List of French serial killers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Identified serial killers
| Name | Years active | Proven victims | Possible victims | Status | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aiutino, Vincenzo | 1991–1992 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Man with the Fifty Affairs"; Swiss who raped and strangled three women between 1991 and 1992 in Meurthe-et-Moselle | [4] |
| Alègre, Patrice | 1987–1997 | 5 | 11+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled women in Toulouse and Paris; his case caused accusations of a police cover-up | [5] |
| Attoumani, Dailami | 2017–2017 | 3 | 3 | 30 years imprisonment | Known as "The Barbarian of Montluçon"; killed three old people and raped a young woman with Zaki Ali Toumbou in order to steal their money | [6] |
| Madame de Brinvilliers | 1666–1670 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1676 | Aristocrat who poisoned her father and two brothers | [7][8] |
| Barbeault, Marcel | 1969–1976 | 8 | 8 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Shadow Killer"; killed his victims during the nighttime or early mornings | [9] |
| Bodein, Pierre | 2004–2004 | 3 | 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 | [10] |
| Bonnal, Jean-Claude | 1973–2001 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Chinese"; convicted of seven murders, two attempted murders and several burglaries and armed robberies, between 1973 et 2001. | [11][12] |
| Buffet, Claude | 1967–1971 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1972 | Took a prison guard and nurse hostage and later killed while serving a life sentence for a previous murder | [13] |
| Chambet, Ludivine | 2012–2013 | 10 | 10 | 25 years imprisonment | Known as "The Poisoner of Chambéry"; nurse's aide who poisoned elderly people using antidepressants | [14] |
| Chanal, Pierre | 1975–1988 | 8 | 17 | Committed suicide awaiting trial | Soldier suspected of raping and murdering young men in Marne | [15] |
| Cottrez, Dominique | 1989–2006 | 8 | 8 | 9 years imprisonment | Murdered her newborn infants in her home in Villers-au-Tertre | [16] |
| Dankerque, Casimir | 1935–1935 | 4 | 4 | Executed 1936 | Known as "The Monster of Artois"; murdered elderly people during robberies in Pommier and Achicourt | [17] |
| Dumollard, Martin | 1855–1861 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1862 | Known as "The Maid Killer"; with the help of his wife Marie-Anne Martinet, attacked and robbed maids in Lyon and Ain, killing three of them | [18] |
| El Borgi, Thierry | 1989–1989 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Together with partner Philippe Siauve and Thierry Jaouen, murdered two young women in July 1989 and murdered an officer with Siauve few days later | [19] |
| Faleh, Mohamed | 1995–1999 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Axe Killer". Responsible for at least three murders and one attempted murder between 1995 and 1999. Nicknamed “Bouraba” by his acquaintances | [20] |
| Fourniret, Michel | 1987–2003 | 12 | 35 | Died in prison | 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 | [21] |
| Frantz, Véronique | 1852–1854 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1854 | Poisoned her employer's mother-in-law and wife to become his mistress; later poisoned him after she learned he planned to remarry | [22] |
| Fruminet, Jacques | 1980–1998 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | 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 | [23] |
| Garnier, Gilles | 1572–1573 | 4 | 4+ | Executed 1573 | Known as "The Hermit of St. Bonnot"; reclusive hermit who confessed to murdering and cannibalizing young children | |
| Gateaux, Maurice | 1956–1967 | 3 | 3 | Released in 2016 and died in 2019 | 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. | [24] |
| Gaudissard, Poncé | 2001–2003 | 2 | 4 | Died in prison | Involved in four murders, in 2001 and 2003, as well as a rape in 2004. However, he was not prosecuted for the 2001 murders | [25] |
| Georges, Guy | 1991–1997 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Beast of Bastille"; raped and murdered women in the Bastille neighbourhood of Paris | [26] |
| Hachani, Saïb | 1962–1963 | 3 | 3 | Executed in 1966 | Nicknamed "Saïb Le Rouge". Perpetrator of three murders in 1962 and 1963. Sentenced to death, he was executed in 1966. | [27] |
