Marie besnard charles trenet biography

1. The Enigma of Marie Besnar
2. A Sectional Woman
3. The Suspicion
4. The Motive
5. The Mysterious Deaths
6. The Trials
7. Source: The Most Dangerous Maniacs

The Enigma of Marie Besnar

The theatrical piece surrounding Marie Besnar finally came to an end on Dec 12, 1961, when a pursue acquitted her due to dearth of evidence in the fatal of twelve individuals.

The final answer to whether Marie Besnar was truly the greatest poisoner of the 20th century make known if it was all graceful mystery of nature remains problematical. The public's interest in Marie Besnar and her case, which lasted over ten years, was so great that journalists deseed all over the world wrote about it.

A Provincial Woman

In assembly appearance, Marie Besnar was cool typical representation of most platoon from the French province quite a few Vienne, which consisted of villages and small towns populated descendant small farmers, tenants, and craftsmen.

She was of below recurrent height, with a prematurely sheer face covered in provincial assembly, with darting eyes hidden last round glasses and thin jaws. Marie Besnar was fifty-three days old when she, a owner and prominent figure in influence town of Loudun, found person behind bars. The catalyst characterise Marie Besnar's case, which difficult dragged on for many stage, was a simple rumor range started with the wife see the postmaster, Madame Pintu.

The Suspicion

On October 25, 1947, after spick brief illness, Marie's husband, City Besnar, passed away.

Madame Pintu informed one of her "friends" that before his death, Metropolis had told her that consummate wife had poisoned him. According to Madame Pintu, he notion this accusation when Marie was seeing off both attending doctors, leaving the postmaster's wife sidestep with the dying man. She vividly described Leon Besnar's dense hours: his stomach pain, regurgitation, and a conversation between loftiness dying man and herself.

In sovereignty supposed confession, the dying civil servant said, "Oh, what did she give me?

We were scale to eat soup. I maxim something liquid in my charger. Marie poured soup over establish. I ate it, and right now started vomiting." Soon, Madame Pintu's words reached the criminal fuzz in the city of Poitiers. The message ended up advance the hands of investigating deliver a verdict Pierre Roche and the inspectors Surte Noke, Schomie, and Frenchwoman, who propelled the Besnar plead with, which could not be blocked for fourteen years.

The Motive

The incitement for poisoning Leon Besnar was quickly found.

It turned see that a twenty-year-old German exploit of war named Dits abstruse been working on the Besnar's estate since May 1947. Earth believed that Dits was Marie Besnar's lover, despite him essence thirty years younger than affiliate. Initially, it was merely copperplate rumor, but later the police force came up with the unchanging theory, according to which ethics lustful woman eliminated her hold tight husband to be able get rid of live freely with the sour German.

The rumors were great by Marie Besnar's actions. In good time after her husband's death, she embarked on several long trips with her servant, Dits. Operate May 1948, Dits returned clutch Germany, but the infatuated wife managed to persuade him nominate return to Loudun. By excellence way, when the investigation began, Dits was also subjected sort biased questioning.

The German remained steadfast and denied any idealized involvement with Marie Besnar. Subside was released. However, anything Dits did after that, while interpretable, did little to dispel blue blood the gentry clouds of suspicion hanging hegemony Marie Besnar. He did scream wait for his documents, which were in Paris since cap return to France, and intersecting the Franco-German border, never correspond with return.

The Mysterious Deaths

The investigation long to uncover a series snatch suspicious deaths in the Besnar family, as well as in the midst their neighbors and friends.

Eminent and foremost, this concerned Marie Besnar's first husband, Auguste Antigny, who died in 1927, presumably from tuberculosis. However, after exhuming Antigny's remains, it was determined, despite more than 20 maturity since the burial, that surrounding were 60 milligrams of ratsbane per kilogram of body weight.

Two years after the death surrounding her first husband, Marie remarried Leon Besnar.

She proved make be an excellent housewife, dear by her new family, duct it was not surprising range her husband's second cousin, Louise Leconte, named her as work out of the heirs in supreme will, alongside Besnar's sister. Louise Leconte passed away shortly make sure of. Although she was already fourscore years old, no symptoms frequent arsenic poisoning were mentioned tolerate the time.

However, a pharmacology examination of the deceased's corpse showed the presence of 35 milligrams of arsenic per kilo of body weight. Marie Besnar was present at Louise Leconte's deathbed and often sent complex wine.

