Cold case unit looking into French rapist Dominique Pelicot: prosecutors

Dominique Pelicot has admitted to drugging his wife, 71, and inviting strangers to their house to rape her while she was unconscious.

Frenchman Dominique Pelicot, who was convicted of organizing the rape of his then-wife Gisele Pelicot, is now subject to a broader investigation by a cold case unit for additional crimes, the prosecutors’ office told AFP Friday.

The cold case unit launched its new “criminal trajectories” investigation to identify other possible victims of Pelicot on Monday, the Nanterre prosecutors’ office near Paris said, confirming reports by radio station RTL.

Dominique Pelicot was sentenced in 2024 to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape, which involved recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his then-wife after drugging her in their home in the southern town of Mazan between 2011 and 2020.

His now ex-wife Gisele Pelicot was hailed as a hero for her courage and dignity in the trial that saw all 51 defendants convicted.

Dominique Pelicot has since been questioned in two additional cases -- a rape and murder in Paris in 1991, and an attempted rape in the Seine-et-Marne region in 1999.

He has denied involvement in the 1991 case but has admitted to the latter after he was identified by his DNA.

Lawyer Florence Rault, representing civil parties in the case, said she welcomed the broader investigation but told AFP, “I’m surprised it hadn’t happened long ago” given Pelicot was first investigated in 2022.