Paris serial killer of 80s and 90s was ex-police officer, DNA shows

François Vérove took his own life and mentioned crimes in suicide note after being called in for questioning

François Vérove had worked as a police officer and a gendarme in Paris. Photograph: Eric Gaillard/Reuters

A retired police officer has been identified as the serial killer behind a spate of murders and rapes in and around Paris in the 1980s and 1990s, in which he used his police card, handcuffs and professional restraint techniques to stop young women and girls, but eluded capture for decades until he took his life this week.

In one of the biggest cold-case reviews in the history of the Paris police, investigators had been seeking DNA evidence to identify the notorious serial killer and rapist known as the “pockmarked man” who had avoided capture for 35 years.