Spaniard faces justice at last
2004-06-07 08:06
Rennes, France - A Spanish drifter was due to go on trial in western France on Monday for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old British schoolgirl at a Brittany youth hostel nearly eight years ago.
Francisco Arce Montes, 54, is alleged to have broken into the hostel in the village of Pleine-Fougeres early in the morning of July 18, 1996 and suffocated Caroline Dickinson to death as he sexually assaulted her in the dormitory which she shared with four other girls.
Avidly followed by the British media, the case was dogged by accusations of incompetence on the part of the French police. The vital early days of the investigation were wasted with the wrongful arrest of a tramp, who spent 17 days in jail before being exonerated by DNA tests.
Large-scale DNA tests
The publicity generated by the murder later led to major innovations in the conduct of French criminal enquiries, with the first ever large-scale DNA tests as well as the constitution of a 25-member dedicated police unit and the mass publication of an Identikit portrait of the suspect.
Arce Montes was eventually arrested in the United States in March 2001 after committing a sexual assault in a Miami hotel. He was identified only because an American police officer who read an article about the Dickinson case while on holiday in London suggested a link.
DNA evidence showed that semen found on Caroline's body and pyjama shorts was from Arce Montes, and he was extradited to France in November 2001.
Admitted the facts
Prosecution officials say that Arce Montes has admitted the facts of the case, but denies intention to murder. He is charged with voluntary homicide of a person under 15, accompanied by rape - a crime that carries a maximum life sentence.
Lawyers for Arce Montes said they would seek an adjournment when the trial opens on Monday at 09:00 (07:00 GMT) in the Brittany capital Rennes, arguing that they have not had time to organise a defence. The accused suffers from anorexia and has been in prison hospital outside Paris for much of his incarceration.
Prosecutors have drawn up a profile of Arce Montes which suggests that for 15 years he was a serial sexual predator on young girls during lengthy travels through Europe and South America.
The trial is expected to last until Friday, but could be extended if translation difficulties cause delays.
- AFP