79: Marc Dutroux: Atrocity Exhibition, Part 02

Obscura: A True Crime Podcast

Justin Drown

True Crime, Personal Journals, History, Documentary, News, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 June 2023

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1995, 8-year-olds Melissa Russo and Julie Lejeune disappeared while playing in their neighbourhood in the south of Belgium. The following month, 17-year-old An Marchal and her 19-year-old friend Eefje Lambrecks disappeared on the north coast of the country while on a holiday with friends. There had been no sign of any of the girls, and their anguished families were without any answers. In mid-1996, 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne and 14-year-old Laetitia Delhez were abducted a month apart. Thanks to observant members of the public, police arrested unemployed electrician Marc Dutroux, his wife Michelle, and their accomplice Michel Lelievre for the abduction of Sabine. Unbeknownst to the Belgian public, Marc had already been convicted of raping 5 young women in the 1980s and had served prison time - but had been released well before the end of his sentence.

Free to wander the street and do as he pleased, Marc took up where he’d left off. But this time, he made sure that at least 4 of his victims wouldn’t live to tell the tale.

In 1996, with Marc, Michelle and Lelievre in custody, it was only then that 40 year old Marc revealed to police that he was also holding Laetitia captive. She and Sabine had both been kept in a dungeon in the cellar of Marc’s home, where they were repeatedly raped, but were thankfully rescued by police soon after. But Melissa, Julie, An, and Eefje were still missing. What investigators were about to uncover was something that pushed Belgians to the verge of revolt against their government.

CW: suicide, sexual assault, child abuse, drug use, family violence

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Transcript

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0:30.6	Alright, let's get on with it.
0:34.8	Last time on Obscura, you heard part one of our story.
0:39.4	In 1995, two eight-year-old girls, Melissa Russo and Julie LeJune, had disappeared while playing
0:46.4	in their neighborhood in the south of Belgium.
0:49.1	The following month, 17-year-old Ann Marshall and her 19-year-old friend, Eiffia Lambrex,
0:55.3	disappeared on the north coast of the country, while on a holiday with friends.
1:00.3	There had been no sign of any of the girls and their anguished families were without any
1:04.4	answers.
1:06.2	In mid-1996, 12-year-old Sabine Darden and 14-year-old Letitia del Hez were abducted
1:13.0	a month apart.
1:15.0	Thanks to observant members of the public who noted the license plate of a vehicle seen
1:19.2	at one of the more recent abductions, police arrested unemployed electrician Mark Dutru.
1:25.8	They also arrested his wife, Michelle, and their accomplice, Michelle Lilliever, for the
1:30.5	abduction of Sabine.
1:32.9	Unbeknownst to the Belgian public, Mark had already been convicted of raping five young women
	...

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