11 LOUISE FARENC: Farenc’s recollections are taken from “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, November 8, 1897, and November 15, 1897.
12 “HE SHOWED ME HIS HANDS”: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 237–39.
13 PENMANSHIP LESSON: “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, November 15, 1897.
14 VAGABOND NAMED CÉLESTIN GAUTRAIS: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 240–41; “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, November 8, 1897.
14. THE INVESTIGATING MAGISTRATE
1 “EXAMINING MAGISTRATE! MANHUNTS!”: Émile Fourquet, Vacher: Le Plus Grand Criminel des temps modernes par son juge d’instruction (Besançon, France: Jacques et Demontrond, 1931), p. 2.
2 “LOOK AT WHAT AN EXTRAORDINARY CRIME WAS COMMITTED”: ibid., p.1.
3 “MURDER OF A SHEPHERD”: “Assassinat d’un berger,” Le Lyon Républicain, June 21, 1897.
4 “YOUR PREDECESSOR NEVER DISCOVERED THE KILLER”: Fourquet, Vacher, p. 1.
5 “NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS HORRIBLE SITUATION”: “Assassinat d’un berger,” Le Lyon Républicain, June 21, 1897.
6 FOURQUET KEPT DIGGING: The initial investigation is described in Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 1–11.
7 THE NEWSPAPER LISTED SEVERAL CRIMES: “L’Assassinat du berger,” Le Lyon Républicain, June 25, 1897.
8 “A NEW JACK THE RIPPER”: “L’Assassinat du berger,” Le Lyon Républicain, June 26, 1897.
9 THE DAY AFTER THE MURDER, DR. JEAN BOYER: Alexandre Lacassagne, Vacher l’éventreur et les crimes sadiques (Lyon: A. Storck, 1899), pp. 105–11.
10 “LITERALLY TERRORIZED THE COUNTRYSIDE”: “L’Assassinat du Berger,” Le Lyon Républicain, June 24, 1897.
11 “IN THE SILENCE AND SOLITUDE”: Fourquet, Vacher, p. 6.
12 “ROGATORY LETTER”: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 11–12.
13 VACHER NAMED HER LOULETTE: Testimony of Nicolas le Facteur, November 3, 1897, Archives départementales de l’Ain, 258–324, “Emploi du temps de Vacher, avril 1894-août 1897.”
14 “IT OCCURRED TO ME TO TEST”: Testimony of Vital Vallon, November 4, 1897, in ibid.
15 “YOU’RE OUT OF LUCK”: Letter from Nicolas le Facteur to juge d’instruction Eamile Fourquet, November 3, 1897, in ibid.
16 “IF YOU DON’T WANT TO EAT IT”: “Emploi du temps de Vacher, établi par les gendarmes Pujel et Lavie de la brigade de St Péray, Ardèche,” interview with farmer Régis Bac, Archives départementales de l’Ain, 258–324, “Emploi du temps de Vacher, avril 1894-août 1897.”
17 “AN INSTANT OF FALSE JOY”: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 13–14.
18 FOURQUET RECEIVED A LETTER: Pierre Bouchardon, Vacher l’éventreur (Paris: Albin Michel, 1939), p. 72.
19 “WILD AND TRAGIC”: Albert Sarraut, “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, November 3, 1897.
20 “AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS AN ANIMAL”: Deposition of Marie-Eugénie Héraud (Mme. Plantier), November 19, 1897, Archives départementales de l’Ain, 258–324, “Emploi du temps de Vacher avril 1894-août 1897.”
21 HE STARTED HURLING ROCKS AT VACHER: Depositions of Séraphin Plantier and Henri Nodin, November 19, 1897, in ibid.; “Le Tueur de bergers,” Le Progrès, October 23, 1897; “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, October 25 and November 3, 1897.
22 “ALTHOUGH I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED”: This and subsequent quotes regarding Vacher’s detainment at the roadhouse are taken from the following sources: Depositions of Victor Merle, Dupré Charlon, and Isaac Issartel, November 19, 1897, in Archives départementales de l’Ain, 258–324, “Emploi du temps de Vacher, avril 1894-août 1897”; Le Progrès Illustré, November 21, 1897; “Le Tueur des bergers: La Dernière étape de l’éventreur,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, November 3, 1897.
