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WWII’s French Serial Killer Doctor and Other Forgotten Monsters From History

Khalid Elhassan January 27, 2020 32 min

32. Arrest and Execution

Contemporary reporting on Dr. Marcel Petiot’s basement. Wikimedia

In March of 1944, Dr. Petiot’s neighbors complained of foul odors emanating from his house, and copious smoke coming out of his chimney. Upon entering the house, authorities discovered a roaring coal stove fire in the basement, and human remains. More human remains were found in a canvass bag, and in a quicklime pit in the backyard. Police also found clothing, goods, and suitcases belonging to numerous victims. Petiot was not at home, however, and he went on the lam.

Adopting an alias, he joined the Resistance – for real this time – during the liberation of Paris later that year. He rose to captain in charge of counterintelligence and prisoner interrogations. However, his real identity was eventually uncovered, and he was arrested. Marcel Petiot was eventually charged with 27 murders for profit, although he might have killed over 60 people. Prosecutors estimated that he made over 200 million francs from his scheme. He was tried in 1946, convicted, sentenced to death, and guillotined.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.