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Murder of Joanna Parrish

SOLVED2008Auxerre, Burgundy, France (body recovered from the Yonne River near Moneteau)3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

Joanna Marie Parrish was a 20-year-old British woman working as an English teaching assistant at the Lycee Jacques Amyot in Auxerre, in the Burgundy region of France. An undergraduate at the University of Leeds studying French, she was about a week away from completing her placement in May 1990. To earn extra money, she placed an advertisement in a local newspaper offering private English lessons.

On the evening of 16 May 1990, Parrish arranged to meet a man who had responded to the advertisement, apparently with details of a prospective student, near a bank in Auxerre. She did not return. The following day her body was recovered from the Yonne River near Moneteau, a town adjoining Auxerre. She had been drugged, restrained, raped, beaten and strangled.

The investigation stretched across more than three decades and was hampered by early failures, including inadequate protection of the crime scene. Suspicion eventually centred on Michel Fourniret, a convicted French serial killer who, in 2008, was found guilty of murdering seven girls and young women in France and Belgium between 1987 and 2001. Investigators noted similarities between those crimes and the killing of Parrish. Fourniret's wife, Monique Olivier, gave statements linking him to the crime, and the couple were understood to have operated together, with Olivier helping to gain victims' trust.

Fourniret denied involvement for years before admitting, in confessions made before a judge, that he had killed Parrish. He died in prison in 2021, aged 79, before he could be brought to trial for the case, leaving his prosecution unresolved.

Monique Olivier was later tried for her role in three cases: the 1988 death of Marie-Angele Domece, the 1990 killing of Parrish, and the 2003 abduction of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin. On 19 December 2023, more than 33 years after Parrish died, Olivier was convicted of complicity in the rape and murder of Parrish and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 20 years. She was already serving a life sentence for her part in earlier crimes.

Parrish's family, who had long believed a female accomplice was involved, said they were satisfied that the court had recognised Olivier's part in the killing. The verdict was the first and only conviction secured in connection with Parrish's death.

Key facts

Victims
Joanna Parrish
Date
2008
Location
Auxerre, Burgundy, France (body recovered from the Yonne River near Moneteau)
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1969-07-30

    Joanna Marie Parrish is born in England.

  2. 1990-05-16

    Parrish, a 20-year-old English teaching assistant in Auxerre, arranges to meet a man who answered her newspaper advertisement for English lessons, and disappears.

  3. 1990-05-17

    Parrish's body is recovered from the Yonne River near Moneteau; she had been drugged, restrained, raped, beaten and strangled.

  4. 2008

    Michel Fourniret is convicted of murdering seven girls and young women in France and Belgium committed between 1987 and 2001.

  5. 2018-02-16

    The Parrish family's lawyer announces that Fourniret has confessed before a judge to killing Parrish.

  6. 2021

    Fourniret dies in prison, aged 79, before he can be tried for Parrish's murder.

  7. 2023-12-19

    Monique Olivier is convicted of complicity in the rape and murder of Parrish and sentenced to life imprisonment.

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People

  • Michel Fourniret

    CHARGED

    Convicted French serial killer; confessed before a judge to killing Parrish and was under prosecution for the case, but died in 2021 before trial and was never convicted for this specific killing.

  • Joanna Parrish

    VICTIM

    20-year-old British teaching assistant and University of Leeds language student, raped and killed in Auxerre in May 1990.

  • Monique Olivier

    CONVICTED

    Fourniret's wife and accomplice; convicted on 19 December 2023 of complicity in the rape and murder of Parrish and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

Auxerre, Burgundy, France (body recovered from the Yonne River near Moneteau)

47.7982, 3.5731

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Joanna Parrish, a 20-year-old British teaching assistant, was raped and killed in Auxerre, France, in May 1990. Convicted serial killer Michel Fourniret confessed but died in 2021 before he could be tried for the case, and his wife Monique Olivier was convicted in 2023 of complicity in her rape and murder.
Where did the murder happen?
Auxerre, Burgundy, France (body recovered from the Yonne River near Moneteau).
Who was convicted?
Monique Olivier (Fourniret's wife and accomplice; convicted on 19 December 2023 of complicity in the rape and murder of Parrish and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.
More cases in France

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICMurder of Joanna ParrishWikipedia · 2026-07-05
  2. PRESSEx-wife of French serial killer Fourniret sentenced to life for role in three murdersFrance 24 · 2026-07-05
  3. PRESSConviction of killer's accomplice gives some justice at last for Newnham's Joanna ParrishThe Forest Review · 2026-07-05

Record history

First published
JUL 06, 2026
Last verified against sources
JUL 06, 2026