Marcel Petiot: French Doctor and Serial Killer

Marcel Petiot was truly a horrible man, he promised safety and freedom to those who were leaving Nazi-occupied France, where he would only rob them of their possessions and murder them.

He is infamous in France, but despite that, many have not heard his story. And like many serial killers, internal struggle marked much of his early life.

He was born in France in 1897, he was expelled from multiple schools throughout France due to his behavior, however, he ended up finishing his schooling by age 18, in 1915. He then enlisted into the military, but the extent of his service is debatable, he spent long periods of time away on "rest," This is likely due to his kleptomania.

His constant thievery ended up getting him jailed for a short period in Orleans. Military officers eventually discharged Marcel with disability benefits, this was at the recommendation of a psychiatrist who believed that Marcel had a mental breakdown. And, Marcel did shoot himself in the foot and required a hospital stay.

After his time in the military came to a close, psychiatrists recommended that he be committed to an asylum. He then interned at one while he attended medical school. Marcel graduated in eight months, and with his newly acquired medical degree, he went to work in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne in 1921.

It was here that Marcel would become addicted to two things: narcotics and murder.

Marcel's First Victim

Although it was never proven, many suspect that Marcel's first victim was Louise Delaveau, she was his lover and a daughter of one of his patients in Villeneuve-sur-Yonn. She disappeared in 1926, this was shortly after the two began having an affair. Nobody heard from Louise again.

Authorities begun to investigate into her sudden disappearance, neighbors reported that they spotted Marcel placing a large trunk into his automobile, some speculated that her body was inside this trunk. Police investigated, but found nothing to link Marcel to the crime.

Shortly after his lover went missing, Marcel decided he would run for mayor of Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, he ended up winning the seat, since he hired someone to cause a commotion during a debate and fluster his opponent. Marcel's corruption continued in-office, the first thing he did once in office was embezzle the town's money.

Marcel and his wife and their young son moved to Paris after a brief cycle of resigning political posts only to get voted into yet another, he opened up a successful medical practice at 66 Rue Caumartin.

And during all this, Marcel was yet again briefly institutionalized for his kleptomania.

Marcel was fined 2400 francs for prescribing illicit narcotics, a charge that he would have gone to trial if the two addicts that were set to testify against him didn't disappear under some mysterious circumstances shortly before the trial began.

Nazi-occupied France was perfect for Marcel to commit his crimes. The country was divided primarily by Nazi sympathizers and those who were trying to overthrow, or outrun, the Gestapo (The official secret police of Nazi Germany). Marcel was capitalizing on the state of fear and took advantage of the latter.

He developed a plan that started with him professing himself as a member of the French Resistance, this was to garner public trust and admiration and to perhaps better conceal his illicit acts, which increasingly involved the sale of illegal drugs. He started to invite Jews to his practice at 66 Rue Caumartin, where he promised them a safe passage out of Nazi-occupied France.

He then offered his home as a safe house for resistance fighters, petty thieves, and criminals that were trying to run from the law. This all seemed like a noble cause to those on the outside, but it turned into the beginning of one of the most horrifying killing sprees in history.

66 Rue Caumartin Murders

Marcel worked under the name "Dr. Eugene", he promised an escape out of France for those who could afford his 25,000 franc fee, which when you adjust it for inflation would be nearly half a million dollars today. He hired several "handlers" who helped him round people up. They would later be tried as accomplices.

No one ever heard from those who took Marcel up on his offer, mainly because he murdered them all. He would tell his clients that before they could flee the country they needed immunizations, which he gave them, but he instead injected them with cyanide. Marcel them took the victims' valuables and dumped the corpses into the Seine.

The Gestapo would force Marcel to change this practice, the presence of the Gestapo's in the streets of France started to grow, so it was too risky to take the bodies from his house and dispose of them. So after the first few kills, he started to put the bodies in vats of quicklime to disintegrate them.

Only someone like Marcel could make the Gestapo the "good guy" when they caught wind of "Dr. Eugene's" activities, they arrested his accomplices that were then tortured until they revealed his real name, Marcel Petiot. By the time they went to find him, Marcel had already fled to another part of Paris.

He was now working out of 21 Rue le Sueur, the task of disposing the bodies of those he murdered became overwhelming. And for unknown reasons, Marcel left town for a few days in March 1944.

While he was away, his neighbors noticed a horrendous odor that came from his house, the smoke that radiated from his chimney was unusually noxious.

Police arrived to investigate, they thought there was some kid of fire, they then found a note on a door that Dr. Petiot was out of town and would return in a few days. They then proceeded to contact him, they let him know about his homes abnormal condition. Marcel told them not to enter his home until he arrived home.

Police waited at the scene for nearly an hour before they entered 21 Rue le Sueur along with firemen. What they found inside the home was unlike anything they had ever seen: bodies, and not even whole bodies, just parts, strewn about the house. Some were in canvas sacks or suitcases. The garage of the home had vats of quicklime, and there was an incinerator filled with limbs and bones. They found at least ten corpses in the house, and none of them were intact.

Marcel arrived home shortly after and attempted to explain he was a member of the Resistance and that the bodies were those of Germans and traitors that he murdered.

The police believed Marcel's lie enough to not place him under arrest him then and there.

Marcel's tale didn't convince everyone, and Commissaire Georges-Victor Massu took charge of an investigation into the man that he believed to be dangerous. Once he rounded up both Marcel's wife and brother, Maurice, and the men that assisted Marcel when he lived at 66 Rue Caumartin, the true picture developed.

The police arrested all of them as accomplices. And once they arrived at Marcel's home to arrest and charge him with murder, he was gone.

The Trail

The invasion of Normandy in June 1944 put the search for Marcel on hold, he was using the advantage of war once again, Marcel hid with freinds and told them that the Gestapo pursued him because he had murdered some informers. Marcel took on a number of different names throughout this period, and he let his hair and beard grow out, he managed to evade his capture for yet another month.

But he was unable to keep a low profile, Marcel actually did join the Resistance fighters, this move would garner him praise, and also lead to his undoing.

Under another name, Marcel gained so much notoriety as a Resistance fighter that a French periodical ran a profile of him. Once these papers hit the stands, several people recognized him and alerted police that Marcel, the murderer, was still in Paris.

He was then recognized at a train station in February of 1944, this was when police arrested him and charged him with murder.

Marcel went on trail on March 19th, 1946 and was faced with 135 criminal charges.

Throughout his trail, Marcel continued to say he only killed enemies of France and that he did this to simply carry out his duties as a Resistance fighter. He however, made the misstep of listening some Resistance groups by name, groups which trail attendees told marcel did not exist.

The investigation then revelaed that Marcel stole from those he murdered, he was charged with murder for profit. Over the course of his murders, he made more than 200,000 francs; which totals to around 2 million dollars.

Marcel admitted to killing around 27 victims found in his home. Throughout his life, it is estimated that he killed at least 60 people. But he was convicted of 26 murders.

The court sentenced Marcel to death by beheading, which occurred on May 25th, 1946.

Although he was a skilled killer, if he wasn't so greedy, his asking fee for freedom was far too high for most people at this time, he would have no doubt killed even more unsuspecting victims.