Dominique Cottrez
Dominique Cottrez is a French woman convicted of suffocating eight of her newborn infants shortly after secret births between 1989 and 2000.[1][2] Born in 1964 in northern France, Cottrez worked as a nursing assistant and lived in the village of Villers-au-Tertre near the Belgian border with her husband, Pierre-Marie, with whom she had two surviving children.[1] Her severe obesity, weighing up to 130 kilograms, allowed her to conceal multiple pregnancies from her husband and family over nearly two decades.[1] In July 2010, two infant bodies were discovered buried in the garden of Cottrez's parents' home during a property sale, prompting an investigation that uncovered six more mummified remains in a disused water tank at her home later that month.[3] Cottrez confessed to the killings, stating she acted alone due to overwhelming distress and a desire to avoid further pregnancies, though her husband was determined to be the biological father of all eight children.[1] At her trial in Douai in June 2015, Cottrez initially claimed an incestuous relationship with her deceased father but later retracted the statement, admitting the full extent of her actions.[1][2] She was sentenced to nine years in prison—half the 18 years requested by prosecutors—after the jury found her judgment impaired by psychological distress, and she was released on parole in 2018 after serving about three years.[1][4]Background
Early Life and Family
Dominique Cottrez was born in 1964 in Villers-au-Tertre, a rural village in the Nord department of northern France, into a farming family. She was the youngest of five children (four girls and one boy) raised in a modest farmhouse environment, which she later described as providing a normal and harmonious childhood without any reported deficiencies in education or care.[5][6][7] Her mother was strict and primarily occupied with household duties and caring for the siblings, while her father was reserved and dedicated to working the fields. Cottrez was especially close to her father, often spending significant time with him, and she was regarded as the favorite child by both parents.[5] The family dynamics included typical rural routines, though tensions emerged later among siblings over their parents' inheritance.[8] During the police investigation, Cottrez alleged an incestuous relationship with her father beginning in her adolescence and continuing until his death in 2007, but she retracted these claims at trial, admitting under questioning that the abuse had never occurred.[8] In the 1980s, Cottrez married Pierre-Marie Cottrez, a local resident, and the couple settled in Villers-au-Tertre, establishing their family home in close proximity to her parents' farmhouse. They had two daughters, born in 1987 and 1988, who grew up in the same rural community.[5][7]Career and Personal Circumstances
Dominique Cottrez worked as an aide-soignante (nursing assistant) in local care facilities in northern France, a role she held from the late 1980s onward, providing hands-on care to elderly and ill residents in the region.[7][9] Her employment contributed to a stable household income, complemented by her husband Pierre-Marie Cottrez's work as a menuisier (carpenter), allowing the couple to maintain a modest but secure life in their small rural community.[10] Physically, Cottrez stood at 1.55 meters tall and weighed between 110 and 160 kilograms, a severe obesity that significantly altered her silhouette and concealed the physical changes of multiple pregnancies from family, colleagues, and even medical professionals.[7] This condition, which she described as a source of deep embarrassment, led her to avoid routine healthcare visits after an early negative experience with a midwife, further isolating her from external scrutiny.[11] In the close-knit village of Villers-au-Tertre, with its population of around 650 residents, her daily routine revolved around work shifts, household chores, and caring for her two daughters, born in the mid-1980s, amid limited social engagements that reinforced her private existence.[7][12]The Infanticides
Timeline and Methods
The infanticides committed by Dominique Cottrez spanned from 1989 to 2006, during which she gave birth to and killed eight newborns in secret, unassisted home deliveries without medical intervention. Each infant was born alive, as confirmed by autopsies, but was suffocated shortly after birth, primarily by hand pressure on the mouth and nose, though some cases involved strangulation with a ligature or the use of a plastic bag over the head. The pregnancies remained concealed from family and authorities, facilitated by Cottrez's significant obesity, which masked physical signs of gestation.[13][1][14] The sequence began with the first two births in 1989 at her parents' home in Villers-au-Tertre, a small village near Lille in northern France; both newborns, determined by autopsy to be full-term and viable, were suffocated immediately after delivery and buried in plastic bags in the garden. Subsequent births occurred irregularly at her own nearby residence, where Cottrez lived with her husband and two daughters. The remaining six infants—also full-term newborns killed by asphyxiation—were delivered and disposed of in similar fashion over the following years, with their bodies concealed in plastic bags stored in a fuel tank in the garage on the property. The final birth and killing took place in 2006. Autopsies on the remains, which were in advanced states of decomposition, verified the cause of death as violent asphyxia for all eight victims, with no public details released on individual genders beyond their status as newborns.[15][16][17]| Approximate Period | Location | Number of Infants | Method Details | Key Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Parents' home, Villers-au-Tertre | 2 | Suffocation by hand; bodies buried in garden in plastic bags | First incidents; infants born alive per autopsy |
| 1990s–2005 | Cottrez's residence, Villers-au-Tertre | 5 | Asphyxiation (hand, ligature, or plastic bag); bodies hidden in garage/attic in plastic bags | Irregular intervals; concealed pregnancies |
| 2006 | Cottrez's residence, Villers-au-Tertre | 1 | Suffocation; body concealed on property | Final incident; all victims confirmed viable newborns via forensic examination |