Antoine Léger (cannibal)
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Antoine Léger | |
|---|---|
 Antoine Léger prepares to strangle his victim | |
| Born | 1795–1796 Saint-Martin-Bettencourt, France |
| Died | 30 November 1824 |
| Cause of death | Execution by guillotine |
| Conviction | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 1 (Aimée Constance Debully) |
| Country | France |
| State | Essonne |
Date apprehended | 12 August 1824 |
Antoine Léger (c. 1795[Notes 1]– 30 November 1824) was a French cannibal and murderer, convicted for the rape and killing of 12-year-old Aimée Constance Debully, whom he later partially devoured. For this crime, he was later guillotined.[1][2]
Childhood and adolescence
Antoine Léger testified that, from an early age, he avoided socializing with his peers due to his tendency to prefer to be alone.[3]
From the age of 15, he was a barn drummer and played the bassoon in the woods; in 1815, he served in the Soissons garrison.[4]
Escape
In 1824, on St. John's Day, he left his parents' house to become a hermit, after having made them believe that he was going to work as a domestic servant in Dourdan.[3]
Having given free rein to his desire for isolation, he lived, during the first fortnight, among peasants; at the end of his eight-day, he found a cave near the Charbonnière Rock, located above Moutmiraux, where he spent the rest of the time until his arrest.[3][5]
Crime
Murder of Aimée Constance Debully
On 10 August 1824, Léger saw Debully walking by. He then slipped behind her, strangled her with his handkerchief, then carried the corpse into the middle of the woods and committed acts of necrophilia before devouring certain parts of Aimée, notably eating her heart. He then took the corpse to his cave, where he buried it in the sand.[1]
The disappearance of Debully mobilized the population: the peasants searched for her and suspected all foreigners in the area; after five days, a blue and white handkerchief belonging to the victim was discovered.[6] Finally, on 15 August, the entrance to Léger's cave was found, and the smell of the corpse's decomposition led the investigators to the makeshift grave.[6]
Arrest
Four days before, on 12 August, a cantonal guard saw a suspicious man near a fountain, whom he tried to approach, but failed. He stood guard the next day before the fountain and in the evening, with the help of surrounding peasants, apprehended Léger.[3]
Initially arrested for vagrancy, Antoine claimed to be without parents and an escapee from the Brest Prison, where he claimed to have served a 20-year penal labour sentence.[4][5]