15. THE INTERVIEW
1 WILD TRAIN RIDE: Émile Fourquet, Vacher: Le Plus Grand Criminel des temps mo dernes par son juge d’instruction (Besançon, France: Jacques et Demontrond, 1931), pp. 17–18.
2 “ABSENCE OF PASSION”: The information on interview techniques is taken from Hans Gross, Criminal Investigation: A Practical Textbook for Magistrates, Police Officers and Lawyers: Adapted from the System der Kriminalistik (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1924), pp. 75–78.
3 VACHER SPOKE FREELY: Reconstruction of Fourquet’s interviews with Vacher are based on the following sources: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 18–31; Fourquet’s interrogations of Vacher, October 7-December 12, 1897, Archives départementales de l’Ain, 541–685, “Pièces d’information.”
4 “GOD—RIGHTS—OBLIGATIONS”: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 30–31.
5 “IT IS USELESS”: Fourquet’s postconfession interviews with Vacher are from Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 31–45.
6 THE CASE EXPLODED IN THE NATIONAL PRESS: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 33, 47–55; Jean Laponce, “In the Shadow of de Sade: French Medical Responses to a Case of Serial Sexual Homicide During the Belle Époque” (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 2002), pp. 90–92.
7 “LONG LIVE ANARCHY!”: Jules Besse, Le Tueur de bergers (Paris: Schwarz, 1897), p. 938.
8 “HE IS AS REPUGNANT PHYSICALLY”: La Dépěche de Toulouse, October 25, 1897.
9 “HIS EYES SHINE”: “Le Tueur de bergers,” Le Petit Parisien, October 17, 1897.
10 THE CRIMES OF A MONOMANIAC: Le Petit Parisien Illustré, October 31, 1897.
11 “MY VICTIMS NEVER REALLY SUFFERED”: “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, October 14, 1897.
12 VACHER POSED FOR A SKETCH: Le Progrès, October 24, 1897.
13 “BLOODY ODYSSEY”: “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, October 11, 1897.
14 “IT DOESN’T MUCH MATTER”: “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, November 7, 1897.
15 “YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE”: “Le Tueur de bergers: Une Lettre de sa famille,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, November 16, 1897.
16 THE REMOVAL WAS “VERY NEAT”: Deposition of Dr. Ravier Gaston, November 18, 1897, Archives départementales de l’Ain, 541–685, “Pièces d’information.”
17 “IT’S THE SICKNESS THAT WANTS IT”: Fourquet’s interrogation of Vacher, November 5, 1897, in ibid.
18 “WHY DID I KILL?”: Le Lyon Républicain, October 24, 1897; Besse, Le Tueur de bergers, p. 841.
19 “I’M FURIOUS”: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 41–42.
20 HE KILLED THE BOY AND THREW HIS BODY: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 42–43; “Vacher l’assassin,” Le Petit Parisien, October 25, 1897. The search for, discovery, and autopsy of the body received voluminous coverage from October 23 to November 8 in Le Lyon Républicain, Le Progrès, and La Dépěche de Toulouse.
21 “WHEN WILL THIS HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE”: Albert Sarraut, “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, October 29, 1897.
22 IDENTIFYING THE VICTIM WOULD BE A MORE COMPLICATED TASK: Le Lyon Républicain, October 30 and November 6, 1897; Le Progrès, November 3, 1897; Alexandre Lacassagne, Vacher l’éventreur et les crimes sadiques (Lyon: A. Storck, 1899), p. 106.
23 “VERY SURPRISED TO HEAR”: “Le Tueur de bergers,” Le Progrès, November 3, 1897.
16. PROFESSOR LACASSAGNE
1 “OH, DEAR BENEFACTOR”: Philippe Artières, Le Livre des vies coupables: Autobiographies de criminels (1896–1909) (Paris: Éditions Albin Michel, 2000), p. 33.
2 “THEIR CRINGING AND TIMID WAYS”: Émile Gautier, “Le Monde des Prisons,” Archives de l’anthropologie criminelle (1888): 417–37.
3 THEY REVEALED DARK STORIES: Philippe Artières, “What Criminals Think About Criminology,” in Criminals and Their Scientists: The History of Criminology in International Perspective, ed. Peter Becker and Richard F. Wetzell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 363–75.