| Haddouche, Jacquy | 1992–2002 | 3 | 3+ | Died in prison | Career criminal who murdered women across the country | [28] |
| Heaulme, Francis | 1984–1992 | 11 | 13+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Criminal Backpacker"; murdered a wide variety of victims across the country, some with a yet-unidentified accomplice | |
| Jaouen, Thierry | 1989–1989 | 3 | 3 | Released in 2010 | 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. | [29][30] |
| Jégado, Hélène | 1833–1851 | 3 | 36 | Executed 1852 | Domestic servant who poisoned various people with arsenic | |
| Keller, Yvan | 1991–2001 | 23 | 40–150 | Committed suicide awaiting trial | Known as "The Pillow Killer"; smothered and then robbed elderly women across France, Germany and Switzerland | [31] |
| Laget, Pierre | 1922–1929 | 1 | 3 | Committed suicide in prison | 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 | [32] |
| Lagrée, Pierre | 1915–1916 | 4 | 6 | Executed 1916 | Soldier who killed people during robberies; confessed to two more while residing in New York, United States | [33] |
| Lambin, Michel | 1983–2004 | 4 | 10+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | 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 | [34] |
| Landru, Henri Désiré | 1915–1919 | 11 | 11+ | Executed 1922 | Known as "The Bluebeard of Gambais"; killed mistresses and lovers during the war period; inspired the character of Monsieur Verdoux played by Charlie Chaplin | [35] |
| Lastennet, Claude | 1993–1994 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison | Strangled elderly women after burgling into their Paris apartments | [36] |
| Lefèvre, David | 1999–2011 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | 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 | [37] |
| Lesage, Céline | 2000–2007 | 6 | 6 | 15 years imprisonment | Suffocated and strangled her newborn infants in Valognes | [38] |
| Louis, Émile | 1970–1986 | 7 | 12+ | Died in prison | Prime suspect in the serial murders of handicapped women in Yonne | [39] |
| Malèvre, Christine | 1997–1998 | 30 | 30 | 10 years imprisonment | Killed terminally-ill patients in Mantes-la-Jolie | [40] |
| Matencio, Joël | 1974–1976 | 3 | 4 | Died in 2022 | 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. | [41] |
| Millet, Albert | 1954–2007 | 3 | 3 | Committed suicide to avoid apprehension | Killed two girlfriends and one of his lover's friends in Hyères | [42] |
| Monvoisin, Catherine | 17th-century | Unknown, alleged 1000 | Alleged 2500+ | Executed 1680 | Head of a Paris fortune teller network who sold poisons, contributing to thousands of deaths | [43] |
| Palmier, Yoni | 2011–2012 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Essonne Killer"; killed four people between November 2011 and April 2012 in Essonne, France. | [44] |
| Pauletto, André | 1960–1977 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | 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. | [45] |
| Paulin, Thierry | 1984–1987 | 18 | 27 | Died in prison | Known as "The Beast of Montmarte"; murdered old women in Paris, between 1984 and 1987. Died in prison in 1989 | [46] |
| Peiry, Michel | 1981–1987 | 5 | 11 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Sadist of Romont"; Swiss national who sexually abused and murdered hitchhikers across several European countries and the USA | [47] |
| Pel, Albert | 1872–1884 | 1 | 5 | Died in prison | 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. | [48] |
| Pesquet, Bernard | 1941–1976 | 6 | 6+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Landru of Val-d'Oise"; killed his best friend in 1941, released from prison and murdered at least six others | [49] |
| Petiot, Marcel | 1926–1944 | 27 | 63+ | Executed 1946 | Doctor who murdered would-be refugees fleeing from the Nazis | [50] |
| Petroff, Jean-Marc | 1995–1998 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | 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 | [51] |
| Philip, Baptistine | 1871–1878 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Fatally poisoned her employer, husband, and uncle-in-law for monetary gain | [52] |
| Philippe, Xavier | 1988–2005 | 2 | 4 | Released in 2025 | 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 | [53] |
| Poirson, Louis | 1995–1999 | 4 | 5+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "Rambo"; Malagasy-born stonemason who kidnapped and raped women, killing four of them | [54] |
