What better way to give yourself a thrill than to slip into the Paris of crime, the macabre, eerie world that would give anyone goose bumps? To round off your visit to the Serial Killer exhibition at Galeries Montparnasse, our editorial team presents a typical portrait of some of the capital’s most famous serial killers.
The pastry chef on the Île de la Cité
The first story we’re going to tell you is about a dark, forgotten case from medieval Paris that became a legend and then a myth. In the 14th century, a pastry chef on today’s Rue Chanoinesse was renowned throughout Paris for his delicious pies. One night in 1387, two canons looking for a lost dog ventured into the shop, which was strangely left lit at that hour. You can imagine the shock and horror on their faces when they discover the back room littered with human corpses, bones and bits of flesh. Even the lost dog is there, chopped up and ready for the chopper. The delicious pies that Paris loved were made from human flesh…
Henri Pranzini: the rue Montaigne assassin
Resourceful, adventurous or mercenary: Henri Pranzini can be described in many different ways. However, the term cold-blooded killer best describes the man who committed the irreparable on a winter’s evening in 1887. During a “simple” burglary attempt, Pranzini violently slit the throats of the three residents of 17 rue Montaigne, before fleeing the scene and leaving a forged clue to falsely accuse one of his enemies. A simple jewel robbery turns into a bloody affair, eventually leading the criminal to the guillotine once the whole affair comes to light.
Henri-Désiré Landru: the bluebeard of Gambais
Landru is the typical story of the little daredevil who succeeded one crime after another until he became a bloodthirsty monster. In the midst of the First World War, Landru used several aliases to pass himself off as a lonely man who had amassed a little money through fraud. His modus operandi: scan the matrimonial ads in the newspapers, lure wealthy women to his estate in Gambais, get his hands on their bank accounts, then kill them in cold blood before making them disappear in his furnaces. In all, he claimed 11 victims before being taken to the scaffold in 1922.
Marcel Petiot: Doctor Satan
During the dark hours of the Second World War, a self-styled Good Samaritan known as Docteur Eugène operated out of his practice on rue Le Sueur. His activity attracts the suspicions of the Gestapo, who suspect him of being a smuggler: many people enter his hotel-particulier and suddenly disappear. However, when the fire department and then the gendarmes are alerted by the strange odors emanating from his home, the results are edifying… Once inside, the authorities discover a terrible tableau: corpses, a gas chamber, lime-filled shafts and all the perfect paraphernalia of the mad scientist killer. Convicted of 24 murders, he was executed on May 25, 1946.
Guy Georges: the beast of Bastille
A household name when it comes to some of the world’s most infamous serial killers, Guy Georges still strikes fear into the hearts of Parisians at the mere mention of his name. And with good reason: the thug assaulted, raped and/or killed over twenty women during his sad period of activity in Paris, from 1991 to 1997. Still in prison today, the notorious criminal has been serving his full sentence since 2020. He is therefore in a position to apply for his release…