Marc Dutroux

Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rapist, and child molester.

Marc Dutroux was born in Ixelles, Brussels, on 6 November 1956 to Victor Dutroux and Jeanine Lauwens.

He is the eldest of five children.

Dutroux spent part of his early childhood in Burundi, then part of the Belgian Congo, where his father worked as a teacher.

After Burundi gained independence in mid-1962, Dutroux's family moved back to Belgium and settled in the village of Obaix in Hainaut Province.

Dutroux later reported to have been abused by his mother and father.

During the late 1970s, Dutroux found new employment as a scrap dealer and supplemented his income by stealing car parts.

In 1972, Dutroux's parents separated and his father left the family home.

Shortly after graduating from school, Dutroux left home himself and made his living as an electrician.

Several years later, in 1976, Dutroux married Françoise Dubois, with whom he had two children.

From 1979 onward he would be convicted for a variety of petty offences including assault, drug dealing, and trading stolen vehicles.

Meanwhile, he regularly visited ice skating rinks in Charleroi, Forest, and Montignies-sur-Sambre, where he would deliberately trip or bump into young female skaters in order to touch them.

In October 1980, Dutroux visited a Charleroi skating rink and got into a physical altercation with another patron, Armand de Beyn, after repeatedly colliding with De Beyn's girlfriend.

A court case ended with De Beyn being convicted of assault and battery against Dutroux, although Dutroux was banned from the Charleroi skating rink.

One of his mistresses was Michelle Martin, whom he later married and with whom he had three more children.

The marriage was marred by Dutroux's abusive behaviour towards his family; the couple would divorce in 1983, with Françoise keeping custody of the children.

On 14 December 1985, Dutroux abducted Axelle D. During her testimony, she told the police that Dutroux's accomplice Peteghem had told her that "he was part of a gang" led by two gang leaders, "an Italian and a crazy stupid one."

Jean van Peteghem admitted to having taken part in the abduction.

He said he had abducted Axelle D. with Marc Dutroux and Michelle Martin.

He had lived with Dutroux after being discharged from the military and having his marriage fail.

Peteghem told police that his and Dutroux's first victims were two girls from Morlanwelz.

These two victims were never located by police.

On 7 June 1985, the first proven abduction by the two took place, the abduction of eleven-year-old Sylvie D. On 17 October 1985 the pair abducted Maria V., 19, from Peronnes-lez-Binche.

Maria V. also identified a third man who took part in her abduction and appeared to be in his fifties.

This man was never found by police.

On 18 December 1985, Dutroux abducted Élisabeth G., 15, in Pont-à-Celles.

Peteghem told police that Dutroux filmed Élisabeth naked and took pictures of her.

On 17 January 1986, Catherine B., aged 18, was abducted from Obaix in Hainaut Province.

Dutroux had one or two accomplices in her abduction who were never found by police.

Peteghem was stationed as army personnel in Germany during that time and could not have assisted Dutroux.

At the beginning of February 1987, Martin, Dutroux and Peteghem were arrested.

Initially convicted for the abduction and rape of five young girls in 1989, Dutroux was released on parole after just three years' imprisonment.

He was arrested again in 1996 on suspicion of having abducted, tortured, and sexually abused six girls aged between 8 and 19, four of whom were killed.

In the White March held on 20 October 1996, 300,000 Belgian citizens protested the mishandling of the case.

Dutroux's widely publicized trial ended with his conviction on all charges in 2004; he was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dutroux's accomplices included his wife, Michelle Martin; Michel Lelièvre; Michel Nihoul; and Bernard Weinstein.

Martin was convicted and sentenced to thirty years in prison, while Lelièvre was sentenced to twenty-five years.

Nihoul, "a Brussels businessman, pub-owner and familiar face at sex parties," was initially tried as an accomplice to the kidnappings but was acquitted owing to insufficient evidence; he was instead convicted of involvement in a gang that participated in human and drug trafficking, and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Weinstein was never tried as he was murdered by Dutroux before being identified as an accomplice.

The lenient result of Dutroux's first prosecution, as well as shortcomings on the part of the police in investigating his murders, caused widespread discontent in Belgium with the country's criminal justice system, resulting in the complete reorganisation of Belgium's law enforcement agencies.