photo gallery

Life term for Frenchman who murdered 3

'Crazy Pierre' Sentenced to Life in Jail for Macabre Murders of 2 Girls and Woman in France

By Marie-France Bezzina - BLNZ.com

July 11, 2007

A man with a history of crime and psychiatric troubles was convicted Wednesday of viciously murdering two girls and a woman and sentenced to life in prison for the series of macabre slayings that shocked France three years ago.

Pierre Bodein, nicknamed "Pierrot le fou," or "Crazy Pierre," was charged with raping, killing and mutilating the two young victims _ Jeanne-Marie Kegelin, 11, and Julie Scharsch, 14. He also allegedly murdered and mutilated Edwige Vallee, 38, and attempted to kidnap two other girls.

All the incidents occurred in June 2004 in various locations in Alsace, near France's border with Germany. One body was found floating in a creek, another in a vineyard.

The judges acquitted 16 other members of the Yenish community, a group of "travelers" living in trailers in eastern France, who were accused of various degrees of complicity in the crimes.

Bodein, 59, who denied wrongdoing and claimed to be the victim of a plot, stared blankly as he was led from the courtroom. He will have to spend at least 30 years in jail before becoming eligible for parole.

"It's ... the maximum possible sentence, so in that sense there's a sense of satisfaction. But it won't give us Julie back. It won't soothe our pain and make up for the loss our family feels," said Francoise Scharsch, the mother of one victim.

The defense lawyer, Marc Vialle, said before the verdict that Bodein would appeal if he was convicted.

Bodein already has spent more than 30 years in jail and psychiatric institutions since 1969, once escaping from a hospital and going on a crime spree that included attacks on a girl and an elderly woman.

He had been conditionally released from prison three months before the 2004 murders, after serving more than a decade of what originally was a 28-year sentence for various crimes. That sentence was later reduced to 20 years even though doctors warned against an early release.

Prosecutors want life imprisonment for "Crazy Pierre"

Pravda.ru

07/04/2007

Prosecutors demanded life imprisonment for a man accused of killing two girls and a woman three years ago in a series of macabre murders.

Pierre Bodein - nicknamed "Pierrot le fou," or "Crazy Pierre" - is accused of killing and mutilating the bodies of Jeanne-Marie Kegelin, 11, Julie Scharsch, 14, and Edwige Vallee, 38, and of the attempted kidnapping of two more girls in June 2004.

The prosecution said Bodein, who has spent more than 30 years in jail and psychiatric institutions since 1969, savagely murdered and mutilated the three victims in various locations in Alsace, near France's border with Germany. One of the bodies was found floating in a creek, another in a vineyard.

Eighteen other members of the Yenish community - a group of travelers settled in caravans in eastern France - joined Bodein in court as co-defendants accused of various degree of complicity in the crimes. The prosecutors, Manon Brignole and Olivier Bailly, demanded jail terms ranging from 3 to 30 years.

All of the accused have denied any wrongdoing in the closely-watched trial lasting three months.

Judges are not obliged to follow prosecutors' recommendations. The verdict was expected later this week.

Police pointed fingers at Bodein, 59, after finding blood from one of the victims in his car and his blood on her bicycle. They also located Bodein in the area through his mobile phone, and received witness statements linking him to the crimes.

Bodein was conditionally released three months before allegedly committing the murders, after serving more than a decade of a 28-year sentence for various crimes. The sentence was later reduced to 20 years, and Bodein received parole in March 2004, despite warnings from doctors.

Bodein has a history of psychiatric problems, including bouts of schizophrenia in the 1970s, and once escaped from a hospital to set off on a crime spree that included violent attacks against a girl and an elderly woman.

Facts

On June 18, 2004, little Jeanne-Marie Kegelin, 10, disappeared from Rhinau (Bas-Rhin). After an intensive search, her body was found on June 29, naked and partially submerged in the Valff River.

The corpse showed significant mutilations in the lower abdomen and genital organs. The doctors also pointed out the absence of internal genital organs, which makes it impossible to determine rape.

The most horrifying thing is that the experts believe the wounds were inflicted when she was still alive.

On June 22, the partially nude body of Hedwige Vallé, 38, was discovered in a river in Hindisheim (Bas-Rhin). The same wounds had been inflicted.

The macabre series ended on July 3 with the discovery of the totally nude body of Julie, 14, in a stream in Nothalten (Bas-Rhin).

It would seem that the wounds were inflicted after her death, according to the doctors, and that she most likely died from drowning.

Corpse of Julie Scharsch (14) found

July 3, 2004

Police of Alsace confirm that the corpse of disappeared Julie Scharsch (14) was found some 20 km from the town Schirmek, where the girl was last seen June 25. The family´s attorney identified the girl.

Julie might be the third victim of Pierre Bodein, criminal of extreme violence out on parole and re-arrested three days ago under suspicion of kidnapping and murder. Police found blood of victim Julie in his white Ford Escort and his blood on Julie´s Bicycle.

Pierre Bodein (57), called “Pierrot le Fou” in France, is main suspect in two other murders, that of Jeanne-Marie Kegelin (10), whose mutilated body was found Wednesday and that of Edwige Vallée (38), whose mutilated body was discovered in Indisheim June 22.

Despite a 1994 verdict, which should keep him in jail for 28 years Bodein was released on parole March 15 this year.

Suspect arrested in missing Alsace teenager case

Police in eastern France have arrested a 57-year-old repeat offender who was recently freed from jail in connection with last week's disappearance of a teenage girl.

Pierre Bodein, nicknamed "Pierrot le Fou", was taken into custody late Wednesday by police in the Alsace region near France's border with Germany, under suspicion of involvement in the disappearance of 14-year-old Julie Scharscha.

The disappearances of Julie and 11-year-old Jeanne-Marie Kegelin, who went missing in the same region two weeks ago and whose naked body was found floating face down in a creek earlier this week, have shocked the nation.

Julie went missing on June 25 from the village of Schirmeck, located outside Strasbourg. Police found the girl's bicycle late Monday in an isolated forest, and said they were now investigating the case as a possible kidnapping.

A witness last saw Julie speaking to the driver of a vehicle whose description matches Bodein's Ford Escort.

Sources close to the inquiry said Bodein - convicted in 1996 for 15 crimes committed in two days - was also in contact with six people under investigation in connection with Jeanne-Marie's disappearance and death.

"There is information indicating that they spent time together," the sources said, describing Bodein as a "distant cousin" of the family detained in the Jeanne-Marie case.

Brothers Georges and Balthazar Remetter, aged 34 and 16 respectively, have been placed under investigation in that matter for kidnapping followed by death.

Investigators believe that Georges hit Jeanne-Marie with his car, took her back to the family home before abandoning her in "as yet undetermined circumstances".

Sources close to the investigation said an autopsy did not allow them "to rule out or to confirm" that Jeanne-Marie had been sexually assaulted, noting that additional tests would be conducted.