Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris

by David King

  10 On September 11, 1944 Marthe Wetterwald, Audition, November 20, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.

  11 He wanted to help Petiot had obtained Wetterwald’s name after trying the same method two days before offering to help in the release of another physican, who, in the middle of his pitch, walked into the room. Marguerite Gérard, Audition, November 20, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.

  12 He was a leader François Wetterwald, Audition, November 13, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V. See also Wetterwald’s memoir, Vengeance: Histoire d’un corps franc (Paris: Mouvement Vengeance, 1946).

  13 12,884 Jewish men, women, and children There were 3,031 men, 5,802 women, and 4,051 children between the ages of two and sixteen. Serge Klarsfeld, Vichy-Auschwitz (Paris: Fayard 1983), 121–122.

  14 “I know, this appears suspect” Ernest Jorin, Audition, November 6, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° IV.

  15 Roart was struck Report, October 10, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° IV.

  16 a woman’s black coat Ibid.

  17 though she could not say for certain Ibid.

  18 the mutilated remains of a young boy Asnières report, August 19, 1942, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

  19 Petiot suddenly refused L’Aurore, November 6, 1945, and Franc-Tireur, November 9, 1945.

  20 “On what date did you buy” … “Write ‘ditto’ ” The interrogation is in Jacques Perry and Jane Chabert, L’affaire Petiot (Paris: Gallimard, 1957), 162.

  21 all charges would be dropped Combat, January 4, 1946.

  22 “Yet it is certain that” Réquisitoire définitif, December 31, 1945, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

  CHAPTER 26. THE PETIOT CIRCUS

  For the trial of Marcel Petiot, most diligent biographers draw upon the text in Jacques Perry and Jane Chabert, L’affaire Petiot (Paris: Gallimard, 1957), hereafter PC. I have also supplemented my account with the Extract des minutes de la cour d’assises de la Seine, preserved in the Archives de Paris 30.W.4 and the stenographic record in the Archives Nationales at AN 334 AP 65. For the reactions of attorneys, jurors, and members of the audience, I have drawn upon a number of testimonies in newspapers, memoirs, diaries, and other eyewitness accounts. Citations are used for direct quotations or for more contentious points. Unless otherwise stated, all translations are my own.

  1 “the most sensational” Washington Post, March 18, 1946.

  2 All jurors The drawing of the jurors is covered in Extrait des Minutes du Greffier de la Cour d’Appel de Paris, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  3 His assistant … to the prosecution Thomas Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1980), 192, 185.

  4 “devil’s poet” Claude Bertin, Les assassins hors-série: Gilles de Rais, Petiot, vol. 10 of Les grands procès de l’histoire de France (Paris: Éditions de Saint-Clair, 1967), 142.

  5 Petiot took off Alain Decaux, present that day, described it in C’était le xxe siècle: la guerre absolue 1940–1945 (Paris: Perrin, 1998), 298.

  6 “Gentlemen, please” Bertin, Les assassins hors-série, 143.

  7 “willful homicide” PC, 175; Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 194.

  8 stooped over Spokane Daily Chronicle, March 19, 1946.

  9 “like the edge” PC, 174.

  10 he looked younger New York Times, March 19, 1946.

  11 The dark circles under his eyes Jean Galtier-Boissière, Mon journal dans la drôle de paix (Paris: La jeune Parque, 1947), 206.

  12 “famous hypnotic stare” Sydney Morning Herald, March 19, 1946. The Chicago Daily Tribune noted the staring sometimes at victims’ families, and Francine Bonitzer said it was a murderous glare in L’Aurore, March 19, 1946.

  13 “What about Colonel” … “She told everyone” Bertin, Les assassins hors-série, 143–148. Report, February 6, 1946, APP, Série J, Affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  14 “Don’t mention it” Reported by Jean-François Dominique, who covered the trial as a reporter for La Républic du Sud-Ouest, in his L’affaire Petiot: médecin, marron, gestapiste, guillotiné pour au moins vingt-sept assassinats (Paris: Éditions Ramsay, 1980), 199.

  15 “My first murder” PC, 176.

  16 Petiot had good Le Figaro, March 22, 1946.

  17 St. Antony Galtier-Boissière, Mon journal, 206.

  18 “That was a story” … “Yes, I was convicted” PC, 176–177.

  19 “Next you are going to tell” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 195.

