Possible Fourniret link to 1970s murder

19 January 2006

BRUSSELS — The French press is intensely speculating on a possible link between confessed serial killer Michel Fourniret and a controversial murder in France in the 1970s in which a male suspect was convicted and executed.

In June 1974, the eight-year-old Maria Dolores Rambla was murdered in Marseille. A young male suspect, Christian Ranucci, of Nice, was arrested a short while later.

Ranucci confessed the crime, but later withdrew his statement and maintained his innocence. He was convicted, however, and was executed two years later.

Due to the fact a red jumper was found at the scene of the crime, the murder became known as “the red pullover”. Many people still believe that the French judiciary made mistakes in investigating the case.

Belgian justice authorities investigating Fourniret’s actions have now discovered several similarities to ‘the red pullover’ case, Flemish public news service VRT reported on Thursday.

The confessed serial killer was allegedly in the Marseille area at the time of the killing, drove a similar sort of car and was the same age as Ranucci.

The Dinant public prosecution office in Belgium has transferred its findings over to French investigators, but has denied talk of a possible link between the two cases.

Fourniret was arrested in Belgium in June 2003 and is accused of up to 13 murders. His victims were young women.

The Frenchman was extradited to France earlier this month and will go on trial with his wife, Monique Olivier, in Charleville-Mezieres, France, later this year.

Subject: Belgian news