Former wife of child killer released on parole

The former wife and accomplice of paedophile killer Marc Dutroux was granted parole today, less than halfway through her 30-year-sentence.

Michelle Martin, one of Belgium’s most despised criminals, was convicted of letting two of his victims starve to death, when she could have freed them..

She passed the final barrier to freedom after the country’s highest court, the Court of Cassation ruled that no procedural errors had been made when a lower court originally allowed Martin out to live in a convent.

“The court rejects the appeals,” a statement said after the panel assessed those filed by the prosecutor’s offices and some of the families of the victims.

It was unclear when Martin would be travelling to southern Malonne, where she will live in a Clarisse convent and, in the words of her lawyer, seek atonement for her crimes.