The Unspeakable Crimes of Dr. Petiot
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Joseph “Zé” Piereschi
Yvan Dreyfus
Lina Wolff
Gilbert Basch
Denise Hotin
Dr. Paul Braunberger
Kurt and young René Kneller
Margaret and René Kneller
SELECTED LIST OF CHARACTERS
ADRIEN LE BASQUE—See Estébétéguy, Adrien.
ALBERTINI, FRANÇOIS (aka François le Corse)—Pimp who, along with his mistress Annette Basset, was among Petiot’s presumed victims.
ALICOT, HENRI-CASIMIR—Owner of the Hôtel Alicot at 207 bis rue de Bercy, where Maurice Petiot and Albert Neuhausen stayed when in Paris, and where Georgette Petiot spent the day before fleeing to Auxerre after the rue Le Sueur discovery.
ALLARD, ROGER and ANDRÉE—Neighbors and patients of Dr. Braunberger; Roger and Andrée, his mother, told the police confusing stories about Braunberger’s disappearance.
ANNETTE LA POUTE—See Basset, Annette.
ANSPACH—See Arnsberg, Ludwig and Ludwika.
ARCHÊVEQUE, MAÎTRE JACQUES—Civil-suit attorney representing Renée Guschinov at the trial.
ARNOUX, LÉONE—Former maid and mistress of Georgette Petiot’s father, and close friend of Maurice Petiot’s family; arrested for receiving stolen goods.
ARNSBERG, LUDWIG and LUDWIKA (aka Anspach, Hollander, Schepers)—Went from Nice to Paris to join their relatives the Basches; presumed victims of Petiot.
AYACHE, MAÎTRE EUGÈNE—Assistant to Floriot during the Petiot murder case.
BARRÉ, GERMAINE—Resistant who was being interrogated by the Gestapo when they released Petiot, and who appeared as a voluntary defense witness at the trial.
BARTHOLOMEUS—See Hotin, Denise.
BASCH, GILBERT and MARIE-ANNE (aka Baston, Hollander, Schonker)—Friends of the Wolffs and presumed victims of Petiot.
BASSET, ANNETTE (aka Petit; Annette la Poute)—Prostitute, mistress of François Albertini, and presumed victim of Petiot.
BASTON—See Basch, Gilbert and Marie-Anne.
BATUT, CHIEF INSPECTOR MARIUS—Police Judiciaire detective who handled much of the early murder investigation under Massu.
BAUDET, RAYMONDE—Daughter of Madame Khaït; her drug habit brought her and her mother in contact with Petiot.
BERETTA, CHARLES—Collaborated with Friedrich Berger, head of the rue de la Pompe Gestapo office; by pretending to be a candidate for escape, he precipitated the Germans’ arrest of Petiot, Fourrier, Pintard, and Nézondet.
BERGER, FRIEDRICH—Head of rue de la Pompe Gestapo office, in charge of security in the occupied territory; he arrested Petiot, Fourrier, Pintard, and Nézondet before discovering that he had ruined Jodkum’s plans to trace Petiot’s “escape network.”
BERNAYS, MAÎTRE JACQUES—Civil-suit attorney representing the Wolff family at the trial.
BERRY, GEORGES—Juge d’instruction who handled the Petiot murder case from the time of the rue Le Sueur discovery until shortly after the Liberation of Paris.
BORIS, CAPTAIN HENRI—Soldier and friend of Yvan Dreyfus who testified for the prosecution.
BOUYGUES, INSPECTOR RENÉ—Policeman whom Roland Porchon supposedly told about Petiot’s crimes in the summer of 1943.
BRAUNBERGER, MARGUERITE—Dr. Braunberger’s wife; Floriot attacked her identification of her husband’s hat and shirt at the trial.
BRAUNBERGER, DR. PAUL-LÉON—Disappeared after a telephone call from an anonymous “patient,” then sent several letters to his wife announcing his intention of fleeing to the free zone.
BROSSOLETTE, PIERRE—Resistance hero (killed in March 1944) for whom Petiot claimed to have worked.
BROUARD, LIEUTENANT ALBERT—Member of the DGER (Military Security) who, with Ibarne (Yonnet), investigated Petiot’s alleged Resistance activities.
CABELGUENNE, VICTOR—Civilian who may have committed crimes with Duchesne and Salvage, officers from the Caserne de Reuilly.
CADORET DE L’EPINGUEN, MICHEL and MARIE—Couple who wished to escape and contacted Petiot through Malfet and Kahan; both Petiot and the Cadorets changed their minds, and the couple successfully left France by another route.
