Marc Dutroux, A Pedophile and Child-Killer

On January 22 2002, CNN Online reported that an "unauthorized televised interview" with Marc Dutroux during which Dutroux allegedly admitted he was guilty of locking up two young girls who starved to death in his cellar. The "confession," released by a television journalist, was captured on a tape recorder that was smuggled into Dutroux's cell by a Belgian senator.

On the tape, Dutroux allegedly says: "I kept Julie and Melissa captive at my place, so I'm not innocent. I kept An and Eefje (teenagers An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks) captive at my place, so I'm not innocent. I'm absolutely guilty."

The taped "confession," is a dramatic departure for Dutroux as he has consistently professed his innocence of the 1996 murder charges despite having served 13 years in prison on a previous charge of raping five girls.

On hearing the interview, Paul Marchal, the father of alleged Dutroux victim An Marchal, told Reuters: "I didn't want to hear it anymore. I can't listen to his voice. It makes me so sick."

The father of victim Melissa Russo told The Guardian newspaper: "It's indecent. He says that he kept Julie and Melissa, so that's rape, kidnapping and sadism for starters. He talks about a network when we are already at the end of the investigation. It is now up to the judge to draw up the (trial) plan with what he has. If he says there is a network but offers no further details, nothing will change. But if he cooperates then maybe the investigation will be restarted." 

VTM, the Flemish television channel that ran the interview, would not comment on whether Dutroux knew a journalist was interviewing him.

However, in excerpts VTM made available before the interview, Dutroux said: "I was in regular contact with people belonging to that network. But the justice system doesn't want to investigate this lead."

Dutroux's trial, which has been postponed several times, was delayed again while forensic tests were carried out on 6,000 hair samples taken from the basement cell of his house. These tests will attempt to determine if the victims had other visitors.