Child killer allowed brief visit home

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CHARLEROI, Belgium, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Convicted killer Marc Dutroux was allowed a brief visit to the house where four girls died before being returned to his prison cell, Belgian police said.

Dutroux, 53, was allowed to see the home Friday under a legal technicality that allowed him to challenge the sale price of the home, The Times of London reported Saturday.

The town of Charleroi is buying the home -- known locally as the House of Horrors -- for $33,000 and intends to tear it down, The Times reported.

Dutroux, who will receive no money from the sale, remained silent Friday and did not visit the secret cellar where he kept children as sex slaves, police told The Times.

Dutroux was accompanied by more than 30 police officers. He had escaped guards and remained free for several hours before the start of his trial in 2004.

He was convicted of killing two girls. Two other girls, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, both 8, starved to death in Dutroux's cellar while he was in jail on a charge of car theft, police said.