A notorious French serial killer known as the 'Ogre of the Ardennes' has finally confessed to the murder of British student Joanna Parrish 28 years ago, her family's lawyer said on Friday.
Michel Fourniret, 75, was already serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of seven other young women, but until now police had been unable to prove that he killed Joanna.
The naked body of the 20-year-old Leeds University language student was found in the River Yonne near Auxerre, Burgundy in 1990, a day after she was reported missing, reports Daily Telegraph UK.
She had been raped, beaten and strangled following her abduction after placing an advertisement in a local newspaper offering English lessons.
Her father, Roger Parrish, who had long suspected Fourniret despite the killer's repeated denials, spoke of his relief last night. Mr Parrish, a retired Land Registry official from Newnham on Severn in Gloucestershire, told local reporters that his family would have "closure at last".