The Assize Court of the French department of Loire-Atlantique on Thursday sentenced German serial killer Martin Ney to life imprisonment for the 2004 murder of 10-year-old Jonathan Coulom.
Ney, who is already serving a life sentence in Germany for the murders of three children, showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered after five hours of deliberation.
Throughout the 12-day proceedings, he maintained his innocence, while his lawyers argued for his acquittal.
Jonathan’s family, present in the courtroom, broke down in tears as the sentence was pronounced.
“Finally, justice has been served for our son. He can now rest in peace,” Jonathan’s stepfather told reporters after the hearing.
The family’s lawyer, Catherine Salsac, spoke of her clients' “relief” and said, “We finally know the truth.”
The prosecutor described the killing as bearing Ney’s “criminal signature” and expressed “no doubt” regarding his guilt, emphasising the “nearly absolute gravity” of the crime in front of a packed courtroom.
Jonathan, originally from the Cher region in France, disappeared during a school trip to a holiday centre in Saint-Brévin-les-Pins on the night of 6 to 7 April 2004. His body was found 43 days later in a pond about 30 kilometres from the holiday centre, weighed down with a concrete block.
Martin Ney, a 55-year-old former educator from Bremen, was convicted in 2012 for the murders of three boys aged 13, 8, and 9 between 1992 and 2001, along with multiple sexual assaults on minors.
