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Veronique Courjault: 'Freezer Baby' Infanticide Trial Begins
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by Tina Kells | June 9, 2009 at 02:26 pm
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The infanticide trial of Veronique Courjault, the killer Mom in the 'freezer baby murders', began June 9, 2009 in Tours, France with emotional opening statements by both the prosecution and the defense. Veronique Courjault has admitted to killing three newborns between 1999 and 2003 by smothering them shortly after giving birth.
The shocking infanticide case was dubbed the 'freezer baby murders' by French press because two of the three bodies were found by Courjault's husband in a freezer. Jean-Louis Courjault has been cleared on any wrongdoing in the case after Veronique Courjault offered a full confession to French investigators.
The 'freezer baby' bodies were found in the Courjaults' South Korea home while Veronique Courjault was vacationing in her native France. She refused to leave the country after the grisly discovery was made and instead her lawyers pressed for her to be put on trial in France,
To get the case heard in France Veronique Courjault's defense lawyers argued that the two freezer babies found in South Korea were the last victims in a serial murder case that began in France in 1999. Veronique Courjault confessed to the 1999 infanticide even though no remains were ever found.
According to Veronique Courjault she killed her first baby in 1999 and burned the body in the family fireplace. Her husband, Jean-Louis, travels frequently and never noticed any of his wife's three pregnancies.
Some people in France feel that the 1999 killing never took place and that the confession was designed to keep Veronique Courjault in France. Infanticide penalties in France are less severe than in South Korea.
Initially the couple claimed they had no idea who the babies were.
But after DNA tests revealed they were their own sons, Mrs Courjault confessed she had given birth alone and then suffocated the two infants in Korea, in 2002 and 2003.
She also said she had killed another new-born baby she had given birth to in 1999 while she was still living in France. She said she had strangled it and burned its body in the chimney of her house.
Investigators say Mr Courjault was frequently away on business, and his wife successfully managed to hide each pregnancy from him.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 03:25 on June 11th, 2009
I feel desperately sorry for this man and his children. His dignity is remarkable.
I sincerely hope that Veronique Courjault is found to have been mentally ill.