Denis Waxin

Denis Georges Waxin (born June 26, 1968 in Loos, Nord Department) is a French pedophile and serial killer. Between 1985 and 1999, in Lille and its suburbs, he raped and killed three girls and raped two boys and another girl. In November 2003, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 29-year lock-in period.

Biography

Denis Waxin was born on June 26, 1968 in the Nord, spending his childhood in Wattignies. He never saw his parents talking to each other. His mother Marie-Jeanne was hard-working and decent.^[1] On the other hand, his father was very strict, interested only in trifecta and games of chance, and never talked to Denis or his other 4 children. His family was modest, and his parents often left him in silence and isolation, without tenderness and affecition. His older brother Dominique was his only confidant, defender and sole source of sweetness.^[2]

In 1985, Dominique left the family home and Denis fell into depression. Every day he would walk miles in the streets alone for hours. He obtained a professional degree in carpentry, later doing his military service in Germany. During military leave, he had a relationship with an older woman. Their relationship ended in the late summer of 1990 when he finished his military service. Eventually he got married and lived in Moulins. The pair did not have a child, and he called his wife "mom". He was described as a good husband, helpful and charming.

He got a job in the filling station of Auchan in Villeneuve-d'Ascq.^[3][4][5][6] He was punctual and conscientious, but unpredictable. One night, he shot all the bullets from the alarm gun charger onto an eyeglass thief. He ended up being fired for threatening to set the station on fire because he was annoyed by a remark made to him by his boss.

His father died in 2002.

Events and the investigation

On November 22, 1985 at the end of the afternoon, at the biscuit district in Lille, 7-year-old Nathalie Hoareau was sent by her mother to buy cigarettes and bread. Waxin approached her and offered to show her his shack. She followed him to a wasteland in the rue de Faubourg Arras (RD 549), where he raped her, tried to strangle her with a candy necklace she wore around her neck before stabbing her twice in the heart. Nathalie's mother reported her disappearance to the police at 6:30 PM. Her body, the lower part of which was bare, was found in the evening in a bush by two policemen. Near her, they found the packets of cigarettes she had bought and the shopping list on which the shopkeeper had written a message for her mother. A trace of sperm was found, but the rain had altered it, making it impossible to establish a genetic profile.

On October 8, 1990 in the Austerlitz in Wazemmes, Cathy Monchaux, 9 years old, was playing in the garden of her residence.^[7] At 8 PM, her father Roger called her to come back home. Waxin then approached her and offered to buy candy, taking her to an old football field turned into a wasteland on Victor-Hugo boulevard. He raped then stabbed her fourteen times because she tried to escape. When Cathy did not return, her father and older sister, Valérie, went out looking for her. Unsuccessful, her father informed the police at 9 PM. A day later, a man walking his dog found Cathy's naked body.

On July 23, 1992 at the end of the afternoon on Georges-Mandel street in Moulins, Nadjia Thebib, 4 years old, was playing with other children at the foot of a HLM building where her grandmother Meriem lived on the ground floor. Her parents had just separated. Waxin went in the direction of Ronchin. He carried her in his arms, and since she was calm, her family supposed that he was an uncle of Nadjia. Anissa, Nadjia's aunt, pursued him in the streets, but she stumbled and lost sight of him. Nadjia's mother Nina went out looking for her with the help of the other family members. She reported the abduction to the police at 8 PM. Anissa described the kidnapper's outfit: red T-shirt, sneakers with white stripes and white sweatpants with red stripes. A facial composite was produced and broadcast. Meanwhile, Waxin raped Nadjia, stabbing her in the neck and choking her with a plastic bag. On July 29, 1992 at the beginning of the afternoon, in a vacant lot in Ronchin, three boys found Nadjia's body lying on its right side, under a tarpaulin in a hole between the suburbs. Her clothes were folded beneath her. The medical examiner stated that she had been killed a few hours after her abduction. On one of her clothes trace of sperm was found, and this allowed the authorities to establish a DNA profile.

The investigators were certain that the perpetrator lived in Lille or its suburbs, so well as to know the deserted places and move so quickly and discreetly when abducting a child.

In November and December 1993 Waxin raped two boys aged 7 and 10 in Moulins and Lambersart.^[8][9]

In 1998, Waxin was arrested for trying to steal cutlery from a store with his wife.

On January 6, 1999 on Jean-Jaurès street in Moulins, 6-year-old Wendy, her older sister and brother collected yellow coins at the food at the residence where they lived. After a while, her brother and sister decided to separate to collect more efficiently. Wendy remained alone in asking people who came in and out of the residence entrance, while her brother and sister collected in the residence door to door. Wendy asked Waxin, who was walking down the street. He said he had none on him, but that he had some at home. After checking that no one else is around, he took Wendy by hand and pulled her to the side of the street. They walked for miles. Waxin replied that they have almost arrived each time Wendy asked him if it is far from home. He told her that it is a shortcut and that it took them to an abandoned factory in Fives. She resisted when he began to undress her, but he threatened her with an electric baton, saying that he had already killed other little girls. She no longer protested, letting Waxin undress and rape her. She calmly put her clothes back on when he finished. She left but Waxin followed her, telling her that is watching and he will come back if she speaks to the police. She walked towards her home and found out that she had disappeared. A motorist saw her crying, and carried her to the police station.