4 “MEMOIRS OF A SPARROW”: Philippe Artières, “’Cher Professeur A. Lacassagne, notre généreux bienfaiteur’: Le Détenu écrit au criminologue,” Genèses 25, no. 25 (1996): 143–55.
5 “THE THING THAT ASTONISHES ME”: Artières, Le Livre des vies coupables, p. 196.
6 “TO ME THE
WORD[s]”: ibid, pp. 285–86.
7 “TO SUPPORT THEM, DIRECT THEM”: Alexandre Lacassagne, “Congrès du patronage des libérés, session de Lyon, juin 1894, discours de M. Lacassagne, président,” Archives d’anthropologie criminelle (1894): 404–10.
8 “SOCIETY HAS THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF”: Alexandre Lacassagne, “L’Affaire Gouffé,” Archives de l’anthropologie criminelle (1891): 205.
9 “SOCIETIES HAVE THE CRIMINALS THEY DESERVE”: ibid.
17. “A CRIME WITHOUT MOTIVE?”
1 SAINT-PAUL PRISON: Author’s observations; author’s interview with Dr. Pierre Lamothe, medical director, January 11, 2007.
2 “IT IS TIME”: Philippe Artières, Écrits d’un tueur de bergers (Lyon: Éditions à Rebours, 2006), p. 89.
3 “THE GOVERNMENT WANTS MY HEAD”: Émile Fourquet, Vacher: Le Plus Grand Criminel des temps modernes par son juge d’instruction (Besançon, France: Jacques et Demontrond, 1931), p. 292; Le Lyon Républicain, December 31, 1897.
4 ACCORDING TO THE NEW MEDICAL THEORIES: This discussion of the criminal insanity issue as viewed at the time of the Vacher case is based on the following sources: Laurent Mucchielli, “Criminology, Hygienism, and Eugenics in France, 1870–1914,” in Criminals and Their Scientists: The History of Criminology in International Perspective, ed. Peter Becker and Richard F. Wetzell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 207–29; Ruth Harris, Murders and Madness: Medicine, Law, and Society in the Fin de Siècle (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989); Louis Proal, “La Responsabilité des aliénés,” Annales médico-psychologiques 12 (1890): 84–107; (1891): 429–37; Alfred Swaine Taylor, A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence (New York: Lea Brothers, 1897), pp. 675–704; Alexandre Bérard, “La Responsabilité morale et la loi pénale,” Archives de l’anthropologie criminelle (1892): 153–78; Marc Renneville, Crime et folie: Deux siècles d’enquětes médicales et judiciaires (Paris: Fayard, 2003); Nigel Walker, “The Insanity Defense Before 1800,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 477 (1985): 25–30; Victor Parant, “The Irresponsibility of the Insane Under the Laws of France,” in Commitment, Detention, Care and Treatment of the Insane, ed. J. Alder Blumer and A. B. Richardson (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1894), pp. 34–45.
5 ITALIAN IMMIGRANT LABORER WENT ON A DRUNKEN RAMPAGE: Harris, Murders and Madness, p. 34.
6 WHEN EXPERTS AUTOPSIED HIS BRAIN: ibid., p. 95.
7 CHARLES J. GUITEAU: “The Guiteau Trial,” American Journal of Insanity 38 (1881): 301–47.
8 PUBLIC SECURITY IS COMPROMISED: Louis Proal, “La Responsabilité des aliénés,” p. 84.
9 “A CRIME WITHOUT MOTIVE?”: Laurent Mucchielli, “Criminology, Hygienism, and Eugenics in France, 1870–1914,” p. 212.
10 “IF I AM BITTEN BY A VIPER”: ibid.
11 “[W]E CARE FOR THEM”: ibid.
12 “IS HE INSANE?”: Le Petit Parisien, December 27, 1897.
13 “WILD ANIMAL WITH A HUMAN FACE”: “Le Tueur de bergers,” La Dépěche de Toulouse, November 10, 1897.
14 LACASSAGNE AND THE TWO OTHER EXPERTS: Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 290–91.
15 THIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST: F Bordas, “Les Rayons Roentgen et leur application en médecine légale,” Annales d’hygiène publique et médecine légale 35 (1896): 390.
