Belgium marks 30 years since abduction and murder of Julie and Melissa by Marc Dutroux
On this day in 1995, a shockwave tore through Belgium as eight-year-old friends Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo vanished from the streets of Grâce-Hollogne, a suburb of Liège. They had been kidnapped by Marc Dutroux, a convicted paedophile whose crimes would horrify the nation, expose deep flaws in the justice system, and lead to the largest protest in Belgian history.
The girls were abducted on 24 June and taken to Dutroux’s house in Marcinelle, where he had built a dungeon. There, they were imprisoned, repeatedly abused and eventually starved to death while Dutroux was in prison for theft. His wife, Michelle Martin, had been told to feed them but did not.
Posters with Julie and Melissa’s faces appeared in windows across the country, becoming symbols of national grief and hope. But the girls would never return home.
In the months that followed, Dutroux kidnapped and murdered two more girls, An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks, who he buried alive. In May 1996, he abducted 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne, and in August, 14-year-old Laetitia Delhez. Their rescue just days later, following a tip-off from a witness to Laetitia’s abduction, finally led to Dutroux’s arrest.
Failed investigation
Despite Dutroux’s criminal record, including a previous conviction for child rape, police had failed to search his home thoroughly when Julie and Melissa first disappeared. During an initial visit, officers even heard children’s cries but dismissed them.
Public fury exploded in October 1996 with the White March, when between 275,000 and 350,000 people marched in silence through Brussels demanding justice and reform. It was the largest demonstration in the country since the Second World War.
Dutroux was tried in 2004 and sentenced to life in prison for the abduction, rape and murder of six girls. Martin received 30 years for her complicity. Dutroux’s accomplice Michel Lelièvre was jailed for 25 years and later granted parole.
The case led to sweeping reforms in Belgium’s police and justice system, including the creation of Child Focus, a national centre for missing children.
Today, Marc Dutroux remains behind bars, but his lawyer, Bruno Dayez, continues to seek a psychiatrist willing to declare him no longer dangerous. Dayez claims Dutroux is now “completely harmless”, calling him a “toothless circus lion” resigned to prison life. At the same time, he admits his client remains psychologically unstable.
Despite experts warning of a high risk of reoffending, Dayez has not given up hope of finding a foreign psychiatrist bold enough to challenge the prevailing view. However, given the enduring public outrage and the notoriety of the case, any prospect of Dutroux’s release remains, by Dayez’s own admission, “virtually nil”.
The mothers of Julie and Melissa speaking to a journalist after the discovery of the girls' bodies in the garden of Marc Dutroux © BELGA PHOTO ARCHIVES
Related news
