Eric Mouzin, the father of Estelle, who disappeared on January 9, 2003 on the way to school, continues to fight to have the State’s failures during the investigation recognized. He denounces the “delay” and “the lack of effective investigation” which could have led to the girl’s remains being found.
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On December 19, 2023, after three weeks of grueling debates before the Hauts-de-Seine Assize Court in Nanterre, Monique Olivier was found guilty of complicity in the kidnappings, followed by the murders of Marie-Angèle Domèce, Johanna Parrish and Estelle Mouzin. At the end of the trial, Éric Mouzin, the father of Estelle, kidnapped in Guermantes on January 9, 2003, described this new face-to-face with Michel Fourniret’s ex-wife as follows: “I didn’t see the slightest emotion on the accused’s face. It was particularly trying to see and touch this lack of humanity. We no longer remember names, we no longer remember places. We confuse the victims…”
Monique Olivier was sentenced to life imprisonment, including 20 years of security. And while she provided horrifying details about the circumstances of the little girl’s abduction, she said nothing conclusive about the location of her remains. Which is what Estelle’s family had been hoping for. Éric Mouzin has been fighting tirelessly for over 20 years and it’s not over yet; what he’s busy with today is his complaint against the State for gross negligence.
“We can clearly see that it is not over. The questions we have are very present in our memory, he confides, and at the same time, they are put aside to ensure that we continue to live as well as possible, so that Estelle’s kidnapping and her murder would not be a source of decomposition in our lives. We really tried during all these years not to let death enter us. It was a constant fight, but I think we succeeded.” With his wife Dominique, whom he married in 2008, “true pillar of the family”, and with Estelle’s brothers and sisters, they made sure to continue living despite everything and “to enjoy everything we could. And it’s not because we do that that Estelle is not present in our thoughts and in our affection, even if she is not there, of course.”
The complaint against the State filed in 2018 is progressing well, informs Éric Mouzin. The lawyers of Estelle’s family, always from the Seban firm, have sent their conclusions to the State representative. This procedure, “It was a movement of fed-upness when we noted with the lawyers the number of dysfunctions of the investigation and justice services during all these years. The trial provided us with a considerable amount of information which justifies our approach even more.”
He said he realized that “During all those years, we could have gone much faster. The investigating judges and the investigation services missed very important elements, which resulted in extending the duration of the investigation. To the point where, when Michel Fourniret finally confessed, he was already starting to deteriorate mentally and his statements were very vague. He died during the investigation, so the action died out and his accomplice, in an ambiguous position, did not answer all the questions put to her. So the delay in the investigation and the lack of an effective investigation led to this fiasco and this lack of response.”
When asked if, deep down, after two decades of fighting, legal proceedings and demonstrations with the Estelle association, he still has hope of one day finding his daughter’s body, he replied: “The idea of finding Estelle’s body is a good illustration of the poison that we can create within ourselves. I don’t have the means to search for Estelle’s body, it’s not up to me to do it. The person who knows, doesn’t want to, can’t and doesn’t know how to say where Estelle’s body is. After 20 years, they may have forgotten, they may confuse crimes. I don’t want to find myself in a position of total dependence on Monique Olivier. So we have to accept the idea that we may not find the body. But this impossibility must not become a veil that covers everything, on the contrary.”
Eric Mouzin, insurance expert, has always continued to work. “A great diversion from other problems”. He hopes to have his complaint against the state ruled on in September. He has launched another procedure before the European Court of Human Rights, he explains, “highlighting France’s lack of effective means to deliver justice”.