The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot (41 page)

P
ETIOT
, M
AURICE
—Petiot's younger brother from Auxerre who implicated himself by transporting the rue Le Sueur lime and suitcases.

P
ETIOT
, M
ONIQUE
—Maurice Petiot's wife; Marcel's sister-in-law.

P
IÉDELIÈVRE
, D
R
. R
ENÉ
—Forensic expert who studied the rue Le Sueur remains.

P
IERESCHI
, J
OSEPH
D
IDIONI
S
IDISSÉ
(aka Dionisi; Zé)—Thief and pimp who, along with his mistress Paulette Grippay, was among Petiot's presumed victims.

P
INAULT
, C
OMMISSAIRE
L
UCIEN
—Police Judiciaire detective who worked on the murder investigation and took over Massu's position when the latter was suspended.

P
INTARD
, E
DMOND
(aka Francinet)—Makeup artist and former vaudeville song-and-dance man who collected prospective refugees and passed them to Fourrier.

P
OIRIER
, I
NSPECTOR
—Detective who worked on the murder investigation.

P
ORCHON
, R
OLAND
A
LBERT
—Used-furniture dealer who claimed Nézondet had told him about the bodies at the rue Le Sueur in 1943; he also sent the Marie couple to Petiot.

R
EDOUTÉ
, G
EORGES
—Housepainter who harbored Petiot in his rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis apartment after the rue Le Sueur discovery.

R
ÉOCREUX
, J
OSEPH
(aka Jo le Boxeur; Iron Arm Joe)—Pimp, thief, and collaborator who, along with his mistress Claudia Chamoux, was among Petiot's presumed victims.

R
OART
, C
HRISTIANE
—Neighbor of the Knellers and René Kneller's godmother; she told police about the family's departure.

R
OGUES DE
F
URSAC
, D
R.
—Psychiatrist who examined Petiot in 1936 and recommended his release from a hospital.

R
OLLAND
, C
HARLES
—Possibly fictitious informant whose supposed interrogation by Massu concerning Petiot's alleged Gestapo activities was transcribed in the newspaper
Résistance.

R
OMIER
, L
UCIEN
—Vichy minister of state who Petiot claimed had helped his escape organization procure false identity papers.

R
OSSMY,
G
ISÈLE
—Mistress of Estébétéguy and a presumed victim of Petiot.

R
OUGEMONT
, E
DOUARD DE
—Graphologist who testified about the letters supposedly written by Marthe Khaït, Dr. Braunberger, Denise Hotin, and Van Bever.

S
AINT
-P
IERRE
, D
R
. L
OUIS
-T
HÉOPHILE
—Through his patient Guintrand, he introduced Kahan to Petiot.

S
ALVAGE
, C
ORPORAL
J
EAN
—French Forces of the Interior officer at the Caserne de Reuilly who loaned Petiot an apartment and who may have committed crimes for him and played a part in his arrest.

S
ANNIÉ
, P
ROFESSOR
C
HARLES
—Director of the police identification lab who examined 21 rue Le Sueur, the remains, and the victims' personal effects.

S
CARELLA
, J
OSEPH
—Chef who ultimately refused Petiot's offer to send him to Argentina.

S
CHEPERS
—
See
Arnsberg, Ludwig and Ludwika.

S
CHONKER
, C
HAÏMA
and F
RANZISKA
(aka Stevens; Ehrenreich; Eemans)—Parents of Marie-Anne Basch and Ludwika Arnsberg; presumed victims of Petiot.

S
IMONIN
—
See
Soutif.

S
OUTIF
—French Forces of the Interior captain (under the name Simonin) and an undercover collaborator; he arrested Petiot on October 31, 1944.

S
TÉFANAGGI
, M
AÎTRE
D
OMINIQUE
—Civil-suit attorney representing Piereschi's family at the murder trial.

S
TEVENS
—
See
Schonker, Chaïma and Franziska.

T
EYSSIER
, J
OSEPH
—One of the policemen who discovered the bodies at 21 rue Le Sueur.

T
URPAULT
, M
ARIE
—A friend of Nézondet's mistress to whom he told the story about rue Le Sueur he claimed to have heard from Maurice Petiot.

V
ALÉRI
, C
APTAIN
H
ENRI
—Alias used by Petiot at the Caserne de Reuilly; he took the name from a plaque identifying the previous occupant of his apartment at 66 rue Caumartin.

V
ALLÉE
, R
AYMOND
—Friend of Madame Braunberger's at whose house Dr. Braunberger and Petiot first met, and through whom Madame Braunberger received the first letter from her husband after his disappearance; Vallée's wife was Georgette Petiot's cousin.

V
AN
B
EVER
, J
EAN
-M
ARC
—Arrested in 1942 with his lover Jeannette Gaul for narcotics abuse, he disappeared one month later, presumably at Petiot's hands.