16 “THEY’RE IDIOTS”: “Vacher à Saint-Paul,” Le Lyon Républicain, January 11, 1898.
17 “YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO KEEP ME”: Letter from Joseph Vacher to Procureur de la République, January 21, 1898, in Artières, Écrits d’un tueur de bergers, p. 94.
18 “SUDDENLY, WITHOUT ANY APPARENT REASON”: “L’Assassin Vacher,” Le Lyon Républicain, February 27, 1898.
19 ONE SUNDAY IN MARCH: “Vacher à la Prison Saint-Paul,” Le Lyon Républicain, March 27, 1898.
20 “FOR [SIX DAYS] HE HAS ENERGETICALLY REFUSED ALL NOURISHMENT”: Letter from the director of the Saint-Paul prison to Dr. Lacassagne, January 28, 1898, Archives du Rhône, 348–49.
21 “STRONGMAN AT A COUNTRY FAIR”: Le Temps, February 2, 1898.
22 “OH! LOVELY SOLITUDE!”: Artières, Écrits d’un tueur de bergers, p. 95.
23 “I AM TRULY HONORED TO SALUTE YOU”: Letter from Joseph Vacher to M. and Mme. Plantier, January 18, 1898, in Artières, Écrits d’un tueur de bergers, p. 92.
24 “THE CASE OF JOSEPH VACHER: HIS SELF-DEFENSE”: Artières, Écrits d’un tueur de bergers, p. 121.
25 “THEY SAY THAT CURIOSITY ENDS”: ibid., p. 90.
26 “FROM WHERE COMES MY MALADY?”: ibid.
27 “ONE IS TRULY STRONG”: ibid., p. 99.
28 “TO MAKE SURE HE DOES NOT BETRAY ME”: Alexandre Lacassagne, Vacher l’éventreur et les crimes sadiques (Lyon: A. Storck, 1899), p. 54.
29 “UNDERSTAND THAT AT THE PRESENT TIME”: Letter from Joseph Vacher to doctors, February 27, 1898, in Artières, Écrits d’un tueur de bergers, p. 102.
30 “THE REAL ALIENATED DO NOT ACT THAT WAY”: Alexandre Lacassagne, handwritten notes, Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon, Fonds Lacassagne, file MS 5283, p. 41.
18. TURNING POINT
1 CRIMINALS WERE EMPLOYING THE RUSE: Paul Garnier, “La Simulation de la folie,” Annales d’hygiène publique et médecine légale 3d ser., no. 19 (1888): 97–119.
2 “IN REAL INSANITY, THE PERSON WILL NOT ADMIT”: Henry C. Chapman, A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1892), p. 691.
3 “SOME OF WHICH ARE DELIBERATE AND CUNNING”: Hans Gross: Criminal Investigation: A Practical Textbook for Magistrates, Police Officers and Lawyers: Adapted from the System der Kriminalistik (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1924), p. 222.
4 PRISONER WHO KILLED A FORMER MISTRESS: Henri Coutagne, “Revue des journaux: Von Krafft-Ebing—Assassinat, folie simulée,” Archives de l’anthropologie criminelle (1886): 364.
5 GARNIER WROTE A LENGTHY ARTICLE: Garnier, “La Simulation de la folie,” pp. 97–119.
6 “THE FIRST IMPRESSION ONE GETS”: Lacassagne, quoted in Jean-Paul Vettard, “The Vacher Case,” International Criminal Police Review (2000), p. 482.
7 “FROM TIME TO TIME, VACHER FORGETS”: Alexandre Lacassagne, Vacher l’éventreur et les crimes sadiques (Lyon: A. Storck, 1899), p. 53.
8 “NOTABLY DIMINISHED”: Gérard Corneloup, Joseph Vacher: Un Tueur en série de la Belle Époque (Brignais, France: Éditions des Traboules, 2007), p. 156.
9 VACHER LATER WROTE TO MADEUF: Letter from Joseph Vacher to Dr. Madeuf, November 25, 1897, in Artières, Écrits d’un tueur de bergers, p. 87.
