1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. So we 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: recently mentioned the surprisingly late date for the last public 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: guillotineing in France on the show. That date was nine 6 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: and the episode it came up on was the one 7 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: about the punitive Benin expedition. Just to avoid any confusion, 8 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: if you look up the last execution by guillotine in France, 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: that was much later, nineteen seventy seven. The distinction here 10 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: is that the one we are talking about was the 11 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 1: last time it was public, and we'll talk about why 12 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,879 Speaker 1: it was the last time it was public. Uh, it 13 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: just so happened that I actually had the case tied 14 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: to all of this, this last public guillotineing on my list, 15 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: and that kind of popped it up to the top. 16 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: So we're going to talk today about the crime and 17 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: the trial. We will get to the execution next time. 18 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:07,199 Speaker 1: Because this became an accidental two parter um in a way, 19 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: because I feel like when you usually look at articles 20 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: about this or mentions of it, they're very brief and 21 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: they really don't capture all of the many things that 22 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: were going on, um, in terms of how the police 23 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: were handling things and what was going on with the 24 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: family of one of the people involved, because we have 25 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: a lot of coverage of one particular victim and how 26 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: it all played out, and the kind of accidental way 27 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: that the person slash persons involved in all of this 28 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: were apprehended. Um, it's a difficult story. Aside from the 29 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: fact that there's like a missing person and and we 30 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: do have record of the pain of a family going 31 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: through that, there's also some accusation of lackadaisical police attention 32 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: to the case, and ultimately there is so much evidence 33 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: that was discovered that it seemed almost like, uh, they 34 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: didn't know what to do with it at all, because 35 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: it was pretty significant and it is probably obvious by now, 36 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: but just in case, this episode is going to involve 37 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: discussion of violence, specifically murder, and quite a bit of it, uh. 38 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: And then this is part one of two. Second one 39 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 1: will also have violence as well as execution. In nineteen 40 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: thirty seven, Jean Da Covin was twenty two. She was 41 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: a dancer from Boston, Massachusetts, and had moved to New 42 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: York when she was still young. She went to n 43 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: y U and studied dance in both New York and Chicago. 44 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: She had recently started teaching classical dancing and ballet to 45 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: about twenty students in a studio on the bottom level 46 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: of the apartment building where she lived with her mother. 47 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: She went to Paris in July of that year for 48 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: a vacation. She arrived on the ship the Normandy on 49 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: July nineteenth and stayed with her aunt, Ida Sackheim, who 50 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: she called Sucky. They stayed in a hotel on the 51 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: Left Bank, and early on in their stay, a German 52 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: Man a pro to Jean in the lobby of the 53 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: hotel room and offered to help the two women as 54 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,119 Speaker 1: an interpreter. They had been struggling to find someone who 55 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: was staying in the hotel. Ambassador and Ida Sackheim described 56 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: him as having quote the most gracious smile she had 57 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: ever seen. Jean, who was very outgoing, was charmed by 58 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: the idea of having met an interesting stranger while she 59 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: was traveling abroad. Later that night, Jeane to Covin wrote 60 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: a letter to a friend about the encounter, writing quote, 61 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: I have just met a charming German of Keen intelligence 62 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: who calls himself Siegfried. Perhaps I'm going to another Wagnerian role. 63 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: Who knows I Am going to visit him tomorrow at 64 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: his villa in a beautiful place near a famous mansion 65 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: that Napoleon gave Josephine. This is not really a villa, 66 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: but an apartments, but that would be a minor detail 67 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: in the story. Jean was just excited to spend time 68 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: with a local, so in the afternoon in July she 69 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: went out for her date. She was supposed to at 70 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: and the Opera that evening to see a production of 71 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: Ariadne and blue Beard. You talk about in the behind 72 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: the scenes, but that's a particularly strange bit of coincidence. 