Jean-Claude Romand- The Impersonator and the Serial Killer

Jean-Claude Romand is a French man who lived a pretentious life, telling his family members that he was a doctor; and just before he was discovered he murdered all his family members.

The Beginning

Romand was born on February 11th, 1954 in Lons-le-Saunier, Eastern France. He dropped out of a post-secondary school program to pursue a medical degree.

In 1975, he told his family and friends that he had passed his medical exams when he never sat for them. He made his family members believe he was a doctor.

Romand pretended to be a successful doctor and researcher at the World Health Organization for 18 years (WHO). He claimed to have studied arteriosclerosis and to have interacted with highly influential individuals. 

He then continued to act as though he had been hired by the Geneva-based WHO. He was spending his days driving close to the French-Swiss border and occasionally stopping by the WHO's public information office.

Periodically, he left for a fictitious business trip but only made it as far as Geneva International Airport, where he would spend a few days in a hotel reading travel books about places he lied he was traveling to and medical journals. 

He made his money by taking money from friends and relatives and claiming to invest it in hedge funds and other profitable ventures.

Only Jean-Claude Romand was present when his father-in-law Pierre Crolet died on October 23, 1988. A few days after requesting a partial refund of his financial investment, Pierre Crolet died in a deadly accident on his home's stairs. Before Jean-Claude intervened to put an oxygen mask on his face, the rescuers claimed to have heard him stammer, "Jean-Claude me, Jean-Claude me." A few days later, Pierre Crolet passed away from the wounds he had sustained.

Romand later organized his father-in-law's burial and started a fundraising campaign. The courts declared it to be an accident and did not pursue charges. He swindled all the donations from his fundraising campaign

The Murder 

When a family friend discovered Romand's name was absent from the WHO employee list, they started to have doubts. This pushed Romand to the walls.

Romand borrowed his father's.22 rifle on January 9th, 1993, withdrew 2,000 francs, bought a suppressor and gas canisters, and requested for them to be packaged as gifts.

Authorities claim that he used a rolling pin to beat his wife to death that night on their double bed. He slept as usual and abandoned her body until the morning. The following morning he woke his kids, had breakfast, and entertained them with cartoons. That evening, after he had put them to bed, he shot both of them in the head.

The only persons who could identify him after these murders were his parents and his former mistress, who demanded the 900,000 francs she had given him as a gift.

Romand went to his parents' place the following morning and had breakfast with them. He shot both of them and the family dog repeatedly right after the meal.

That evening, he picked up his ex-girlfriend and informed her that they had been invited to dine with the health minister at the time. He forced her out of the car and attempted to strangle her while shooting tear gas in her face.

He apologized when she fought back and drove her back to her house after she swore she wouldn't tell anybody about his failed assassination attempt. He then went back to his family's house, where his dead wife, kids, and dog's remains were still present.

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He sat and watched television before pouring gasoline on the house and setting it ablaze. He also took an excessive amount of sleeping tablets. Given that he had access to more potent barbiturates and that the tablets he ingested had long since expired, it seems questionable whether this attempt was sincere. The next morning around 4 o'clock, the road cleaners called the nearby firefighters, who came to save his life.

He was able to escape the fire, but when authorities questioned him afterward, he remained silent.

On June 25, 1996, Romand's murder trial started. Romand was found guilty on July 6, 1996, and was sentenced to prison with the possibility of parole after 22 years. According to reports, Romand has narcissistic personality disorder.

In 2015, Romand became eligible for parole. In April 2019, he was released from prison.

The End!