  20 “the prospectus of a quack!” … “No one ever knows” PC, 177–178.

  21 “Nothing is simpler” … “there was no Resistance” PC, 179–180.

  22 public that looked back The low opinion of the legal profession, particularly judges, is described by Megan Koreman in The Expectation of Justice: France, 1944–1946 (Durham: Duke University Press, 1999), 98.

  23 After a heckler suggested René Nézondet, Petiot “le Possédé” (Paris: Express, 1950), 145.

  24 One film producer John V. Grombach, The Great Liquidator (New York: Zebra Books, 1980), 294.

  25 “What are plastic explosives?” Bertin, Les assassins hors-série, 156.

  26 “Is this” … “Why?” PC, 181–182. Reactions and Petiot’s words at the end are in L’Aube, March 19, 1946, and Le Pays, March 19, 1946.

  CHAPTER 27. “NOT IN DANGER OF DEATH”

  1 “hundreds of marriage proposals” A.A.P. correspondent, Sydney Morning Herald, March 20, 1946.

  2 “It is very simple” AN 334, AP 65, 4458.

  3 “I have detected them” Ibid.

  4 “How did you get rid” … “My client” PC, 183–184.

  5 “He was served” John V. Grombach, The Great Liquidator (New York: Zebra Books, 1980), 305–306. Jean-Marc Varaut finishes the words of his friend Floriot in L’abominable Dr. Petiot (Paris: Balland 1974), 222.

  6 “Simonin, or under his real name” Leser wanted an investigation into Yonnet’s allegations. Vérification, March 28, 1946, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  7 “Shut up” … “minister of Pétain” PC, 184–186. For a different wording of Véron, see Jean-François Dominique, L’affaire Petiot: médecin, marron, gestapiste, guillotiné pour au moins vingt-sept assassinats (Paris: Éditions Ramsay, 1980), 208.

  8 “What are the names of the people” Thomas Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1980), 202.

  9 “Oh, you know” Ibid.

  10 “At [Chalon-sur-Saône]” PC, 186.

  11 “cloak and dagger novel” Claude Bertin, Les assassins hors-série: Gilles de Rais, Petiot, vol. 10 of Les grands procès de l’histoire de France (Paris: Éditions de Saint-Clair, 1967), 160–161.

  12 “It was the famous Jodkum” Ibid., 162.

  13 “What about the bodies” … “Oh, no!” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 202–203.

  14 One journalist noticed Chicago Daily Tribune, March 20, 1946.

  15 “You know well” … “I should hope so” PC, 187.

  16 I AM NOT IN DANGER L’Aurore, March 20, 1946.

  17 “What about me?” … “What, are you bored?” PC, 191; Bertin Les assassins hors-série, 166.

  18 “a demon” New York Herald Tribune (international edition), March 20, 1946.

  19 “the guillotine is too swift” Ibid.

  CHAPTER 28. TWO TO ONE

  1 “calm and dignity” René Nézondet, Petiot “le Possédé” (Paris: Express, 1950), 152. Gollety investigates the author of the New York Herald Tribune article, May 9, 1946, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° IV.

  2 “the expert in clandestine passages” PC, 192–193.

  3 “an affliction I don’t care to name” … “any more than you have seen” Thomas Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1980), 207.

  4 “You are forgetting that Argentina” … “Do y
ou respect” PC, 193–197.

  5 “What gave you the right” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 210.

  6 “If there had been” Ibid.

  7 the towering stack of evidence started Paris-Matin, March 21, 1946.

  8 he joked Ibid.

  9 “The Wolffs were Jews” … “If Kahan had sent” PC, 198.

  10 “What about the Schonkers?” … “Why didn’t you” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 211.

  11 “never been more amused” Jean-François Dominique, L’affaire Petiot: médecin, marron, gestapiste, guillotiné pour au moins vingt-sept assassinats (Paris: Éditions Ramsay, 1980), 197.

  CHAPTER 29. INSIDE MURDER HOUSE

  1 “four hundred prostitutes” John V. Grombach, The Great Liquidator (New York: Zebra Books, 1980), 314.

  2 “If he’s a Jew” Jean-Marc Varaut, L’abominable Dr. Petiot (Paris: Balland 1974), 247.

  3 Nézondet’s allegation René Nézondet, Petiot “le Possédé” (Paris: Express, 1950), 73–74.

  4 “an informer of the” … “Dreyfus was” PC, 202.