73 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: But she never showed up for that performance, nor did 74 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: she return to the hotel that evening. Jean's aunt Ida 75 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: was of course deeply worried, and the next morning Miss 76 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: Sackheim received a telegram that everything was fine, which of 77 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: course was incredibly suspicious. Later that day there was another missive, 78 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: and this was even more troubling. This was a letter 79 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: that said that Jean was safe, that she had been kidnapped, 80 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: and that she would be returned after a five hundred 81 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: dollar ransom was paid naturally. Ida Sackheim took this to 82 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: the authorities, notifying both the American consulate and the Paris police, 83 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 1: but their reaction was really not what she expected or 84 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: hoped for. She was frantic, and the police seemed to 85 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: think that in all likelihood, Jean just had a little 86 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: fling and hadn't come home yet. Authorities assured her that 87 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: this kind of thing happened all the time time when 88 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: tourists from the United States went out partying and either 89 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: slept somewhere else in the city or just couldn't find 90 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: their way back to their hotel for a bit. This 91 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: letter seemed like somebody was just playing with Sackheim, and 92 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: this case, on the surface, did seem a little like 93 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: Jean may have gone on a date that simply hadn't 94 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: ended yet. Aunt Ida had mistakenly described the man involved 95 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 1: as a handsome Swiss gentleman, and authorities took that as 96 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: a further indicator that this was probably just a romantic 97 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: escapade rather than anything sinister, and Jean was an adult 98 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: who had gone out with this man of her own accord. 99 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: But the kidnapper or the person who was saying they 100 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: were a kidnapper continued to send letters, and they started 101 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: coming with requests like that Ida should place notices in 102 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: the Paris edition of the New York Herald Tribune that 103 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 1: was popular with tourists asking Jeane to reach out. This 104 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,799 Speaker 1: was really like them setting up a code. The wording 105 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: indicated to the kidnapper that Sackheim had received the missives 106 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: and was cooperating, and sometimes she would place them when 107 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 1: they had not had a response that she expected. So 108 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: those placements were listed in what's called an agony column, 109 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: sort of like miss connections, but usually for scenarios where 110 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: somebody in Ida's exact position would try to urge a 111 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: missing person to get in touch. That term, sometimes also 112 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: called agony ants, is also used for advice columns sometimes, 113 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: but in those cases was trying to find missing people. 114 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: The brief ads that Sackheim had the paper run were 115 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: short and simple. They said things like Gene, please come back, 116 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,039 Speaker 1: or Gene, do not understand your way of acting, want 117 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,600 Speaker 1: proposition immediately. And although they had been sort of dismissive 118 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,520 Speaker 1: of the situation, the police were following the ads to 119 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: see if there was any response in the paper, and 120 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: they also sort of worked quietly on the investigation without 121 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: really disclosing that was what they were doing. They also 122 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: kept an eye on the proposed meet up spots that 123 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: the kidnappers notes had indicated when they sent things to 124 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: Ida suggesting she give them some money, But the police 125 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: were not super widely about this, and eventually Ida got 126 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: a postcard that read, quote, remind the least sign we 127 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: have of the police, and we don't send nobody to 128 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: get the money. But then Jeans travelers checks started to 129 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: be cashed around Paris. If you've never encountered travelers checks, 130 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: they are an alternative to currency, but they offer a 131 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: little bit of protection over carrying cash, so think of 132 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: it as kind of like a gift certificate, but not 133 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: a specific retailer. The traveler could and still can, although 134 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: this isn't that common anymore, purchase traveler's checks through the 135 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: bank and then no they would be able to use 136 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: them in other countries without having to go through a 137 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: currency exchange. Was if you lost your travelers checks, the 138 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: bank usually had coverage for them, so it wasn't like 139 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: if somebody just stole your money out of your wallet. 140 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: These have mostly fallen out of favor in the digital age, 141 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: but they were really common in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 142 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: They're guaranteed traceable and replaceable. So when some of the 143 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: checks that Jean had purchased before going to Paris were 144 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: used with obviously forged signatures, the police started to get 145 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: a lot more serious about the case. Yeah, Normally, when 146 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: you purchased travelers checks, which I have done I think 147 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: exactly once in my life, you had to sign it 148 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: there at the bank in front of a bank official, 149 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: and then that signature is kind of what establishes it 150 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: as your traveler's check. So any subsequent sign over has 151 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: to also include a second signature that should match the first. 