Joseph Vacher
Encyclopedia
Joseph Vacher was a French
serial killer
, sometimes known as "The French Ripper" or "L'éventreur du Sud-Est" ("The South-East Ripper") due to comparisons to the more famous Jack the Ripper
murderer of London
, England
in 1888. His scarred face, accordion
, and plain, white, hand-made rabbit-fur hat became his trademark appearance.
farmer, young Joseph was sent to a very strict Catholic
school, where he was taught to obey and to fear God. In 1893, while in military conscription
, he fell in love with a young maidservant, Louise, who was not at all attracted to him. When his time in the army was over, he tried to woo her and propose to her for the last time before returning home, but she was bored by him and mocked him. In a rage, he shot her four times (she was badly injured, but survived) and then tried to commit suicide
. Shooting himself twice in the head accomplished nothing more than paralyzing
one side of his face (one of the bullets remained forever lodged in his skull) and putting him in a mental institution in Dole, Jura
. Medical treatment did nothing for him, but the doctors released him as "completely cured" one year later. Shortly after his release, at the age of 25, he began his murder spree.
During a three-year period beginning in 1894, Vacher murdered and mutilated at least 11 people (one woman, five teenage girls, and five teenage boys). Many of them were shepherd
s watching their flocks in isolated fields. The victims were stabbed repeatedly, often disemboweled
, rape
d, and sodomized
. Vacher was a drifter, travelling from town to town, from Normandy
to Provence
, staying mainly in the southeast of France, and surviving by begging or working on farms as a day laborer.
In 1897, Vacher tried to assault
a woman in a field in Ardèche
. She fought back and her screams soon alerted her husband and son, both of whom came rushing to her aid. The men overpowered Vacher and took him to the police. The authorities had little evidence
that Vacher was responsible for the rash of murders, but Vacher soon confessed to everything.
dog bit him (in fact he was not bitten at all, just licked), then changed his mind and said that he was sent there by God
, just like Joan of Arc
, in order to make people think and understand the real virtues of faith. He was however judged sane by the Cour d'Assises
of Ain
(the county where he murdered two youngsters) and sentenced to death on October 28, 1898. Vacher was executed by guillotine
two months later, at dawn on December 31, 1898. He refused to walk towards the scaffold and had to be dragged by the executioners.
, French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier
made a film called Le juge et l'assassin (The Judge and the Murderer), which was inspired by Vacher's story. The name of the murderer, played by Michel Galabru
, is slightly changed into "Joseph Bouvier" (in French, bouvier and vacher are two words describing the same profession, a herdsman).
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
, sometimes known as "The French Ripper" or "L'éventreur du Sud-Est" ("The South-East Ripper") due to comparisons to the more famous Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
murderer of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1888. His scarred face, accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, and plain, white, hand-made rabbit-fur hat became his trademark appearance.
Life
The son of an illiterateLiteracy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
farmer, young Joseph was sent to a very strict Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
school, where he was taught to obey and to fear God. In 1893, while in military conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
, he fell in love with a young maidservant, Louise, who was not at all attracted to him. When his time in the army was over, he tried to woo her and propose to her for the last time before returning home, but she was bored by him and mocked him. In a rage, he shot her four times (she was badly injured, but survived) and then tried to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Shooting himself twice in the head accomplished nothing more than paralyzing
Paralysis
Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...
one side of his face (one of the bullets remained forever lodged in his skull) and putting him in a mental institution in Dole, Jura
Dole, Jura
Dole is a commune in the Jura department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France, of which it is a subprefecture ....
. Medical treatment did nothing for him, but the doctors released him as "completely cured" one year later. Shortly after his release, at the age of 25, he began his murder spree.
During a three-year period beginning in 1894, Vacher murdered and mutilated at least 11 people (one woman, five teenage girls, and five teenage boys). Many of them were shepherd
Shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
s watching their flocks in isolated fields. The victims were stabbed repeatedly, often disemboweled
Disembowelment
Disembowelment is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract , usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident, but has also been used as a method of torture and execution...
, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d, and sodomized
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
. Vacher was a drifter, travelling from town to town, from Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
to Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, staying mainly in the southeast of France, and surviving by begging or working on farms as a day laborer.
In 1897, Vacher tried to assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
a woman in a field in Ardèche
Ardèche
Ardèche is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River.- History :The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones ,...
. She fought back and her screams soon alerted her husband and son, both of whom came rushing to her aid. The men overpowered Vacher and took him to the police. The authorities had little evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
that Vacher was responsible for the rash of murders, but Vacher soon confessed to everything.
Insanity plea
Vacher claimed he was insane because of a quack cure given to him as a child, when a rabidRabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
dog bit him (in fact he was not bitten at all, just licked), then changed his mind and said that he was sent there by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, just like Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, in order to make people think and understand the real virtues of faith. He was however judged sane by the Cour d'Assises
Cour d'assises
A French cour d'assises or Assize Court is a criminal trial court with original and appellate limited jurisdiction to hear cases involving defendants accused of major felonies or indictable offences, or crimes in French, and one of the few to be decided by jury trialUnder French law, a crime is any...
of Ain
Ain
Ain is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône, the department of Ain enjoys a privileged geographic situation...
(the county where he murdered two youngsters) and sentenced to death on October 28, 1898. Vacher was executed by guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
two months later, at dawn on December 31, 1898. He refused to walk towards the scaffold and had to be dragged by the executioners.
In popular culture
In 19761976 in film
The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
, French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier is a French director, screenwriter, actor, and producer.-Life and career:Tavernier was born in Lyon, the son of Geneviève and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, several years president of the French PEN club. Tavernier wanted to become a filmmaker since the age of thirteen...
made a film called Le juge et l'assassin (The Judge and the Murderer), which was inspired by Vacher's story. The name of the murderer, played by Michel Galabru
Michel Galabru
Michel Louis Edmond Galabru is a French actor born on 27 October 1922 in Safi, Morocco.-Career:Over the course of his career, Galabru appeared in over 200 movies and worked with such renowned directors as Bertrand Blier, Costa-Gavras, Luc Besson , and Jean-Luc Godard...
, is slightly changed into "Joseph Bouvier" (in French, bouvier and vacher are two words describing the same profession, a herdsman).