3: came forward with suspicions that De True might have been 372 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:51,480 Speaker 3: involved with a disappearance. One of them stated that de 373 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:53,760 Speaker 3: True told him in June that he had a big 374 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 3: opportunity in the pipeline, and the other said that de 375 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:01,159 Speaker 3: True recently tried to convince him to help him kidnap children. 376 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 3: The True was clearly the gendarmeries number one suspect at 377 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 3: this point, So why didn't they ask for a warrant immediately? Well, 378 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 3: to do that, they'd have to request a warrant from 379 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 3: the judge and inform the regular police force in liege 380 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 3: who had jurisdiction. So is this a case of one 381 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 3: jurisdiction not sharing information and trying to outdo the other. 382 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:25,879 Speaker 3: It wouldn't be the first time we've seen this in 383 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 3: Belgium or many other countries for that matter. But we're 384 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 3: talking about two eight year old girls. Surely you drop 385 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:37,199 Speaker 3: everything and stop the bickering when young, innocent lives are 386 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 3: at stake, But they didn't do that. Instead, they held 387 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,119 Speaker 3: their internal meeting on August ninth to create a plan 388 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 3: to undermine the investigating judge and police in Liege. Any 389 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 3: such meeting required official notes to be taken for the record, 390 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 3: but the minutes of this meeting were either not recorded 391 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 3: or were destroyed afterwards. Meanwhile, Julian and Melissa were alive 392 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,919 Speaker 3: and languishing in d True's sordid dungeon. Their parents were 393 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,120 Speaker 3: talking to the gendarmes every day and even chasing futile 394 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 3: leads themselves. This is the point that you'd expect the 395 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 3: gendarmes to roll in like knights in shining armor to 396 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 3: vanquish evil and save the girls. A perfect opportunity to 397 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 3: show up their rivals in the judicial police, but that 398 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 3: didn't happen. It was written in the sky that Dtru's 399 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 3: property should have been searched right then and there in 400 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 3: the beginning of August. What happened next was astounding. They 401 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 3: launched a secret surveillance operation baptized as Operation Othello. It 402 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:46,120 Speaker 3: consisted of filming and observing Datru's residence, but only during 403 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 3: daylight hours. The judge and police and liege in charge 404 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:54,679 Speaker 3: of Julian Melissa's case were kept in the dark. It 405 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,920 Speaker 3: got up and running on August twenty eighth, after Anne 406 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 3: and if You were kidnapped and likely brought to the house. 407 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 3: It wouldn't have mattered anyway, as it's belief that Anne 408 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 3: and Ifja were transported to Marsinell under the cover of 409 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 3: darkness when the gendarmes weren't filming. In his own words, 410 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,879 Speaker 3: da True later described the situation as saying, quote, I 411 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 3: had the little girls Julie and Melissa downstairs in the cellar, 412 00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 3: and the older girls upstairs. I didn't want them to 413 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,199 Speaker 3: know about each other. I took them separately to the 414 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 3: dining room to eat with me. All of this organization 415 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 3: barely left me any free time. Unquote. What d True 416 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 3: described was all happening while his house was being surveilled. 417 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 3: A few weeks after the operations started, d True's mother 418 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 3: again contacted authorities. On September fourth, nineteen ninety five. She 419 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 3: said that she'd heard from neighbors complaining that young girls 420 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:56,360 Speaker 3: were being brought in and out of one of his 421 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 3: houses at night. The case establishing probable cause is overwhelming 422 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 3: at this point. Once again, you have to ask the question, 423 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 3: why didn't they put their egos aside and seek a warrant. 424 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,600 Speaker 3: The official line, still to this day, is that no 425 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 3: one believed that the girls could have still been alive 426 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,480 Speaker 3: at that time. But this line doesn't hold up against 427 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 3: official statements and tips. We had one informant saying, quote, 428 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 3: de True told me he was building cellars to hold 429 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 3: girls before exporting them outside of the country unquote. And 430 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 3: on top of that, we have D'tru's own mother signaling 431 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 3: complaints about young girls being brought in and out of 432 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 3: one of his houses. How could that not lead one 433 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:43,720 Speaker 3: to believe that there was a chance the girls could 434 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 3: be alive, or that other girls might be in the 435 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 3: house in danger of being exported out of the country 436 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 3: at any time. Nonetheless, Operation Othello dragged on and on 437 00:29:55,400 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 3: for months. August September November. We know, based on autopsy 438 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 3: reports and evidence, that Julie and Melissa were alive and 439 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 3: in that cellar literally under the noses of the gendarmerie. 