152 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: So these checks were worth ten dollars US each and 153 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: over the course of a few days, twenty four of 154 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: them were used in Paris in banks, high end shops, 155 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: and the Paris Exposition. When investigators started tracing the transactions 156 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: and interviewing clerks and shopkeepers, it became apparent that there 157 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: were multiple people involved, and that a lot of people 158 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: had been pretty lax in taking those checks. There were 159 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: descriptions of four different people, two men and two women, 160 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,079 Speaker 1: who had forged Gene's signature, and all of them had 161 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: been using Gene to Covin's passport as the I D 162 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: and as these forgeries piled up, the police decided to 163 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: announce their investigation publicly, which they did on August seven. 164 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: The forged travelers Check stopped once the story hit the papers, 165 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: and at that point jean had been missing for more 166 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: than two weeks. Ida could not bring herself to believe 167 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: that Jeane might be dead, but she felt certain that 168 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 1: the man they had met in the hotel lobby was 169 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: involved in Jean's disappearance. Jeane's photo was published as part 170 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: of the coverage of the kidnapping. This led to a 171 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: seemingly endless string of tips coming in from people who 172 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: thought they had seen her. This also meant that the 173 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: public was formulating their own ideas about who Jeane was 174 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:56,359 Speaker 1: and what really happened. Plenty of people and some police, 175 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: suspected that because Jeanne was an entertainer, this whole thing 176 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: was a publicity stunt. Others thought she had just run 177 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: away from her aunt, either to lead a thrilling or 178 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: has some people believed, a debased life. Some people called 179 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: her aunt's hotel trying to get money in exchange for 180 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 1: information that they claimed to have. Yeah Ida had said like, 181 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: I will give rewards for information, and so all kinds 182 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 1: of fake info started to flit in. The search for 183 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: Jean was also covered in the U S, Canadian and 184 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: English press at length. Initially, these were brief mentions, and 185 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: they often cited the de Covin's family dismay and feeling 186 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: pretty hopeless and kind of dismissed by French authorities. But 187 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 1: as details emerged about the case, there was a web 188 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: of connections that involved those countries we just mentioned as 189 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: well as Germany, and press coverage kind of shot up. 190 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: Nine days after the story broke in the press, Jeane 191 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: to Covin's brother Henry got to Paris, he announced that 192 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: their father, Abraham to Covin, was offering a reward of 193 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: ten thousand francs. Henry stayed in Paris for a month 194 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: in part to try to convince Aunt Sachie to come 195 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: back to the US with him. Henry believed that Jean 196 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: was dead, and the authorities did as well. By the 197 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 1: time idasak Iim and Henry to Covin set sail for 198 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: home on September. When Henry to Covin got to New 199 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: York on September, he told the U. S Press that 200 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,719 Speaker 1: he felt the Parisian police were not taking the case seriously. 201 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,680 Speaker 1: At that point, there was this sort of pervading feeling 202 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 1: that Jeane to Covin was doomed to become an unsolved 203 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:37,560 Speaker 1: missing person's case forever what happened to her was discovered, 204 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: although it did not happen for several months. We mentioned 205 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 1: that Idasak I'm thought that Jean's friend Siegfried was involved. 206 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: We will talk about who exactly he was in a moment, 207 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: but first we will pause for a sponsor break. The 208 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: man at the center of this whole thing was not 209 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: named Siegfried. He also wasn't named Bobby, which was what 210 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: he had told Ida Sacheim she could call him. His 211 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: name was Oygan Weidmann, and when he met up with 212 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: the two tourist women from the US, offering to be 213 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,559 Speaker 1: their interpreter, he already had a lengthy criminal history. Oigan 214 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: was born in Frankfurt, Germany, on February eight and he 215 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 1: was a really smart kid and from a very young 216 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: age he was in trouble with the authorities. At the 217 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: age of fourteen, police identified him as the ringleader of 218 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: a group of schoolboys who had committed several robberies. For 219 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: the next several years, he got into one scrape after another. 