V
ÉRON
, M
AÎTRE
P
IERRE
—Civil-suit attorney hired to defend Madame Khaït's daughter on a narcotics case involving Petiot; he later represented the Khaït relatives at the murder trial and was, coincidentally, hired to represent the family of Yvan Dreyfus.

W
ETTERWALD
, D
R
. F
RANÇOIS
—Imprisoned Resistant whose papers Petiot stole in order to enlist in the French Forces of the Interior.

W
OLFF
, M
AURICE
, L
INA,
and R
ACHEL
—Refugees who tried to leave France and who presumably ended up victims of Petiot.

Y
ONNET
, J
ACQUES
—
See
Ibarne, Lieutenant Jacques.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barret, Claude.
L'Affaire Petiot.
“Le Crime ne paie pas” collection. Paris: Librairie Gallimard, 1958.

Bertin, Claude, ed.
Les Assassins hors-série: Gilles de Rais. Petiot.
Vol. 10. Les Grands procès de l'histoire de France. Paris: Editions de Saint-Clair, 1967.

Gordeaux, Paul.
Le Docteur Petiot.
Paris: Editions J'ai lu, 1970.

Manière, Pierre.
Marcel Petiot, ou l'échec d'une ambition politique.
Privately printed by the author, n.d.

Massu, Georges-Victor.
L'Enquête Petiot
—
la plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle.
Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959.

Nézondet, René.
Petiot le possédé.
Paris: Nézondet (copyright), 1950.

Perry, Jacques, and Chabert, Jane.
L'Affaire Petiot.
“L'Air du temps” collection. Paris: Librairie Gallimard, 1957.

Petiot, Dr. Marcel.
Le Hasard vaincu
…
les lois des Martingales.
Paris: privately printed by the author, 1946.

Planel, Alomée.
Docteur Satan ou l'Affaire Petiot.
Paris: Editions Robert Laffont, 1978.

Seth, Ronald.
Petiot, Victim of Chance.
London: Hutchinson & Co., 1963.

Tavernier, René.
Alors rôdait dans l'ombre le docteur Petiot.
Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1974.

Varaut, Jean-Marc.
L'Abominable Dr. Petiot.
Paris: Balland, 1974.

Information was also drawn from the following newspapers:

L'Aurore, Combat, Le Figaro, France-Soir, Franc-Tireur, Libération-Soir, Le Matin, Le Monde, The New York Herald Tribune
(international edition),
L'Oeuvre, Le Parisien Libéré, Paris-Soir, Le Petit Parisien,
and
Resistance.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Among the people who helped with this project, I should mention a few, and the many others must rest content with the knowledge that, whatever its merits or demerits, they were accomplices and must accept their due. My thanks to: the Procureur Général de la Cour d'Appel de Paris and the Director of the Archives du Département de la Seine et de la Ville de Paris for permitting me to consult the voluminous official court dossier on the Petiot case; the Director of the Musée de la Prefecture de Police, who showed me the Police Judiciaire files at his disposal; Drs. Christian Piédelièvre and Léon Dérobert for information on the coroner's report; Maître Paul Cousin, who showed me his copy of Maître Floriot's final plea and, together with Maître Eugène Ayache, supplied valuable information about the preparation of the defense; Avocat Général Elissalde for information on the State's preparation of the prosecution; Maître Bernard Massu for fascinating stories about his father and the investigation; Pierre Manière for a copy of his pamphlet, which provided much of my information about Petiot's political career; and Maître Jean-Marc Varaut for useful information and a delicious lunch.

Above all, I am indebted to Maître Pierre Véron, who gave me a wealth of information, a great deal of his time, and the pleasure of spending many enjoyable hours with him and his family. For assorted help, tolerance, and occasional enthusiasm, thanks to Francienne and Dr. Maurice Béjat, Marianne and Olivier Béjat, François Caradec, the late Florence Gilliam, Professor Henri Gouhier, Gilles and Paul Kujawski, and André Roumieux. Thanks also to Abigail Adams, John Coggeshall, and David Rashkis for their useful critical comments, and to Arnold Ehrlich for turning fancy into fact or vice versa.

About the Author

Thomas Maeder is the author of five books, including
The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot
(1981),
Crime and Madness: The Origins and Evolution of the Insanity Defense
(1985), and Adverse Reactions (1994), and coauthor of seven humor books. He has also written for magazines and newspapers, including the
Atlantic
and
Scientific American
; designed science museum exhibits; worked in the Office of Research at Georgetown University Medical Center; and consulted and created educational programs in the medical technology and life sciences industries. Maeder lives in Narberth, Pennsylvania.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

Copyright © 1980 by Thomas Maeder

Cover design by Mauricio Díaz

ISBN: 978-1-5040-3852-2

This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com

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