Mayor's 'affair' With Serial Killer

The scandal over alleged links between top officials in Toulouse and France's most notorious serial killer deepened yesterday when a news magazine revealed allegations that the former mayor, Dominique Baudis, had a sexual relationship with the murderer, Patrice Alègre.

Because Mr Baudis, head of CSA, the broadcasting watchdog, has vigorously denied being involved in sex and drug orgies organised by Alègre, newspapers have only published a partial account of the information leaking from lawyers close to the case.

But L'Express reported that a judicial inquiry in Toulouse, closed to the public, had been told that Mr Baudis, a former TV newsreader, was known as Nénette and had met the killer at a city hotel for sado-masochistic sessions. A former call girl, "Patricia", told magistrates that she had been "offered" to Mr Baudis by Alègre at a Toulouse flat where she underwent three hours of torture that left scars. L'Express says she described Mr Baudis as Alègre's lover.

Alègre, a police officer's son, is serving life for the murders of five women and is under investigation in at least 20 other cases. This week he sent a confession to a TV presenter admitting two unsolved crimes, including killing a male prostitute.