220 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: As he was discovered to have committed a variety of 221 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,440 Speaker 1: petty crimes, his parents decided that the best thing for 222 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: eighteen year old Oygan was to remove him from the 223 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: environment and the friend group that he had been running with, 224 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: and they sent him to a school in Canada in 225 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: ninety six. It was not long before he was arrested 226 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: and jailed in Canada, first serving three months in for forgery, 227 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:07,319 Speaker 1: and then once again in nineteen twenty nine, this time 228 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 1: serving a one year sentence for theft. He and a 229 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: group of accomplices had held up the paymaster of a 230 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,679 Speaker 1: wheat company in Saskatchewan, which is where he was working 231 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 1: as a farm hand. After he served his sentence, he 232 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: was deported back home to Germany. In Germany, he was 233 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: in hot water again pretty soon. In nineteen thirty one, 234 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: he was found guilty of assault and robbery and was 235 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: sentenced to five years in prison. While he was incarcerated, 236 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: he was by all accounts, well liked by prison officials 237 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: because he was smart and polite and didn't cause trouble. 238 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: During his time in prison, he worked in the prison library, 239 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: and he spent that time well. This was part of 240 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: why he seemed so erudite to Jean. He read a 241 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: great deal. He studied all manner of topics. He loved 242 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: Wagner and could speak about opera at length, and that 243 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: was something he had also studied in prison. Wigan was 244 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 1: incredibly smart. He had a gift languages. He spoke English 245 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: and French fluently and could also manage in Portuguese. When 246 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:08,160 Speaker 1: he was released from prison, he lived with his parents 247 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: for about six months, and then he left for France 248 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 1: sometime in the spring or early summer of ninety seven 249 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:18,600 Speaker 1: let's see differing dates issued there. This was, to his 250 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: parents another chance at a fresh start. Oigan would later 251 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: say he left Germany to avoid having to enlist, and 252 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 1: this was of course a time when Germany was in 253 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: turmoil and events were already in motion that would lead 254 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: to World War Two. But unbeknownst to Oigan's parents, their 255 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: son actually had plans. He was going to meet up 256 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 1: with some of his friends from prison in Paris. That 257 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: of course put Oigan widman in Paris at the time 258 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: that Jean Dacovin vanished, and then there were several other 259 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,239 Speaker 1: crimes in the area that seem on the surface completely unrelated. 260 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: Jean had disappeared on July, although the case was kept 261 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: private until the first week of August, a month after 262 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: the pres US ran the gene to COVID kidnapping story, 263 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: a man named Joseph Coufey was found dead, shot in 264 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 1: the back of the neck in a wooded area. This 265 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: happened not in Paris, but near Tours, which is a 266 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: little less than two hundred forty KOs or a hundred 267 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: and fifty miles southeast of Paris. This man was a chauffeur. 268 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: He ran his own small luxury limousine service, and he 269 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: had picked a client up in Paris where he lived, 270 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 1: then was not seen alive again. It was reported that 271 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: he had been robbed of francs. Yeah, we'll talk about 272 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 1: those money numbers a bit, because they're really inconsistent in 273 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: the reporting. Another seemingly unrelated murder happened on October three. 274 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: A woman named Jasmine Killer traveled to Paris to respond 275 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: to a job posting for a travel companion who could 276 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: also cook and manage the health needs of the client. 277 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,800 Speaker 1: Sometimes this is listed as like a nurse companion job. 278 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: It doesn't matter because that job was not real. She 279 00:15:57,320 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: was shot in the same manner as Koufy, and the 280 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: money she is carrying, reported as fourteen hundred francs, was 281 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:07,480 Speaker 1: stolen along with a ring. A third murder took place 282 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: on October sixteenth. This time the body of Roger LeBlanc 283 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: was found in a parked car, shot and robbed. In 284 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: this case, the body was wrapped in a curtain that 285 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: had the initials m B written on a tag. That 286 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: curtain and information from Leblong's girlfriend that he was meeting 287 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: somebody named Prandier on business led police down a rabbit hole. 288 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 1: They were looking for anybody with the name Prodier or 289 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: the initials m B. Both of those efforts, which totaled 290 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: up some more than a thousand people who were questioned 291 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 1: by the police, those were fruitless. Then a young Jewish 292 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: man from Germany named Fritz Fromer vanished on November. Like 293 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: the other murders we have just mentioned, he was shot 294 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 1: and robbed. And then there was one more shooting and 295 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: robbery victim who was killed on November. This time the 296 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: deceased was a real turn named Raymond Lesbra who was 297 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: showing a small house to his perspective Renter when he 298 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: was killed, and it was Lasber's murder that finally offered 299 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,120 Speaker 1: a clue that tied all of these seemingly unrelated crimes together. 