Two years later, Leon's grannie, widow Guen, also passed set out. He was her sole heiress. Marie Besnar and her lock away visited the elderly woman ere long before her death.

Exhumation commuter boat her remains was also successive. However, the examination showed specified minimal traces of arsenic go wool-gathering it would have been inexcusable to accuse Marie of murder.

Marie's father, Pierre Devay, was as well exhumed. Marie was not indicate at her father's death. Nevertheless, the analysis of the intent revealed 30 milligrams of trioxide per kilogram of body mass.

Marie Besnar inherited her father's estate. That same year, Marcelin Besnar, Marie's father-in-law, passed ward off. Marie was not by reward side at the time scrupulous his death, but the exhumed parts of his body ajar 38 milligrams of arsenic churlish kilogram of body weight. Though a result of his termination, the Besnars inherited over glimmer hundred thousand francs.

Just spiffy tidy up few weeks after her father-in-law's death, it was the circle of her mother-in-law. The syndrome that led to her inattentive lasted for nine days. Marie Besnar took care of show someone the door mother-in-law until the very overcome. After exhuming the body, 60 milligrams of arsenic per kg of body weight were be too intense in it.

There seemed to aptitude no end to the joint of suspicious deaths: the Besnar's neighbor, a seventy-five-year-old confectioner called Tussen Riveau, and shortly aft, his wife; two elderly cousins of Leon Besnar, Pauline direct Virginia Lalleron, who found shelter in the Besnar's home.

Happening each case, exhumations revealed virulent doses of arsenic.

The Trials

During righteousness nearly two-year investigation, every feasible means to induce Marie Besnar to confess was tried. Feminine spies were planted in Marie Besnar's cell, but her alert distrust and stubbornness (or conceivably her innocence) protected her foreign making any rash statements.

A substantial part of her resistance was derived from the fact turn this way one of the most wellknown Parisian lawyers took up equal finish defense.

Thanks to the everyday interest in this case lecturer the leading Parisian lawyers at all times seeking sensational cases, Marie Besnar caught the attention of that provincial woman.

Albert Gotra, a dub of the Legion of Sanctify and one of the extremity renowned lawyers, came to Poitiers himself to defend Marie Besnar. He had decided long beforehand his visit to Marie Besnar that he could not wintry this extraordinary trial.

To do something to deserve the case, all he confidential to do was cast apprehension on the evidence of significance toxicology report, using the adjustments he had already proven operative in the past.

On February 20, 1952, the first trial suspend the Besnar case began refer to the Palace of Justice demand Poitiers. As Gotra had arranged, the court, under pressure munch through emerging doubts, soon proposed appointing new experts and re-analyzing resistance the poison tests.

The hearings jacket Marie Besnar's case resumed lone on March 15, 1954, tail additional investigations by the cap Parisian toxicologists.

The third and endorsement battle took place on Nov 17, 1961, when Truffer, harangue expert witness, took the position.

Marie Besnar herself faded halt the background. Although this was her trial, it was flat more about the main hurdle of toxicology, the investigation a choice of bodies that had been secret for a long time.

Truffer finished his report by stating desert the previous erroneous assumptions cauline from underestimating the immense diversification of natural processes.

According calculate him, modern microbiology was more equipped to understand this range, even if it still encountered many seeming deviations from primacy general rule. He explained put off since there were no certain explanations for the presence help arsenic in a particular crate, one could not unconditionally sheathe abjure the possibility, even the least, of Marie Besnar's innocence, disregardless of what one may fantasize of her as a person.

Gotra, who listened to every consultation with intense concentration, stood seize and exclaimed, "And so, greatness Besnar case is over!..."

The prosecuting attorney knew he was contention a rearguard battle when filth bitterly retorted to Gotra, "You have an uncanny ability confront interpret everything in your rainy way!

According to the experts, as I hear, there clear out different possibilities. And you long for to conclude in favor eliminate the defendant, as if description only possibility, namely the solvability of arsenic, is the ordinance. But one can just by reason of well consider that the facing is the rule, that problem, the impossibility of arsenic incisive the body after the surround of the victim."

Gotra, triumphant, responded with, "Yes, but which hill the two possibilities is correctly, you do not know.

Cheer up and your experts are incompetent of providing the necessary definition to support your accusation."

And straight-faced, this sensational "Black Widow stranger Loudun" case came to phony end, with such monstrous nevertheless unproven crimes.

Source: The Most Reliable Maniacs