A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them.[1][2] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial killing as "a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone".[2][3]
Sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of release
Nicknamed “Pierrot le Fou”; murdered three young people aged 10, 38 and 14 on 18, 21 and 25 June 2004. He was the first Frenchman to be sentenced to this penalty
Known as "The Axe Killer". Responsible for at least three murders and one attempted murder between 1995 and 1999. Nicknamed “Bouraba” by his acquaintances
Known as "The Ogre of the Ardennes"; with his help of his wife Monique Olivier, kidnapped, raped and murdered predominantly young girls across France and Belgium
Nicknamed "The Man with a Thousand and One Faces". Killed an elderly woman in 1980 and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. Assaulted three other women, following successive releases, in 1989 and 1991. Released in May 1998, he kills two more women on November of the same year, and is sentenced to life imprisonment. Died in prison in 2014
Known as "The King Kong". Committed his first murder in 1956, but was soon released due to insanity. In 1965, he committed a robbery in which he fatally beat a prison guard. Sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment, he killed a prison guard in 1967 and attempted to kill another. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he was released in 2016 after 51 years in prison, and died in 2019.
Together with partner Philippe Siauve and another accomplice, murdered a young woman in May 1989, and killed two other young women in July with Thierry El Borgi and Siauve.
Nicknamed "Doctor Herbal Tea" and "Doctor Mystery". Convicted of killing his second wife in 1929 and attempting to kill his sister by poisoning in the winter of 1929-1930. Suspected of killing his first wife in 1922 and his tent in 1923 in the same circumstances. Sentenced to death, commuted to hard labour for life, he committed suicide in prison in 1944
Known as "The Shepherd of Caussols". Suspected of five murders in 1983. Acquitted in 1986 for a sixth murder in 1984. Perpetrator of four other murders between 2001 and 2004. Arrested in 2005 and sentenced to life imprisonment
Known as "The Bluebeard of Gambais"; killed mistresses and lovers during the war period; inspired the character of Monsieur Verdoux played by Charlie Chaplin
Known as "The Swamp Killer"; killed two acquaintances for trivial disputes and dumped their bodies in swamps, having previously served time for killing a homeless man
Nicknamed "The Man of the Red Brigades", after kidnapping and murdering three people in the summer of 1976. He had already been prosecuted for the murder of a hotel manager in 1974, but his case was dismissed.
Convicted of the murders of three people close to him: his mistress in 1960, his wife in 1967 and his 10-year-old daughter in 1977. He died in 2016 after 53 years in prison, 49 of which were continuous.
Known as "The Clockmaker of Montreuil"; killed his last wife in 1884, suspected of killing two other wives in 1880, and of killing his parents in 1872 and 1873. Sentenced to hard labour for life, he died in prison in 1924.
The perpetrator of three murders of homeless people in 1995 and 1998, he is also implicated in the murder of politician Jean-Claude Poulet Dachary in 1995. Sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment, he died in prison in 2012
Known as "The Serial Killer of Associates"; Suspected of having killed three of his associates, of having attempted to kill another and of having deliberately killed a pensioner, between 1988 and 2005
Nicknamed "The Lawyer Murderer". Convicted of murdering an abbot and his mistress in 1925, and a woman in 1930 whom he tried to pass off as his accomplice. Suspected of killing two spouses of his accomplices. Arrested in 1931 and sentenced to death, he was executed in 1934.
Known as "The Cutter of the Canal"; murdered and dismembered three people, disposing of the remains into the Marne-Rhine Canal; suspect in two other disappearances
Together with partner Thierry Jaouen and another accomplice, murdered a young woman in May 1989, killed two other young women in July with Thierry El Borgi and Jaouen and one man with El Borgi a few days later
Killed a gay man who made a pass at him in 1986. Sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, he was released in 1993. Re-incarcerated in 1998 following a robbery, he escaped from prison in 2007 and killed a man in the company of a former cellmate. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he killed a fellow inmate in 2017 and had his sentence extended.
Known as "The Legionnaire". Sentenced to 5 years' hard labour for the murder of a prostitute around 1950. He killed his wife in 1961 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Released in 1978, he killed a 7-years-old girl at the Vacheresse fair in 1993. Sentenced to life imprisonment with 30 years' security period, he died in prison in 2014.
Rapist who murdered two girls and a woman; his case and that of Christian Van Geloven influenced a judicial reform in France concerning infanticides and child killings
Nicknamed "Le Grêlé" ("the pockmarked man"), Verove, a former police officer was blamed for four murders and a series of rapes since 1986. His confession was found on his suicide note alongside his body after he committed suicide in 2021. The crimes include the 1986 murder of an 11-year-old child, Cécile Bloch, in Paris.
Known as "The Cleaner". Killed a man in 1992 to avenge a friend who had been attacked. Sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, he was released in 2000. Killed three other men in 2008 and 2009 to avenge the death of his biker friend. Sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment.
↑ Ronald M. Holmes; Stephen T. Holmes (1998). Contemporary Perspectives on Serial Murder. SAGE Publications. p.1. ISBN0-7619-1421-8. Retrieved June 15, 2016. Serial murder is the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period between the murders [...] The baseline number of three victims appears to be most common among those who are the academic authorities in the field. The time frame also appears to be an agreed-upon component of the definition.
↑ Thiollier, Raphaël (27 October 2010). "Beauvais: mort de Jacquy Haddouche en prison"[Beauvais: death of Jacquy Haddouche in prison]. L'Observateur de Beauvais (in French). Retrieved 24 November 2019.
↑ Lane, Brian; Gregg, Wilfred (1992). The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. London, UK: Headline. ISBN978-0-74723-731-0. Yes, I committed the crimes... I committed them all in moments of frenzy.
Burkhalter Chmelir, Sandra (2003). "Serial Killers". In Robert Kastenbaum (ed.). Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Vol.2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA/Thomson/Gale. p.1. Archived from the original on May 3, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
"L'affaire Prévost". La Lanterne (in French). No.963. 10 December 1879. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
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