440 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 3: In November, the True was considered as a suspect in 441 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 3: the sexual assault of a young woman in the nearby 442 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,640 Speaker 3: village of Obey. Her throat was slit and she was 443 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:27,240 Speaker 3: left for dead on a bridge. Given his history, in 444 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 3: the fact that he had once lived very close to 445 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 3: where the crime had happened, he was an obvious person 446 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,360 Speaker 3: of interest. Although he was later excluded by forensic evidence. 447 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 3: Surely the suspicion alone could have been a pretext for 448 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 3: a search of his home, another missed opportunity. Finally, the 449 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 3: True got into even more trouble, stemming from a November 450 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 3: incident where he and his buddy Bernard Weinstein, along with 451 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,480 Speaker 3: other accomplices, heisted a utility truck and hid it in 452 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 3: a hangar. The plan was to break it down and 453 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 3: sell off the parts. It's a complicated story, but the 454 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,240 Speaker 3: short version is that the stolen truck was then stolen 455 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 3: from the thieves. Weinstein and de True suspected the other accomplices, 456 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 3: so they kidnapped them and tried to torture the truth 457 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 3: out of them, but got fingered when one of the 458 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:21,800 Speaker 3: captives escaped and alerted police. The theft case was followed 459 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 3: up by the municipal police in Charlewaugh and not the Gendarmerie, 460 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:28,440 Speaker 3: so they did their job and arrested him, of course, 461 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 3: and on December sixth, nineteen ninety five, de True was 462 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 3: sent to jail for theft and kidnapping of adults. At 463 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,240 Speaker 3: this stage, Anne and Effie were no longer in the house, 464 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 3: but Julian Melissa were still locked in the basement cellar. 465 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 3: It's a chilling and upsetting image. Belgium is a cold 466 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 3: and somber place. In December, Julian Melissa were alone in 467 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:03,000 Speaker 3: this unheeded house, locked away in a dark and day 468 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 3: of dungeon. Next time, on La Monstra, Julian Melissa's last 469 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 3: hope as the gendarmes searched the Truce home. 470 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 4: I don't know a single person who would have left 471 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 4: the basement after what they heard, if they knew they 472 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 4: were searching for your girls. I cannot conceive how they 473 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 4: could stop searching after hearing such clear voices. 474 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:37,960 Speaker 3: And Melissa Rousseau's mother Karin, speaks out about the Parliamentary Commission. 475 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 13: It's complicated because his incompetence is irre incomprehensible. When I 476 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 13: saw him at the commission, I had the impression I 477 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,080 Speaker 13: was in front of a man who was afraid. The 478 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:57,200 Speaker 13: gendarmes seemed like okay guys who wanted to find the girls, 479 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 13: but at the same time they seemed like they were 480 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 13: afraid of. 481 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 3: Everythingle Monstra is a production of Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Radio, 482 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,360 Speaker 3: hosted and executive produced by me Matt Graves, produced by 483 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 3: Thomas Resimont of Bubble Sound. Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay 484 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:32,800 Speaker 3: are executive producers on the behalf of Tenderfoot TV with 485 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 3: producer Makeup and Vanity Set. Matt Frederick and Alex Williams 486 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 3: are executive producers on the behalf of iHeartRadio with producer 487 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:45,680 Speaker 3: Trevor Young. Original music by Jay Ragsdale, Sound design by 488 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 3: Cooper Skinner and Thomas Resimont, mixed and mastered by Cooper Skinner. 489 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:55,800 Speaker 3: Cover design by Trevor eilerl Monstra includes archival audio from SONYMA, 490 00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 3: RTBF Archives and CNN Archives. Special thanks to back Media 491 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 3: and Marketing Station sixteen, Jean Savigna and the teams at 492 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:09,759 Speaker 3: iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. Find us on social media at 493 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:15,160 Speaker 3: Monster Underscore Pod. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV, 494 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:19,399 Speaker 3: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 495 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 3: to your favorite shows.