Michel Fourniret: French serial killer dies in prison aged 79

Jailed French serial killer Michel Fourniret, who murdered at least eight girls or young women between 1987 and 2001, has died aged 79, officials say.

Fourniret died in the secure unit of a hospital in Paris, the public prosecutor said on Monday.

Dubbed the "Ogre of the Ardennes", he was serving two life sentences for the kidnappings and killings.

Fourniret's wife, Monique Olivier, was also given a life sentence for complicity.

Fourniret was convicted of seven murders in 2008 and one in 2018. His victims - most of whom were raped - were aged between 12 and 30. They were shot, strangled or stabbed to death.

Most were killed in the Ardennes region of northern France and in Belgium.

Jailed for eight murders, Fourniret confessed to several others, including that of British student Joanna Parrish.