Body Exhumed in France to Investigate Possible Link to Rapist Dominique Pelicot
French authorities exhumed the body of Sophie Narme, a 23-year-old estate agent raped and killed in Paris in 1991, to determine if convicted rapist Dominique Pelicot was involved. The exhumation, conducted on April 14 near Paris, was requested by Pelicot’s lawyer, Beatrice Zavarro, who aims to exonerate her client from this cold case. Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2024 for orchestrating the rape of his drugged wife by dozens of men between 2011 and 2020. Suspicion fell on Pelicot after he admitted to a similar 1999 attempted rape of another estate agent, where DNA evidence linked him to the crime. Both cases involved victims being stripped and the use of ether. However, Zavarro has suggested that Francois Verove, a deceased serial killer active in the 1980s, might be the true perpetrator. The forensic results from the exhumation are expected within several weeks. This development adds a new layer to the legal proceedings surrounding Pelicot, whose previous trial garnered international attention due to the systematic abuse of his wife and the conviction of 51 defendants.
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Body Exhumed in France to Investigate Possible Link to Rapist Dominique Pelicot
French authorities exhumed the body of Sophie Narme, a 23-year-old estate agent raped and killed in Paris in 1991, to determine if convicted rapist Dominique Pelicot was involved. The exhumation, conducted on April 14 near Paris, was requested by Pelicot’s lawyer, Beatrice Zavarro, who aims to exonerate her client from this cold case. Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2024 for orchestrating the rape of his drugged wife by dozens of men between 2011 and 2020. Suspicion fell on Pelicot after he admitted to a similar 1999 attempted rape of another estate agent, where DNA evidence linked him to the crime. Both cases involved victims being stripped and the use of ether. However, Zavarro has suggested that Francois Verove, a deceased serial killer active in the 1980s, might be the true perpetrator. The forensic results from the exhumation are expected within several weeks. This development adds a new layer to the legal proceedings surrounding Pelicot, whose previous trial garnered international attention due to the systematic abuse of his wife and the conviction of 51 defendants.
The Straits Times World News