Joanna Parrish | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 30 July 1969 England |
| Died | 16 or 17 May 1990 (aged 20) |
| Cause of death | Strangulation |
| Body discovered | Yonne River, Auxerre, France |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds |
| Occupation | Tutor |
Joanna Marie Parrish (30 July 1969 – 16 or 17 May 1990) was a British tutor and language student from Newnham on Severn, Gloucestershire, England, who was murdered in the Burgundy region of France while working at a local school as part of her degree course in 1990. Parrish, a University of Leeds undergraduate who was studying French, disappeared on the night of 16–17 May after placing an advertisement in a local Burgundy newspaper offering private English lessons, and arranging to meet a man who it is believed contacted her with details of a potential student. Her naked body was found in the Yonne River in Monéteau a small town next to Auxerre the following day. She had been raped, beaten and strangled.
A major suspect in the case was Michel Fourniret, a convicted serial killer known as "The Beast of Ardennes," who detectives suspected because the murder had similarities to crimes he was convicted of in 2008. Fourniret's wife, Monique Olivier, also gave police several statements linking him to Parrish's death, but she later withdrew the allegations, claiming they had been made under duress. The case was closed in 2011, but re-opened the following year after the emergence of fresh evidence. In February 2018, it was announced that Fourniret had confessed to Parrish's murder, but Fourniret died before he could stand trial.
In 2023, it was announced that prosecutors had charged Olivier with involvement in Parrish's murder.[1] She was convicted of the crime in December and sentenced to life imprisonment.
- ^ "Serial killer's ex-wife Monique Olivier charged over 1990 murder". BBC News. 12 May 2023.