  5 “Petiot ranted, roared, stamped” Sydney Morning Herald, March 23, 1944.

  6 “Yes … he was” Combat, March 22, 1946.

  7 “ ‘Was’ is the operative word” Thomas Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1980), 214.

  8 “Those must be” … “You could have” PC, 202–204; Claude Bertin, Les assassins hors-série: Gilles de Rais, Petiot, vol. 10 of Les grands procès de l’histoire de France (Paris: Éditions de Saint-Clair, 1967), 181–182.

  9 Dupin stood Le Pays, March 22, 1946.

  10 “I do not know if it is” Associated Press, March 22, 1946.

  11 “face of a kindly boxer” France Soir, March 22, 1946.

  12 a rainy Friday Le Pays, March 23, 1946.

  13 wooden barricades Associated Press, March 22, 1946.

  14 Other people looked out L’Aube, March 23, 1946.

  15 from Place Dauphine Report, March 25, 1946, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

  16 “enlightened justice” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 217.

  17 “a strange conglomeration” Time, April 1, 1946.

  18 “the leprous walls” Le Figaro, March 23, 1946.

  19 “Where is the viewer?” … “Stories like this” PC, 207–209.

  20 “It is here at the bottom” … “half a corpse” Grombach, The Great Liquidator, 319.

  21 “This sack is” PC, 210.

  22 “This is truly incredible” Ibid. Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 219.

  23 rugby scrum L’Aurore, March 23, 1946.

  24 “Do you want to see the boiler?” Dominique Jean-François, L’affaire Petiot: Médecin, marron, gestapiste, guillotiné pour au moins vingt-sept assassinats (Paris: Éditions Ramsay, 1980), 211, and house invaded, L’Aube, March 23, 1946.

  25 “human shin bones” Le Pays, March 23, 1946.

  26 “Death to the assassin!” L’Aurore, March 23, 1946.

  CHAPTER 30. BLACK FINGERNAILS

  1 “It is absurd” Claude Bertin, Les assassins hors-série: Gilles de Rais, Petiot, vol. 10. Les grands procès de l’histoire de France. Paris: Éditions de Saint-Clair, 1967, 191.

  2 “Did you find any” PC, 210.

  3 “No, we did not” Ibid.

  4 “Why do these civil servants” Le Figaro, March 23, 1946.

  5 Although he had not Georges Massu, L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle (Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 245, 247–250, 253–254.

  6 “I can assert” … “Who is the criminal” PC, 213–215.

  7 “Yet you have” Bertin, Les assassins hors-série, 197.

  8 “how many” Paris-Matin, March 25, 1946; L’Aurore, March 25, 1946.

  9 “completely unknown” Bertin, Les assassins hors-série, 199.

  10 “an adventurer without scruple” Jean-Marc Varaut, L’abominable Dr. Petiot (Paris: Ballard, 1974), 213.

  11 “Before he accused Petiot” Thomas Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1980), 226–227.

  12 “the Parisian newspapers continue” PC, 216–217. One example of such a photograph is Paris-Matin, March 23, 1946.

  13 “thin as an umbrella” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 227.

  14 With quivering voice St. Petersburg Times, March 26, 1944.

  15 “You are very intelligent” … “render us invisible” PC, 219–223. Cadoret de l’Epinguen elaborated his points in a series of interviews and police reports from December 1944, in APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VI.

  16 Robert Malfet Liberation-Soir, January 27, 1945, and a report of January 12, 1945, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VI.

  17 “The mad doctor” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 232. Petiot scoffing is in Paris-Matin, March 26, 1946.

  18 “his secretary” Report, December 13, 1945, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VI.

  19 “He had black stains” AN, 334, AP 65, 3365–3366.

  20 “It’s very important” PC, 224.

  21 “Will we have the pleasure” Ibid.

  CHAPTER 31. “A TASTE FOR EVIL”

  1 “grit its teeth” Le Pays, March 27, 1946.

  2 “one hundred bony pieces” … “globular” L’Ordre, March 27, 1945, APP, Série EA, carton n° 181.

  3 The latter included … “very mummified” Dérobert, Paul, et Piédelièvre, Report, January 10, 1945, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

  4 “We were able to conclude” PC, 226.

  5 “No, not a scrap” Paul was referring to his section, “Examen des cheveux et des poils,” in Report, January 10, 1945, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

  6 “Five were men, five women” AN 334, AP 65, 3323.

