BRUSSELS – The Belgian police have begun digging up the garden of French serial killer Michel Fourniret in the search for more victims.

It is believed that up to three more victims may be buried at Fourniret’s property in the small village of Sart-Custinne in the Belgian Ardennes.

It is still not known how many people were killed by Fourniret and his wife during the 1980s and 1990s.

The 62 year old Frenchman is under investigation for six murders in France, two others in Belgium and for an attempted kidnapping.

He was arrested in Belgium in June 2003 for abducting minors and for sexual misconduct.

Fourniret has already confessed to eight murders and for attempting to kill another victim.

A police digger started work on Thursday morning, looking for the remains of an au pair who Fourniret has been accused of killing in 1992.

The accusation came from his estranged wife Monique Olivier who said she was murdered after an attempted rape but Fourniret has always denied this crime.

The Belgian police said they were prepared to dig up to three metres below the surface of the garden during the two to three week operation.

Olivier has also accused her husband of murdering two other babysitters during the 1990s, but has refused to disclose any more information.

She was herself charged last month in connection with the murders of three girls after she confessed to luring three young women as au pairs to her home between July 1992 and January 1997.

[Copyright Expatica 2005]

Subject: Belgian news