A memorial garden has been opened in Belgium on the site of the house of the infamous child murderer Marc Dutroux. This happened more than 25 years after Dutroux had held several girls captive there.
Last year, the so-called “house of horrors” in Marcinelle was demolished. There, Dutroux had tortured and raped the kidnapped children in a soundproof cellar. The memorial garden is full of trees and decorated with a mural of a child watching a kite take to the sky.
The parents of two of his victims, Julie Lejeune and Mélissa Russo, were present to inaugurate the garden:
Dutroux, now 66, was sentenced to life imprisonment and TBS in 2004 for kidnapping, hostage-taking, rape and murder. He held six young girls captive in 1995 and 1996. Only two of them survived.
Although the house was demolished, the basement was not demolished at the request of the parents of two of his victims.
Dutroux applied for parole in 2020. It was rejected after a psychiatric report showed he was still dangerous. His accomplice ex-wife Michelle Martin and a co-conspirator have already been released from prison.
Watch a look back at the Dutroux case here:
- Dutroux’s second home also demolished: ‘End of sad chapter’
- Dutroux home makes way for memorial garden
