Life for French serial killer

PARIS, France -- A self-confessed serial killer has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of seven young women in France.

Guy Georges, aged 38, was described by the public prosecutor as "the incarnation of evil" and psychiatrists warned that he could not be cured of his desire to kill.

He faces a minimum of 22 years behind bars but it is possible he will never be released because of fears of further attacks.

The murders took place in Paris between 1991 and 1997 -- most of them near the Bastille in the east of the city.

Georges -- dubbed "the Beast of the Bastille" -- stabbed all of his victims to death. He was briefly detained in 1995 but was freed following limited DNA tests.

It was not until after the seventh killing in 1997 that magistrates ordered detailed DNA tests that implicated Georges in at least four of the murders. He was finally arrested in 1998.

Georges began the three-week trial insisting he was innocent, but later confessed in the face of overwhelming evidence and emotion-charged testimony from families of the victims.

Before the verdict was read out, Georges indicated to the court that he might commit suicide.

"The sentence that you are going to impose on me is nothing, I will inflict a sentence upon myself," he said.

"Twenty two years. That's nothing. Life is life. You can rest assured, I will never leave prison. But I can tell you that I won't serve this sentence."

The 22-year prison term without parole is the maximum available under French law. However, prisoners are not automatically released at the end of that period if the authorities fear they could attack again.

Psychiatrists told the court that Georges was a "narcissistic psychopath," and one doctor likened him to a cat that catches birds through natural impulse.

Police said his victims were all attractive women, who appeared energetic and successful.

"He is a diabolical personality...the incarnation of evil," public prosecutor Evelyne Lesieur told the court.

Reuters contributed to this report.

French Ministry of the Interior

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