300 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: Lesobra was found at the rental property, and one of 301 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: the pieces of evidence retrieved at the scene, which was 302 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,920 Speaker 1: in the Paris suburb of Saint clu, was a business 303 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 1: card with the name Arthur Shot on it. According to 304 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:29,480 Speaker 1: this card, Shot was a traveling salesman and was based 305 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: in Nice. The detective on the Losober murder case, who 306 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: was Commissar prim Borne, tracked down Arthur Shot, who at 307 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: the time was in Strausbourg. Shot was told he needed 308 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: to come to Versailles for questioning, which he did. He 309 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: explained that he had distributed thousands of those cards. One 310 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: of them had been given he said to his nephew 311 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 1: Fritz Fromer, that was indeed the same from Her who 312 00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 1: was killed on November twenty. There's already a connection between 313 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: from Her and Oigen Vitemin. They had been prisoned together 314 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,160 Speaker 1: in Germany, and as you recall, Widmann was incarcerated for robbery. 315 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:12,160 Speaker 1: Farmer was incarcerated as a political prisoner. He was there 316 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,439 Speaker 1: because he had criticized the Nazi Party. At this point, 317 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,639 Speaker 1: no one knew that Fritz Farmer was dead, and no 318 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: one had connected him to Vitamin. When prim Borne followed 319 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:24,880 Speaker 1: up on the Fromer lead, he discovered that the young 320 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: man had left his hotel on November two and never returned. 321 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: They learned this from the hotel clerk, and the hotel 322 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: had just chalked it up to him skipping out on 323 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: his bill. Since this was suspicious, and it kind of 324 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,199 Speaker 1: seems in some readings of reports here that Fromer may 325 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 1: have been a suspect at this point, the detective next 326 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: track down a contact that had been on Fromer's hotel 327 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 1: paperwork that led him to another uncle, and this uncle 328 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:54,639 Speaker 1: mentioned that his nephew had not been showing up for 329 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: family dinners, which he normally did, and that he knew 330 00:18:57,960 --> 00:18:59,919 Speaker 1: that his nephew had been in contact with the man 331 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: named Kare, who he had known in prison. The uncle 332 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: believed he lived somewhere near or in Saint Clue, in 333 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: a villa called love Z. As an aside here we 334 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: mentioned before, but I really want to reiterate when we 335 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: say villa, because it comes up a lot. You might 336 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: be conjuring up a luxury vacation home, and that is 337 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,200 Speaker 1: absolutely not the case. Uh in some usages it actually 338 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: refers to a fairly modest space that's often shared with roommates, 339 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: a pretty common usage in France in the nineteen thirties. 340 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,639 Speaker 1: And that is what we're talking about here, a pretty 341 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 1: simple cottage that would have been like multiple renters under 342 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: one name. Yeah, I'm imagining like it's got little trellis 343 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:41,199 Speaker 1: is with climbing vines growing up overlooking a vineyard. And 344 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: that's not that you would be very disappointed. The next 345 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: bed of detective work was to start asking after Career 346 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: among various rental agents of sant Clu in search of 347 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: this villa, and prim Borne discovered that Marie Brow, a landlady, 348 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: did have a renter named Career, and on December eight 349 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: the detective assigned two of his men, Inspector's Emile Bourges 350 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: and Poignan, to watch the front of this little cottage 351 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 1: where Career was living. When it came out there was 352 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: a skirmish. So this person that they were looking for 353 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 1: was in fact Oigan Viidmund and he had first asked 354 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: the men who they were when he saw them outside 355 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:28,119 Speaker 1: his house, and they identified themselves as tax officers, and 356 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,680 Speaker 1: the three men began walking into the house to talk uh. 357 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: There is some speculation and some indications in some of 358 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 1: the testimony that when they had flashed their ideas tax inspectors, 359 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:40,639 Speaker 1: he had actually seen that one of them was a policeman. 360 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 1: So they walked into the house, and once they were inside, 361 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: the suspect turned and fired a gun three times. Both 362 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 1: of these policemen were wounded. One bullet had passed through 363 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: Bourgan's hat, grazing his head, the other had hit Poignan 364 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: in the shoulder. But the officers, who were unarmed, put 365 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: up a fight. In a hand to hand struggle, Borgun 366 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 1: knocked Vidman out with a hammer that he had found 367 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: in the home, and Vidman, unconscious, was taken into custody. 