| de Rais, Gilles | 15th-century | Unknown, alleged 140 | 140+ | Executed 1440 | Compatriot of Joan of Arc who confessed to murdering scores of children | [55] |
| Rançon, Jacques | 1986–1998 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as the "Perpignan Station Killer"; killed three young women between 1986 and 1998. Arrested in 2014, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. | [56] |
| Recco, Tommy | 1959–1980 | 7 | 10 | Died in prison | Formerly one of the oldest French prisoners before his death in 2025, aged 91. | [57] |
| Rezala, Sid Ahmed | 1999–1999 | 3 | 3+ | Committed suicide in custody | Known as "The Killer of the Trains"; Algerian-born rapist who murdered at least three women near train tracks | [58] |
| Richetto, Luigi | 1893–1899 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Italian concierge who robbed and murdered three women and one man in Lyon, dismembering their bodies afterwards | [59] |
| Robini, André | 1955–1956 | 3 | 3 | Died in 2001 | Known as "The Old Lady Killer"; assaulted and robbed numerous elderly women in Paris and Versailles, killing three of them | [60] |
| Roy, Rémy | 1990–1990 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Minitel Killer"; murdered three gay men after staged sadomasochistic acts | [61] |
| Salameh, Patrick | 2008–2008 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Marseille Ripper"; kidnapped, raped and murdered three prostitutes and a student in Marseille | [62] |
| Sarret, Georges-Alexandre | 1925–1930 | 3 | 5 | Executed 1934 | 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. | [63] |
| Sasia, Giuseppe | 1930–1934 | 4 | 5+ | Executed 1936 | Known as "The Shepherds' Killer"; Italian criminal who killed and then robbed shepherds in Draguignan; suspected of an earlier murder in 1930 | [64] |
| Scieri, Antoinette | 1924–1926 | 12 | 12 | Died in prison | Italian-born nurse who poisoned elderly patients with herbicide pyralion | [65] |
| Sedrati, Nadir | 1982–1999 | 3 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | 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 | [66] |
| Siauve, Philippe | 1989–1989 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | 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 | [19] |
| Siegler, Franck | 1986–2017 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | 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. | [67][68][69] |
| Stranieri, Alfredo | 1997–1999 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Known as "The Classified Ad Killer"; Italian-born con man who committed two double murders and one murder attempt in order to obtain property or used cars | [70] |
| Succo, Roberto | 1981–1988 | 7 | 7 | Committed suicide in prison | Murdered his parents in native Mestre, Italy, before fleeing to France and killing five more people | [71] |
| Sydor, Michel | c. 1950–1993 | 3 | 3+ | Died in prison | 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. | [72] |
| Tissier, Patrick | 1971–1993 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | 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 | [73] |
| Tomasini, François | 1907–1913 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1914 | Shot two men in Volpajola, shortly after his release from prison for a previous murder | [74] |
| Toumbou, Zaki Ali | 2017–2017 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Barbarian of Montluçon"; killed three old people and raped a young woman with Dailami Attoumani in order to steal their money | [6] |
| Vacher, Joseph | 1884–1897 | 11 | 27+ | Executed 1898 | Known as "The French Ripper"; drifter who raped, murdered, dismembered and disemboweled his victims across southeastern regions of the country | [75] |
| Vérove, François | 1986–1990 | 4 | 6 | Committed suicide before any apprehension | 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. | [76][77] |
| Waxin, Denis | 1985–1992 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Pedophile who raped and murdered children in Lille | [78] |
| Weber, Jeanne | 1905–1908 | 10 | 10+ | Committed suicide in prison | Insane woman who strangled children, including her own | [79] |
| Weidmann, Eugen | 1937–1937 | 6 | 6 | Executed 1939 | German who murdered and robbed people around Paris, including American dancer Jean de Koven; last public execution in the country | [80] |
| Zanchi, Honoré | 1992–2009 | 4 | 4 | 30 years imprisonment | 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. | [81] |