10 IT WAS “HIS ONLY OBJECTIVE”: Lacassagne, Vacher l’éventreur et les crimes sadiques, p. 283.
11 “WHY HAVEN’T I BEEN SENT TO AN ASYLUM YET?”: ibid., pp. 54–55.
12 “SO YOU SEE, MONSIEUR LE DOCTEUR”: ibid., p. 283.
13 “YOU KNOW SOMETHING”: ibid., p. 284.
14 “THE LACK OF CONFIDENCE”: Letter from Joseph Vacher to doctor, April 20, 1898, in Artières, Écrits d’un tueur de bergers, p. 116–117.
15 HERE IS THE THEORY: Alexandre Lacassagne, “Notes et observations medico-légales, Vacher l’éventreur,” Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon, Fonds Lacassagne, file MS 5283, p. 42.
16 “ONE CAN SEE IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES”: This and subsequent Lacassagne quotes in this chapter are from Lacassagne, Vacher l’éventreur et les crimes sadiques, p. 44–56.
19. THE TRIAL
1 THE TRIAL OF THE MOST FEARSOME MURDERER: Rémi Cuisinier, L’Assassin des bergers (Saint-Just-la-Pendue, France: Charat, 2002), pp. 169–71.
2 “HE BEGINS THE SERIES”: Émile Fourquet, Vacher: Le Plus Grand Criminel des temps modernes par son juge d’instruction (Besançon, France: Jacques et Demontrond, 1931), p. 312.
3 LITTLE SHEPHERDS FULL OF SORROW: ibid.
4 “THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY CRIMINALS”: Rowland Strong, “Trial of a Criminal Whose Name Will Live as a Veritable Jack the Ripper or Bluebeard,” New York Times, November 6, 1898.
5 “THE DIRECTORS SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH”: Le Figaro,
October 24, 1898.
6 FOURQUET WAS IN VACHER’S CELL: Fourquet, Vacher, p. 297.
7 “GLORY TO JESUS!”: This and other quotes from the trial are taken from the following sources: Le Petit Journal, October 27, 28, 29, 1898; Le Lyon Républicain, October 27, 28, 29, 1898; Le Progrès, October 27, 1898; La Dépěche de Toulouse, October 28, 1898; Gazette des Tribunaux, October 31-November 1,1898; Fourquet, Vacher, pp. 312–33; Alexandre Lacassagne, Vacher l’éventreur et les crimes sadiques (Lyon: A. Storck, 1899), pp. 65–71; Gérard Corneloup, Joseph Vacher: Un Tueur en série de la Belle Époque (Brignais, France: Éditions des Traboules, 2007), pp. 263–393.
20. JUDGMENT
1 THIRD DAY OF THE TRIAL: Details regarding the trial have been reconstructed from the following sources: Le Lyon Républicain, October 29, 1898; Le Progrès, October 29, 1898; La Dépěche de Toulouse, October 29, 1898; Gazette des Tribunaux, October 31-November 1, 1898; Émile Fourquet, Vacher: Le Plus Grand Criminel des temps modernes par son juge d’instruction (Besançon, France: Jacques et Demontrond, 1931), pp. 312–33; Alexandre Lacassagne, Vacher l’éventreur et les crimes sadiques (Lyon: A. Storck, 1899), pp. 65–71; Gérard Corneloup, Joseph Vacher: Un Tueur en série de la Belle Époque (Brignais, France: Éditions des Traboules, 2007), pp. 263–393.
2 “THE DOCTOR’S OUTFIT”: Alexandre Lacassagne, “Le Médecin devant les cours d’assises,” La Revue scientifique 26 (1883): 809.
3 SADISM: Lacassagne, Vacher l’éventreur et les crimes sadiques, pp. 239–43, 245–82.
4 JAMES DOUGHERTY: “Insanity as a Defense in Criminal Cases,” Medico-Legal Journal of New York (1890): 381.
5 “THOSE BASTARDS REALLY FIXED THINGS FOR ME”: Fourquet, Vacher, p. 334.
21. A QUESTION OF SANITY
1 A FORTY-FIVE-PAGE BOOKLET: Charbonnier, Documents sur l’état mental de Vacher condamné à la peine de mort par arrět de la cour d’assises de l’Ain du 29 octobre 1898 (Grenoble: Allier, 1899).
The Killer of Little Shepherds Page 34