  7 “We can say that these” AN, Ibid.

  8 “Not a single” … “Pardon me” PC, 226–227.

  9 “putrefied and damaged” … “diptera and coleoptera” Thomas Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1980), 235. Elaboration about the seven tubes of insects as well as the musca, muscina, ophyra, calliphoridae, drosophilidae, phoridae, piophilidae, and others is in “Rapport entomologique” inside Dérobert, Paul, et Piédelièvre, Report, January 10, 1945, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

  10 “Yes, you know” L’Aurore, March 27, 1946.

  11 Petiot agreed and invited himself Paris-Matin, March 27, 1946.

  12 “that does not mean” … “It would have been easy” Claude Bertin, Les assassins hors-série: Gilles de Rais, Petiot, vol. 10 of Les grands procès de l’histoire de France (Paris: Éditions de Saint-Clair, 1967), 212–213.

  13 “That’s only a hypothesis” … “I see” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 235–236, PC, 228–229.

  14 “I have examined” Bertin, Les assassins hors-série, 213.

  15 “fully responsible” … “His thesis received” PC, 229.

  16 “ ‘mediocre’ in dissection” The laughter following this statement was noted by the Reuters correspondent, March 28, 1944.

  17 “She is in good health” Bertin, Les assassins hors-série, 214.

  18 “Sorry, but Petiot” Ibid.

  19 Rougemont detected AN, 334, AP 65, 3380–3384.

  20 “Monsieur de Rougemont is” Bertin, Les assassins hors-série, 215.

  21 “If we had asked” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 238.

  22 Petiot’s Resistance credentials In 2010, when the CIA declassified thousands of documents from the secretive American semi-private espionage group known as the Pond, the media widely reported that Petiot had in fact been one of its informers. This was a suggestion first made by the organization’s leader, John V. Grombach, and it is not impossible. The problem is that, even with the new documents thus far released, there is still no verifiable evidence of his work as an informer. The new files contain “no reference to Petiot,” except for a short, t
wo- or three-sentence “summary of a report about conviction.” E-mail to author from Mark Stout, author of a forthcoming book on the Pond.

  23 “Organized Resistance has never” Dewavrin to Marcel Jullian, Le Mystère Petiot (Paris: Edition No. 1, 1980), 153. See also Dupin’s theory that Fly-Tox was the name the British used for an individual and Petiot merely adopted it, AN, 334 AP, 65, 3352.

  24 “I refuse to tell you” … “Obviously” Bertin, Les assassins hors-série, 217.

  25 doubtful Reuters, for example, March 27, 1946.

  26 “Monsieur Ibarne” Maeder, The Unspeakable Crimes, 240; PC, 232; L’Aurore describes Petiot as showing extreme anger at this witness, March 27, 1946.

  27 “On the contrary” PC, 232.

  CHAPTER 32. THE HAIRDRESSER, THE MAKEUP ARTIST, AND THE ADVENTURESS

  1 “neither of business nor politics” PC, 235.

  2 “The journeys begin and end at rue Le Sueur” Nézondet told his view also in his interrogation, March 22, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III, and in his memoir, René Nézondet, Petiot “le Possédé” (Paris: Express, 1950), 71.

  3 “No, I concluded” … “None” PC 236–237.

  4 “The longer this trial goes” Ibid.

  5 hat trimmed with otter fur Le Pays, March 29, 1946.

  6 a strong Slavic accent Jean Galtier-Boissière, Mon journal dans la drôle de paix (Paris: La Jeune Parque, 1947), 207–208.

  7 “the circumstances of my friends” AN 334, AP 65, 4566.

  8 delightful AN, 4570–4571.

  9 “Of course, Mr. President” AN 334, AP 65, 4571.

  10 “They were not only anti-Nazi” Ibid.

  11 “as their God” Ibid.

  12 “I understand now” AN 334, AP 65, 4575.

  13 “injections, nightclubs, drugs” AN 334, AP 65, 4576.

  14 “hunted as a harmful beast” AN 334, AP 65, 4577.

  15 “stay put” Ibid.

  16 “an adventuress … who lies” AN 334, AP 65, 4592.

  17 “many difficulties” AN 334, AP 65, 4608.

  18 “came to us to give tips” AN 334, AP 65, 4355–4356.