Strangled estate agent linked to ‘Devil of Avignon’ was gagged with ether, raped & struggled so hard she lost her rings
MURDERED estate agent Sophie Narme has been linked to convicted serial rapist Dominique Pelicot – with cops probing his possible involvement in her gruesome death in 1991.
Sophie, 23, met with a client to show him an apartment in Paris, who gagged and drugged her with ether, raped her and killed her in a struggle so brutal her rings came off.
After 33 years of delays to the investigation into her death, French police are taking a fresh look at Dominique Pelicot.
Jailed on Thursday for 20 years after inviting some 70 strangers to rape his drugged wife, Dominique has already admitted to one cold case from the 1990s.
Chilling similarities between the two decades-old investigations has led cops to turn their focus to Sophie’s death – which he denies any involvement in.
Sophie met with her client, named Mr Duboste, on December 4 1991 at around 10am.
Her worried parents alerted bosses that they hadn’t heard from her that evening – prompting them to go and check the apartment themselves.
Sophie’s boss found her lifeless body in the apartment, lying face down with her hair covering her face.
Her family’s lawyer Florence Rault told franceinfo that Sophie’s killer “restrained her then put her to sleep with ether” and “tore her bra”.
She told how he “raped her before strangling her with the belt of her skirt”.
And Florence said that “she lost all the rings she had on her fingers”, marking her “attempts to struggle”.
Sophie’s skin was “cut” with “wounds”, and in a harrowing detail, Florence said her attacker likely “used a bladed weapon, probably a box cutter”.
A witness said they saw “a man with a raincoat” pass by, but the neighbours heard nothing, according to Florence.
After years of delays the Nanterre cold cases unit got hold of the case.
The office told how three investigating judges in the unit made a key connection between Sophie’s murder and the attempted rape of another woman, Marion (pseudonym), in 1999.
She too was a young estate agent, lured to an apartment by a man who drugged her with ether and tried to rape her before she miraculously managed to escape.
Dominique Pelicot’s DNA was linked to Marion’s attempted rape during his time in custody over recent months – for a grim campaign of abuse against his ex-wife.
His sample matched traces of blood found on the shoes that Marion was wearing the day she was assaulted.
Marion, now in her forties, formally identified him for cops.
He then admitted to the crime during police interrogation – although denied using a weapon.
Dominique had lured Marion, 19, into a building on the pretext that he might want to buy it.
He then pinned her to the ground, bound her wrists with rope, used ether on her and pulled down her pants.
As the drugs soon wore off, she was able to get away and lock herself in a closet until he left.
He has denied any involvement in the rape and murder of Sophie Narme.
No DNA traces were found at the crime scene after Sophie’s murder – and the sperm sample recovered there was lost.
Dominique’s lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, told AFP in January 2023 that the accusations are “based solely on connections”.
She said “My client’s position is one of absolute and persistent denial. He is shocked. We will fight as best we can.”
Inside the horror Pelicot case
BY Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
A TRULY disturbing mass rape case that shocked France, and the world, culminated this week in a whopping 51 convictions in court totalling more than 400 years of prison time.
After months of harrowing testimony – the twisted ex husband of grandmother Gisèle Pelicot, Dominique, was found guilty of raping his own wife for almost a decade and offering her up to strangers online.
Serial rapist Dominique, 72, admitted to inviting dozens of men to force themselves on his drugged wife Gisèle, who went years completely unaware of what he was doing to her.
He was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 20 years behind bars, meaning he could die in prison.
All other 50 defendants were convicted in court – with sentences of up to 15 years handed out to his co-defendants.
Most were found guilty of raping Gisèle, two were convicted of attempted rape and two of sexual assault.
Gisèle and her children attended court to hear the sentencing, and as monster Dominique wept during the verdict, she watched on, resting her head against a wall.
Dozens of people gathered outside the court, applauding Gisèle who has become something of a feminist icon in France throughout the trial.
People all over the world have been left appalled at how Dominique was able to covertly assault her for so many years, and how many seemingly normal members of the local community joined in.
Married for decades and parents to three children, the couple lived in a small, sleepy town called Avignon in southern France.
Dominique would slip tranquillising drugs and sleeping pills into her evening meals or drinks before inviting strange men over to rape her while unconscious – filming the horrific assaults and storing video and pictures of them on his computer.
Men who answered Dominique’s disturbing offers included a gardener, farm driver, tradesman and retired fireman.
The youngest was 21, and the oldest 68. While most only took part once, some did so up to six times.
Dominique was first arrested in September 2020 for secretly filming up women’s skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras.
While in custody, he confessed to a hard drive hidden under a printer with the file called “Abuses” – full of 20,000 images and videos depicting the rapes of his wife.
The incredibly brave Gisèle had to sit through more than three months of horrendous testimony throughout the course of the trial.
This included extracts from Pelicot’s collection of homemade abuse videos and images being shown in court.
Heroic Gisèle testified: “They regarded me like a rag doll, like a garbage bag.”
Meanwhile sick Dominique confessed: “I am a rapist, like the others in this room,” and said he may “die alone like a dog”.
EERILY SIMILAR
Prosecutors have highlighted how the cases share similarities – including the fact that they were both estate agents attacked during apartment visits.
As well as the use of small cords to tie them up or restrict them, a similar method of undressing them and the same drug.
Florence said: “What happened in 1999 begins like in 1991. We find the ether, the cutter and links.”
Speaking of what happened to Marion, she explained: “A man came into the real estate agency and spoke to her directly, telling her that he was urgently looking for an apartment.
“He was friendly and presentable: Marion was not suspicious. She thought of an apartment located nearby and took him by car.”
When he asked her if his bed would fit in the apartment, Marion bent down to take some measurements.
Florence said: “Then she feels a blade under her neck and can no longer move under the effect of the ether.
“She struggles not to breathe in this smell which makes her leave.”
Marion then managed to “grab the private parts” of her attacker, who lets her go.
Florence said she locked herself away in a closet and hid there for four hours before coming out to find him gone.
Dominique allegedly told an investigating judge in 2022: “While passing in front of the real estate agency and seeing the young woman, I had an impulse.”