During a 35-year police hunt, one of France's most slippery serial killers appeared on a game show.
In 2021, Francois Vérove committed suicide after police summoned him. They had discovered DNA in the case which detectives believed may match his, The Telegraph reported.
His wife spoke to investigators after his death, and said she didn't know about her husbands secret life of killing. She added Vérove never attempted to hide or cover his identity, and said he even appeared on a game show, but was unable to tell police when it took place.
On Wednesday, weekly French magazine Marianne found the 2019 show, where Vérove appeared along with five others, and was knocked out in the first round.
The show, Everyone Wants to Take their Place, was aired on the state channel France 2. During his segment, Vérove said he was a former policeman when asked by the presenter.
He told the show he operated in Bois de Boulogne, a park in Paris notorious for prostitutes after dark, and "kept walkers safe" in the daytime.
In 1986, Bois was sacked for a possible "affair of vice" in the park, it has since emerged.
Vérove was known as "the pockmarked killer" due to his complexion. He has been linked to 30 cases of rape and abuse, and nine murders which included minors.
He was also former officer of the cavalry of the Republican Guard, and managed to dodge police for decades.
Vérove's body was discovered by police at an Airbnb in Le Grau-du-Roi in the Gard department, which is a few kilometres from his home in La Grande-Motte in southern France.
A note was left on a desk in the room, in which Vérove admitted to killing innocent people after a "mad rage" which "turned me into a criminal". Vérove said he was able to get rid of his impulses in 1997.
Denis Jacob, a former police colleague told BFM TV: “I worked in close proximity with him. He was my former colleague. In the period I knew him he may well have killed someone, raped someone and we detected no signal.
“The man I knew appeared incapable of such atrocities, that’s what is so chilling.”
After Vérove's suicide, forensic experts matched his DNA with the genetic profiles from multiple crime scenes.
This included DNA from a crime scene where five children were raped.
Police continue to examine his DNA and potential link to 30 rapes and nine murders, which would turn him into one of the country's worst serial killers if proven.
SHARE ME