Marcel Petiot
Marcel Petiot was a French doctor and politician known for his dark legacy as one of Europe's most notorious serial killers. Born in 1897, he had a troubled early life marked by the death of his mother and a lack of discipline despite his intelligence. After serving in World War I and earning a medical degree, Petiot practiced in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne and later became the mayor of the town, though he was removed from office due to administrative irregularities. His criminal activities intensified during World War II, when he falsely claimed to be part of an underground escape network for those seeking to flee Nazi-occupied France. Instead, he lured victims to his home, where he murdered them for their money, particularly targeting Jews trying to evade persecution.
Petiot's criminal activities came to light in 1944, leading to his arrest and a highly publicized trial in 1946, where he was found guilty of multiple murders and sentenced to death. He was executed by guillotine on May 25, 1946. His case remains significant not only for its chilling details but also for the broader implications it raised about the dangers faced by marginalized communities during wartime. Petiot is remembered as one of the deadliest serial killers in European history, with his story continuing to capture public interest, as evidenced by its depiction in films.
Subject Terms
Marcel Petiot
French serial killer
- Born: January 17, 1897
- Birthplace: Auxerre, France
- Died: May 25, 1946
- Place of death: Paris, France
Major offenses: Twenty-six counts of murder
Active: 1934-1944
Locale: Paris
Sentence: Death by guillotine
Early Life
Marcel Petiot (mahr-sel peh-tyoh) was the son of Félix Petiot, an employee of the postal services of Auxerre in north-central France, and Marthe Marie Constance Joséphine Bourdon. Marcel’s mother died when he was twelve years old. Intelligent but lacking discipline, Marcel received his baccalauréat in 1915 and served in the French infantry during World War I. He obtained a degree in general medicine from the University of Paris on December 15, 1921, and went on to practice medicine in the small municipality of Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, which was north of Auxerre.
He subsequently became involved in politics and served as mayor of Villeneuve-sur-Yonne from 1925 to 1931 but was removed from office when irregularities in his administration came to light. He and his wife, née Georgette Valentine Lablais, then moved to Paris. In retrospect, suspicions linger that Petiot may have committed several homicides between 1924 and 1930; however, charges were not filed against him during that period.
Criminal Career
In 1934, Petiot resumed the practice of medicine in the ninth arrondissement of Paris, near the Opéra. While tending to an abundant lower-and middle-class clientele, sometimes free of charge, he also supplied prescriptions for narcotics to local drug addicts and appears to have performed illegal abortions on the side.
During the Vichy regime of World War II, he became increasingly obsessed with material wealth and devised an elaborate scheme whereby he claimed membership in an underground escape network capable of providing, for a fee, safe passage abroad. In fact, the alleged network did not exist. Instead of providing a service, he lured his victims to a secondary residence at 21 rue Le Sueur in Paris, where he took their money, murdered them, and disposed of their bodies. Many of his victims were Jews seeking to avoid arrest or deportation; others were common criminals, prostitutes, or drug addicts.
Legal Action and Outcome
The German Gestapo detained Petiot for interrogation from May, 1943, to January, 1944, but ultimately released him in exchange for 100,000 French francs. Then, in March of 1944, the doctor’s homicidal enterprise came to an abrupt end, when French police, alerted by solicitous neighbors, discovered remnants of his handiwork at 21 rue Le Sueur. Petiot immediately went into hiding, changed his identity, and joined the ranks of the French Resistance, albeit briefly, before he was apprehended on October 31.
Petiot stood accused of 27 counts of murder; in all, there were 135 criminal charges brought against him. His trial consisted of sixteen public hearings and lasted from March 18 until April 4, 1946. During testimony, the doctor defiantly claimed responsibility for the execution of as many as sixty-three individuals but failed to convince jurors that his victims were either agents of the Gestapo or traitors. On April 4, he was found guilty of all but one count of murder and was sentenced to death. He was executed by guillotine on May 25, 1946.
Impact
Convicted of twenty-six murders but perhaps guilty of more than sixty, Marcel Petiot is now recognized as one of the deadliest serial killers in European history. His trial and execution received considerable media coverage in postwar France, while drawing attention to the plight of the nation’s Jewish population during the German Occupation. Questions remain concerning the exact number of Petiot’s victims, the methods used to kill them, and the disappearance of some 200 million francs believed to have been extorted from them. In 1990, French film director Christian de Chalonge revived the chilling tale of Petiot’s crimes in a movie titled Le Docteur Petiot.
Bibliography
Bowles, Brett. “Screening Les Années Noires: Using Film to Teach the Occupation.” French Historical Studies 25 (2002): 21-40. Includes discussion on the use of Chalonge’s movie Le Docteur Petiot in classroom instruction.
Grombach, John V. The Great Liquidator. New York: Doubleday, 1980. A full, detailed study of Petiot’s life and crimes. Includes historical photographs.
Iserson, Kenneth V. Demon Doctors: Physicians as Serial Killers. Tucson, Ariz.: Galen Press, 2002. Offers a chapter on Petiot’s homicidal career, followed by a brief history of the guillotine in France.
Maeder, Thomas. The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot. 1980. Reprint. London: Penguin Books, 1992. A reliable biography focused on the essential facts; contains photographs of the crime scene, of victims, and of the trial.