Born in 1897 in Auxerre, France, most accounts
maintain that Petiot’s youth was plagued
by juvenile delinquency and petty crime.
His first diagnosis of mental illness came
in 1914 when he was 17 years old.
By 1916, the young Frenchman had volunteered
for the French Army in the First World War.
After being wounded in battle Petiot was sent
to a rest home, where he was arrested and
jailed for stealing army supplies and morphine.
He received a second diagnosis of mental illness
at this time, yet returned to the front in
1918.
Not long after his redeployment, Petiot allegedly
injured his own foot with a grenade.
The third diagnosis of mental instability
followed, leading to his discharge with a
disability pension.
Petiot enrolled in an accelerated medical
education program after the war.
He completed his schooling in eight months,
interned at a mental hospital in Evreux, and
then received his medical degree in 1921.
The newfound status seemed only to accelerate
his life of crime; Petiot reportedly pilfered
addictive narcotics for personal use and distributed
them among patients.
He performed illegal abortions and stole everything
from a stone cross to money out of the town
treasury.
In 1926, Petiot struck up an affair with Louise
Delaveau, the daughter of one of his patients.
Delaveau vanished not long after the affair
began.
While Petiot was never officially implicated
in the disappearance, Delaveau may have been
his first victim; neighbors said they saw
Petiot loading a trunk into his car around
the time the girl disappeared.
That same year, Petiot turned his attention
to politics, mounting a successful bid to
become mayor of Villeneuve-sur-Yonne.
Once again, he exploited his position of power
for personal gain—this time by embezzling
town funds.
Petiot married the daughter of a wealthy local
butcher in 1927.
They had a son the following year.
His shady civic dealings, meanwhile, were
catching up to him.
After multiple reports of malfeasance, Petiot
was suspended and eventually resigned as mayor
in 1931.
Bizarrely, he still managed to secure an elected
seat on the Yonne Departement council in 1932—a
position that he lost just a few months later
after stealing electricity from the town.
With his political career at an end, Petiot
moved to Paris.
There he faked medical credentials to present
himself as an accomplished doctor.
The deception worked; Petiot’s reputation
drew in patients, and in 1936 he was granted
authority to issue death certificates.
Rumors of his old scams resurfaced—illegal
abortions, excessive prescriptions.
Yet it was the rise of Nazl Germany and the
German occupation of France in 1940 that led
to Petiot’s deadly rampage and his sinister
sobriquets.
According to his own account, Petiot worked
with the French Resistance during the occupation.
He planted booby traps, developed weapons
that could kill without leaving forensic evidence,
and met with high-ranking Allied commanders.
While the veracity of these claims remains
largely unsubstantiated, Petiot was cited
as a source many years later by Colonel John
F. Grumbach, the former head of the independent
espionage agency known as “The Pond.”
What does seem certain is that Petiot claimed
to operate a secret escape route during the
occupation.
Under the codename Dr. Eugene, Petiot told
French Resistance fighters, Jewish refugees,
and others wanted by the German government
that he could assist in their escape from
war-torn Europe to Argentina.
For these services, he charged each escapee
a fee of 25,000 francs.
The proposal was a trap, of course.
Petiot told his victims that they required
an inoculation before entering Argentina,
and used the opportunity to inject them with
cyanide.
He would then steal their valuables and dispose
of the bodies by dumping them in the Seine,
burying them in quicklime, or burning them
in his fireplace.
In March 1944, neighbors complained of a foul
stench coming from Petiot’s home in Rue
Le Sueur, and of noxious smoke billowing from
his chimney.
Authorities were summoned.
When they searched the premises, they found
the remains of numerous victims—including,
reportedly, charred human remnants smoldering
in the fireplace.
Petiot evaded capture for a short while by
adopting an alias and growing out his beard.
He was captured in October 1940 and held under
suspicion of murdær.
His trial began in March 1946, by which point
coverage of the case had spiraled into a media
circus.
Petiot maintained his innocence to the end,
claiming that he had killed only “enemies
of France,” German soldiers and double agents,
as part of his work with the Resistance.
Authorities, however, could not find any connection
between Petiot and the French Resistance.
Many of the Resistance groups Petiot named
and the exploits that he claimed to have been
a part of never existed.
Ultimately, Marcel Petiot was found guilty
of 26 counts of murdær for profit.
It was estimated that he netted 200 million
francs from his ill-gotten gains.
Many suspects he actually claimed upwards
of 60 victims.
On May 25, 1946, he was beheaded by guillotine.
If you enjoyed this video, hit the Like button
and maybe consider subscribing for more videos
like this.