Wendy's good memory made it possible to create a facial composite. She said that he was wearing a green jacket with a tringle in the back. A few days later, while Wendy was looking out the window, she saw Waxin on the sidewalk in front of the residence, looking at her and smiling. The police, informed a few days later, monitored the building entrance. They noticed a man matching the facial composite. They questioned him, and he claimed that he is a marginal resident in a home near Wendy. The authorities printed on one sheet six anthropometric photos: that of the suspect, and those of five men resembling him. They went to Wendy's house and asked her if she could recognize her attacker among the pictures. She referred to Waxin's photo, who was not considered a suspect. Interlocated, the investigators asked her again and said its him. For them, Waxin was just a small shoplifter, and without a confession, they could not prosecute him.

Confessions and indictment

On January 20, 1999, Waxin went to the convocation. He was very nervous. The inspectors were impressed by the resemblance to the facial composite. They barely told him the reason for his summoning when he confessed that it is him, then refused to speak further. When he was lined up behind the beam splitter, Wendy formally recognized him. During the search of Waxin's home, the police found in his room the jacket corresponding to Wendy's description. In a pocket of the jacket, authorities found a police baton. On January 28, 1999, Waxin was indicted for rape and unlawful confinement of children under 15.^[10] He is currently incarcerated in Loos Prison.

Waxin's DNA profile was compared to that of Nadjia Thebib's aggressor, resulting in an identical match. On July 12, 1999, Waxin was indicted for kidnappy followed by death and rape, accompanied or followed by acts of torture and barbarity on Nadjia. He was extracted from his cell and questioned while in custody. He admitted to having raped, strangled and suffocated Nadjia. He refused to sign his confession and speak further. He declared that he wanted to see the investigating judge to tell him about the murders of the 3 girls.

On July 13, 1999, in the office of Christophe Ingrain, the investigating judge, Waxin admitted to murdering Nadjia, Cathy Monchaux and Nathalie Hoareau. He claimed to have done this to avenge a rape of which he was victim when he was 12 years old in a cabin in the woods by a homeless man, and that he drank alcohol before committing rape. On July 20, 1999, he was indicted for kidnapping followed by death and rape preceded, accompanied or followed by torture or acts of barbarity on Nathalie and Cathy.

On July 20, 1999, Waxin wrote a letter to the investigating judge in which he confirmed the confessions made in the office by describing the crimes more precisely. He claimed to have killed the girls so that they won't give birth to a monster like the one who raped them. He confessed to having committed three more rapes on girls, whom he did not kill because they "were kind", also admitting to the rapes of two boys in 1993. No trace of the rapes of the other three girls were found in the police files.

List of known victims

Trial and sentence

In May 2002, the trial of Denis Waxin began at a cour d'assises in Nord and Douai, for the murders and rapes preceded by torture or acts of barbarity on Nadjia and Cathy, and for the rapes on the 2 boys and on Wendy. The defense of Waxin was provided by lawyer Jean-Yves Moyart. Experts described Waxin as a perverted egocentric whose "sexualized hatred was from infancy".

On May 31, 2002, Denis Waxin was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 30-year lock-in period.^[11] He tried to appeal the decision.

On September 9, 2002, the trial of Denis Waxin for the rape and murder of Nathalie Hoareau began at a cour d'assises of Nord in Douai, because he was 17 years old during these events. Sébastien Degardin was the lawyer for Hoareau's family.

In September 2002, Waxin was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He tried to appeal this decision as well.

In 2003, Waxin's appeal trial for the Hoareau murder took place at cour d'assises Pas-de-Calais in Saint-Omer.

He was again sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In 2003, Denis Waxin's appeal trial began at the Pas-de-Calais Assize Court in Saint-Omer. Sobbing, he finally apologized for what he did.

In November 2003, Denis Waxin was sentenced to life with a 29-year lock-in period.

References

Press articles

• "His last prey allowed to unmask the psychopath. A Lille pump attendant suspected of triple rape and infanticide" Article by Olivier Van Vaerenbergh published July 15, 1999 in Le Soir.
• Article published in Le Nouveau Détective N°879 on July 21, 1999.

TV documentaries

• « The Denis Waxin Affair » in 2002 in Autopsy of a Murder on 13th Street.
• « Denis Waxin, The Predator » on April 21, 2009 and March 27, 2011 in Get the Accused presented by Christophe Hondelatte on France 2.

Radio shows

• « Denis Waxin, serial killer » on May 11, 2012 in The Hour of Crime of Jacques Pradel on RTL.

See also