Henri Desire Landru the Bluebeard Part 3

About Henri Desire Landru aka Bluebeard who murdered at least 9 French women for their money, history of the crime, the trial and verdict.

HENRI DESIRE LANDRU, THE BLUBEARD (active 1914 to 1919)

The Trial: Fashionable women with lunch baskets and dogs flocked to the trial, fighting for seats in the courtroom. Said Landru, "If any lady would like my place, I will willingly surrender it."

That's about all he said. Throughout the trial, he refused to testify and kept saying that he was innocent. But the evidence was over-whelming--the notebook, the stove ashes, and his bank account. (When Mme. Jaume went to the villa with Landru, she took 274.60 francs. Shortly after, Landru's money supply swelled by exactly that amount. There were many such "coincidences.")

The only times he lost control were when his family was implicated. During the inquiries, his wife and son were arrested and put in jail. His wife had impersonated 2 of the women in order to get their savings. Landru, protesting her innocence, said that the missing women were "away," that he had asked his wife to sign as a formality. His wife said, "If I have done wrong, it was unwittingly. I am a martyr and not a criminal. My misfortune has been to love my husband too well."

It took the jury an hour and a half to find Landru guilty.

The End: On February 23, 1922, Landru was executed, by guillotine. Just before the blade fell, he said, "Ah, well, it is not the 1st time that an innocent man has been condemned."

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