The monster husband who drugged his then wife and directed dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious now faces a further probe for a murder and rape in the 1990s.
There are fears that evil Dominique Pelicot could have secretly been a major offender over several decades with numerous victims remaining unknown. The sordid pervert is being investigated for the murder of an estate agent in Paris in 1991 and a 1999 attempted rape, the Guardian is reporting tonight.
He was today jailed for 20 years for his twisted crimes against his courageous former wife of 50 years, Gisèle Pelicot, in a case that has shocked the world. Gisèle has become a feminist hero and a symbol of defiance in the face of women’s suffering around the world.
Now police in the suburb of Nanterre outside the French capital have reportedly reopened two cold cases and formally placed sick Pelicot under investigation.
And it is thought potential links to multiple cases involving young women are being explored.
Pélicot orchestrated nine years of sexual violence against his wife, raping her repeatedly and inviting dozens of other men to do the same. The twisted grandfather used powdered medication to drug his wife’s evening meal, sending her into such a deep sleep she wouldn’t wake up while vile acts were being committed against her.
He learned his craft on the internet, where he went on to invite local accomplices to join in, filming them as they sexually assaulted his other half of 50 years. Today, 72-year-old Pélicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape of his ex-wife, attempted rape of one of the wives of his co-accused and for taking indecent images of his daughter, Caroline, and his daughters-in-law, Aurore and Celine.
A total of 50 men stood beside him, with 46 guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault. But according to reports, police found more than 70 abusers.
Police exposed Pelicot’s sick crimes against his wife when he was arrested for ‘upskirting’ – filming up women’s skirts – in a supermarket in 2020, and his computer was investigated. But he had previously been caught committing the same disturbing act in 2010, using a spy camera hidden in a pen in another supermarket now far from where he lived with Gisèle at that time.
Gisèle was not told of his arrest after he avoided going to court by accepting a €100 fine.
Police at the time collected his DNA and, when it was put into a national database, it was found to be a match to a blood trace found on a shoe at the scene of the 1999 attempted rape of an estate agent outside of Paris.
Pelicot would have been 46 in 1999. He had previous experience working as an estate agent himself.
The attempted rape involved the attacker enter an estate agent’s and ask to urgently view a top floor flat.
After giving a fake name and address, he was shown around the flat by a new recruit who was just 19-years-old. Terrifyingly, once they got inside the property she was pushed to the floor and tied with her hands behind her back and a rag soaked in ether was placed over her mouth and nose.
She told police at the time: “It smelled very strong…it made my head turn. I was a prisoner in my body and felt I couldn’t move.”
But the courageous woman managed to regain her senses and fought for her life, getting free and locking herself in a cupboard. The man had removed some of her clothes and placed her shoes next to her before putting a knife to her neck before she fought back.
The Guardian reports that it is a mystery why the DNA evidence from 2010 did not end up in a case file.
But a Nanterre magistrate reopened the case after Pelicot was arrested for his wife’s rape.
Pelicot first denied any knowledge but then admitted it when he was shown the DNA evidence of his blood on the shoe.
He reportedly admitted rape but told police he had not used a knife. It is expected he will face trial in this case in the future.
Pelicot told police he had felt an “urge” when he saw the 19-year-old woman but claimed he realised she was the same age as his daughter when he took off her trousers, and this made him feel “blocked”.
Again, news of this case came as a shock to his then wife, Gisèle Pelicot. She told the court in Avignon: “When I discovered that he’d attempted to rape a young woman the same age as his daughter, it was like an explosion.”
Meanwhile, Police were comparing the 1999 attack with the rape and murder of another estate agent in 1991. The victim in this case had also just started at her job and was aged just 23.
The modus operandi was identical and the attack was in a top floor flat in Paris. The estate agent was strangled to death and stabbed before being found tied up and on her stomach with her shoes left neatly settled beside her. The room smelt of ether and she had the substance in her blood.
Pelicot has denied anything to do with this horrific murder but it is understood he is under formal investigation for both unsolved crimes.
“Investigations are ongoing so we have to see what that brings. There are likely to be further interviews in the cases,” said Florence Rault, a lawyer for the families of the two women. She added: “Clearly the families hope that they will one day have a definitive answer and a conviction in court.”
Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer Antoine Camus told the Avignon trial: “Today, my clients struggle to believe that between 1999 – to just take one date – and 2011, Dominique Pelicot was off playing board games. My clients, unfortunately, rule nothing out and are eaten up by anxiety over discovering even more, and over years.”
A total of 50 accomplices were found guilty on charges including aggravated rape and sexual assault, with sentences ranging between 13 and five years (with two suspended) in prison. The men came from all walks of life, including civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, truck drivers, a journalist, a DJ and a municipal councillor. Many of them are fathers and husbands, and some have partners standing by them.
If you are affected by the issues raised in this article, contact SARSAS on info@sarsas.org.uk or reach out for NHS advice on help after rape or sexual assault.