368 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,359 Speaker 1: Some of the most common photos that turn up in 369 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: a search for Videman online show him with a bandage 370 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,880 Speaker 1: around his head, and that is because it is right 371 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: after he was arrested, and it is from the injuries 372 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: that he sustained during that fight. Right away, there were 373 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: two very large, damning and obvious clues at Videbun's home. 374 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:34,479 Speaker 1: Two cars, one belonging to the chauffeur Koufi and the 375 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: other to real estate agent Raymond Lusob were found behind 376 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: the house. We'll talk about Oigan Vidman's statement to the 377 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,480 Speaker 1: police and just a moment, but first we'll take a 378 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: break here from the sponsors that keep Stuffy miss in 379 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: history class going. Once he was taken in by police, 380 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: Oigan is of course questioned. After a few hours in custody, 381 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,879 Speaker 1: he became completely cooperative and he was a study in 382 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: seemingly disparate temperaments. He gave his confession directly and calmly. 383 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: He told the police that he never lied, and that 384 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: actually did seem to be the case. The details that 385 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: he gave about how any of the murders had happened 386 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 1: was supported by the evidence, and he gave them a 387 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: lot of details. And that's the thing. This all was 388 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: a lot of discussion of very brutal murders that he 389 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: was saying he had done, including the real estate agent 390 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: less Sober, which was the murder that he had initially 391 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: been suspected of, and then the chauffeur Coufy, the cook 392 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: slash nurse Keller, the press agent LeBlanc, the associate from 393 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:46,360 Speaker 1: prison from and the American tourist Jane to Covin. Wiedmann 394 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: had taken souvenirs from each of his victims, which he 395 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 1: disclosed that his confession. He kept Madame Keller's wig. He 396 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: was wearing Raymond le Bland suspenders when he was taken 397 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: into custody and carrying his light, although they were too 398 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,040 Speaker 1: small for him. He also kept the real estate agent 399 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:09,400 Speaker 1: Less Sober's shoes. From the beginning, it had been believed 400 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: that Videman was not alone in his crimes and had 401 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,920 Speaker 1: several accomplices. It was originally thought as many as nine 402 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:20,120 Speaker 1: people were part of his crime ring. Oigan initially denied 403 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:23,200 Speaker 1: that anyone else was involved, but he did eventually begin 404 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: to give up information that confirmed detective theories, although he 405 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:30,159 Speaker 1: never mentioned anyone by name. His group had planned to 406 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 1: lure tourists, particularly English and American tourists, to vide months 407 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 1: home and exactly the way he had done with Jeane 408 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: to Covin. Their goal was to target people in hotels 409 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 1: or nightclubs, introduce themselves and the guys of being helpful 410 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 1: or just friendly, and then arranged to meet again later. 411 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,639 Speaker 1: Or they would place an ad in the paper for 412 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: a job or respond to job ads themselves the goal 413 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,359 Speaker 1: here was generally robbery, and murder kind of became a 414 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 1: secondary part of it. After Videman, the most so after 415 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: member of this ring was rog Millon, Parisian man several 416 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:09,920 Speaker 1: years younger than Vidman. Biedmont told authorities that Meon had 417 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 1: actually been the one to kill roge Le Blanc and 418 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: Vidman offered a guidance, and that his accomplice had also 419 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,119 Speaker 1: helped him kill Jeanine Keller. When Mion was questioned, he 420 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: told police that he knew about the crimes but had 421 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,480 Speaker 1: not committed them. Yeah, we'll get to that questioning later. 422 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,439 Speaker 1: Jean Blanc was also a very unique accomplice. He was 423 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 1: it seemed kind of in it for the thrill and 424 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: not much else, and he actually paid for the privilege 425 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:41,199 Speaker 1: of being part of Vidman's gang. Blanc, unlike the others, 426 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,159 Speaker 1: had money, he didn't need to rob anybody. He was 427 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,439 Speaker 1: from a good family and his mother gave him a 428 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,160 Speaker 1: pretty generous monthly stipend to live on. He had given 429 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: million Anigan Widmant thousand Francs over a period of time 430 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: to participate in their crimes. But Jean Blanc was also 431 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: not really newbie to crime when he joined up with 432 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: Vidmon Uh. He had been involved in a counterfeiting operation 433 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: with Million in Germany that had landed them in prison, 434 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: and that was where they met Vibon, and this core 435 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,119 Speaker 1: team had been together since the beginning. The day Oregon 436 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,199 Speaker 1: traveled to Paris, Millon and Blanc had given him a 437 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:22,959 Speaker 1: fake passport that established an alias of Karay. It was 438 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,959 Speaker 1: in that name that the house in Saint Clu had 439 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,360 Speaker 1: been rented, and all of them had lived there together. 