In the 1990s, Marc Dutroux murdered two girls and kidnapped and raped others. In addition to him, his wife, who took part in the crimes, also has to go to prison. Her sentence has been completed and Michelle Martin will be completely free from Sunday. In Belgium, the case has left a trauma to this day.
The ex-wife of Belgian girl killer Marc Dutroux, Michelle Martin, is completely free from Sunday and no longer has to serve a sentence. The conditions that had been in place since her release from prison in 2012 were fully lifted as of Sunday, a source familiar with the case said in Brussels.
Martin was sentenced to 30 years in prison for involvement in the crimes of her partner at the time, Marc Dutroux. She served 16 of those years before being conditionally released in 2012. Martin has complied with all conditions since his release, the source familiar with the case said.
In Belgium, Martin’s early release had sparked an outcry because Dutroux’s actions remain prominent in Belgian memories. Dutroux was found guilty in 2004 of murdering two girls and an accomplice in 1995 and 1996, and kidnapping and raping a total of six girls.
At the time, Martin at least knew about her husband’s kidnappings and let two girls starve to death in the basement dungeon. In 1996 she was arrested at the same time as Marc Dutroux, and in 2004 a Belgian court sentenced Martin to 30 years in prison. Dutroux, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, remains in prison.
The case was particularly shocking because the father of five, Dutroux, and his partner had already been convicted of kidnapping and abusing five girls in the 1980s. He was supposed to serve 13 years – but was released only 6 years after his arrest for good behavior.
After the final arrest on August 13, 1996, a wave of indignation rolled over Belgium. Around 300,000 people demonstrated in Brussels at the so-called White March, among other things against sexual violence against children and the judiciary. Many saw the dismissal of the examining magistrate Jean-Marc Connerotte from the Dutroux case as the main trigger. The judge had attended a benefit dinner for the victims of Dutroux, so he was accused of bias. Connerotte had spoken out in favor of strict crackdowns on pedo-criminals.