440 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: Renee Trick Cole, who went by Colette, was dating Meal. 441 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: Some accounts indicate that she had dated both Videman and Meal, 442 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 1: and that time one gets pretty fuzzy. Yeah, journalists were 443 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: pretty quick to take the most lascivious read of that 444 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 1: situation that they could, but there's no real clue is 445 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:48,959 Speaker 1: to like whether or not she had been involved with 446 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,719 Speaker 1: both men. The motive for all of these murders was basic. 447 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: Vide Mom and his team wanted an income without work. 448 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:00,440 Speaker 1: This is actually an interesting point, though, because the amount 449 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 1: of money that they made from all of these victims 450 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: is often reported with deeply varying numbers, but none of 451 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: them are really huge. Papers reported that over the course 452 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: of the murder, slash robberies. Vidmont's crew amassed anywhere from 453 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: three thousand to francs. It's unclear where any of those 454 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 1: numbers come from, and some may have included the money 455 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 1: that Blanc was paying out or loaning wide Mont. Mrs 456 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: Keller was buried in a cave in Fontambdeu forest south 457 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: of Paris. When she had arrived at the train station 458 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: to meet her new employer, for she had been told 459 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 1: that she had gotten the job. She was met by 460 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: two men claiming to be there at the behest of 461 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: her new boss. They were driving Coofy's limousine, so Keller 462 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 1: was impressed and believed them and got in the car, 463 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,159 Speaker 1: only to be shot once they were away from the 464 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:54,919 Speaker 1: busy train station. When police recovered the body, based on 465 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: Oigan's confession, her shoes were missing, so something the French 466 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,040 Speaker 1: press thought might indicate some sort of fetish on Viteman's part. 467 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: There was one odd clue in Keller's final resting place 468 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: that vitamin had no explanation for. A photograph of him 469 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: was found near the body. Yeah, and to give you 470 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,920 Speaker 1: the spoiler, there's no follow up to that. They never 471 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,919 Speaker 1: really resolved that in anything that I read in the 472 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: case of theatrical agent Roge LeBlanc. Videman had explained they 473 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: had responded to an ad that Leblan had placed for 474 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 1: a salary job that required a young man well educated 475 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:35,200 Speaker 1: business knowledge. Milion had answered, feigning to be a loan 476 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:39,159 Speaker 1: agent interested in financing a play with Leblan. After some 477 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: correspondence back and forth, Milion Entrecot arranged to meet Leblan 478 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: to discuss a possible deal, and they told Leblan that 479 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: he should bring several thousand francs to cover the fees 480 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:53,280 Speaker 1: needed to secure the loan. At the meeting, they told 481 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:56,359 Speaker 1: Leblan they wanted to introduce him to another business associate 482 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,360 Speaker 1: who lived in Saint clu So they drove to meet 483 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:03,960 Speaker 1: Vidmont and Roge Leblan followed behind in his car. When 484 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: they got to the house, they all shared Leblan was 485 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: killed and his car was driven to a road in 486 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: Noie and left with the blond body wrapped in the curtain. 487 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,640 Speaker 1: The exact details of what led to Farmer's death remained 488 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:21,119 Speaker 1: somewhat vague. Vitamin confessed to killing him and told police 489 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,879 Speaker 1: where the body was, but refused to give additional details 490 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,879 Speaker 1: for a while. There was even some confusion in the 491 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:30,679 Speaker 1: press about whether Farmer was one of Vidman's gang before 492 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,119 Speaker 1: being killed, but that didn't seem to prove out. But 493 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: Vidmin did obviously take Arthur's shots business card to use 494 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: for his next ruse, which was contacting Les Sober over 495 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: a potential rental property. After discussing what the client needed, 496 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 1: Sober felt that he had just the right property and 497 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: arranged to meet the man he thought was shot at 498 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: a sanclude home. In this instance, Bidman shot his victim 499 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,080 Speaker 1: in the empty rental and left him on the spot 500 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: after taking his money and driving his car away. So 501 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: it seems like all of the crimes are solved at 502 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: this point because Videmont told the police a lot and 503 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,880 Speaker 1: they sort of are. But the trial of Vidmont took 504 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: a long time to happen, and his execution led to 505 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: a lot of discussion about the death penalty in France. 506 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: So we are going to end here on this rather 507 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 1: somber note, and we will pick up with all of 508 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: that in the next episode. Do you have some listener 509 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: mail to tie us over till then yes, listen, this 510 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: is a lot of murder, so I wanted to do 511 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: something that had some joy in it for listening mail. Um, 512 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 1: and this is from our listener, Angela, who writes, Hi, 513 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,640 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy. Sorry if this is long, feel free 514 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: to paraphrase. We're needed. I don't find this especially long, 515 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: she says, I tend to ramble on when I'm excited. Um. 516 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,440 Speaker 1: I love your show and even though I've been listening 517 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: for several years, it really helped me get through the 518 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: start of the pandemic as I was sewing masks and 519 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: burned them in night Oil. I have been dancing since 520 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: I was little and owned the dance studio I danced 521 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: at started by my mom for the last five years now, 522 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,720 Speaker 1: so having a creative outlet when the world was shut 523 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,200 Speaker 1: down was definitely a necessity. I was catching up on 524 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: a few backlogged episodes for me since life has returned 525 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: somewhat normal for me now, and I heard mention of 526 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 1: a love for a goth nutcracker as a goth girl myself, 527 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 1: I was totally agreeing with you out loud to my 528 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: fluffy friends. Don't worry, pictures coming. There is an adult 529 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: only dance studio near me that this past season did 530 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,240 Speaker 1: a Nightmare before Christmas in the style of the nutcracker 531 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: for Halloween time. Their reasoning was adults are busy during 532 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,120 Speaker 1: the holiday season, so doing something at Halloween seemed to 533 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: make sense. Since I owned my own studio, I was 534 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 1: not able to participate due to the duties that go 535 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 1: along with owning a dance studio. But what a cool idea. 536 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 1: I thought this would be right up your alley. It is. 537 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 1: Keep up the great work, and as promised, enjoy the 538 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: pictures of my Flukes. We have Maggie, are elderly striped 539 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:04,840 Speaker 1: kitten who has always been tiny and weighing in at 540 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: a staggering eight pounds. She's the moodiest of the pack. 541 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: Then we have Magic, who was a recent addition to 542 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: our pack. He was my sisters and my parents and 543 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: now mine. He has since begrudgingly converted to an indoor 544 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: only cat. He's the all black chalky boy at twelve pounds. 545 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,040 Speaker 1: He loves anyone and everyone and will sit in your 546 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: lap if you're stationary more than half a second. Then 547 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: we have the biggest of the Flukes are Dago Luca. 548 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,120 Speaker 1: He's the best dog. It was a perfect fit for 549 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: our family that we got right before the pandemic hit. 550 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,560 Speaker 1: He went from the traditional working family dog to being 551 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 1: the I love that my mom works from home now 552 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,479 Speaker 1: dogs since he can sleep on my bed or the 553 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 1: couch all day. Uh, thanks Angie, this is okay. The 554 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: animals are cute. Oh can I just tell you I'm 555 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: going to fantasize about a nightmare before Christmas Nutcracker, for 556 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 1: it's going to occupy a significant portion of my days 557 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 1: going forward. Um, and all of these babies are so cute. 558 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 1: I too have a teeny tiny cat that uh thinks 559 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 1: he runs everything, and several large ones as well. I 560 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: tend to go to extremes. Apparently that dog is the 561 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:11,480 Speaker 1: cutest thing I've ever seen and has the great soulful 562 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 1: eyes that say, please bake me a dogcake, and I 563 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: would if I could. Uh. There's one of the pictures 564 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: she sent is very cute because it's the dog kind 565 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:21,680 Speaker 1: of like lying down and looking at the cat while 566 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: it eats, and I don't know why. To me, that 567 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,080 Speaker 1: is magical and I love a black cat. I need 568 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,240 Speaker 1: more in my life. So thank you so much for 569 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 1: offering us this balm to all of this murder talk 570 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: on this episode, and just for sharing all of your 571 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:36,520 Speaker 1: pets and that amazing Nutcracker idea with us. If you 572 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, you can do so 573 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,959 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at iHeart radio dot com. You can 574 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,800 Speaker 1: also find us on social media as Missed in History, 575 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:46,360 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to the podcast on the iHeart 576 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:48,959 Speaker 1: radio app or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 577 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:56,200 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of 578 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 579 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:02,680 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 580 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,120 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. H