CASANOVA, INSPECTOR—Police Judiciaire detective who worked on the Petiot murder case.
CEILLIER, DR.—Psychiatrist who examined Petiot after his 1936 arrest for shoplifting and recommended his hospitalization.
CHAMBERLIN, HENRI—See Lafont, Henri.
CHAMOUX, CLAUDIA (aka Lulu)—Prostitute, mistress of Joseph Réocreux, and presumed victim of Petiot.
CHANTIN, MARCEL—Banker who told Guélin about Fourrier, Pintard, and the escape organization.
CHARBONNEAUX, JEAN-MARIE—Under the name Cumulo, a member of the Resistance group Rainbow who was killed in 1943; Petiot claimed to have worked with him.
CLAUDE, DR.—One of three psychiatrists who together recommended Petiot’s release from a mental hospital in 1937.
COLLOREDO DE MANSFELD, PRINCESS MARIA—The owner of the building at 21 rue Le Sueur before Petiot.
COURTOT, ROGER—A Resistant who shared a cell with Petiot at Fresnes and testified on his behalf at his murder trial.
COUSIN, MAÎTRE PAUL—Assistant to Floriot on the Petiot case; he informed Petiot of the execution date.
CUMULO—See Charbonneaux, Jean-Marie.
DEBAUVE, HENRIETTE and ARMAND—Directors of the Villeneuve-sur-Yonne dairy cooperative. In March 1930 Armand found Henriette, his wife, bludgeoned to death in their burning home, and rumor implicated Petiot.
DELAVEAU, LOUISE (aka Louisette)—Petiot’s young maid and mistress at Villeneuve-sur-Yonne; she disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1926.
DEQUEKER—Codirector with Guélin at the Théâtre des Nouveautés and his associate in the scheme for Yvan Dreyfus’s release.
DÉROBERT, DR. LÉON—Forensic specialist who helped study the rue Le Sueur remains.
DESFOURNEAUX, HENRI—Monsieur de Paris, Petiot’s executioner.
DOULET, COMMISSAIRE LUCIEN—Policeman whom Roland Porchon apparently told about Petiot’s murders.
DREYFUS, PAULETTE—Wife of Yvan Dreyfus; she paid Guélin more than four million francs for her husband’s release.
DREYFUS, YVAN—Radio distributor and Resistant who was forced by Guélin into helping with Petiot’s arrest by the Gestapo; he presumably ended up among Petiot’s victims.
DUCHESNE, LIEUTENANT JEAN—French Forces of the Interior officer at the Caserne de Reuilly who may have committed crimes for Petiot and played a part in his arrest.
DUNANT, MAÎTRE ANDRÉ—Civil-suit attorney representing the family of Gisèle Rossmy at the murder trial.
DUPIN, MAÎTRE PIERRE—Avocat général who prosecuted Petiot for murder.
DURAN, DR. EUGÈNE—Villeneuve-sur-Yonne physician who defeated Petiot in his second mayoral campaign.
EEMANS—See Schonker, Chaïma and Franziska.
EHRENREICH—See Schonker, Chaïma and Franziska.
ELISSALDE, AVOCAT GÉNÉRAL—Representative of the procureur général who drew up the Petiot murder indictment and who tried to help Dupin during the trial.
ESTÉBÉTÉGUY, ADRIEN (aka Adrien le Basque)—Criminal and collaborator who, along with his mistress Gisèle Rossmy, was among Petiot’s presumed victims.
EUGÈNE, DR.—Alias used by Petiot before his arrest by the Germans in 1943.
EUSTACHE, JEAN—Trucker from Auxerre who transported the rue Le Sueur suitcases and lime for Maurice Petiot.
FILLION, EMILE—One of the policemen who discovered the bodies at 21 rue Le Sueur.
FLORIOT, MAÎTRE RENÉ—Lawyer who represented Petiot in the Gaul–Van Bever and Baudet-Khaït narcotics cases, and who defended him at his murder trial.
FORTIN—See Khaït, Marthe.
FOURRIER, RAOUL—Barber who helped recruit “escapees” for Petiot; many of them left from his rue des Mathurins shop.
FRANCINET—See Pintard, Edmond.
FRANÇOIS LE CORSE—See Albertini, François.
&nbs
p; GACHKEL, MAÎTRE—Civil-suit attorney representing the Basch and Arnsberg families at the murder trial.
GANG, ILSE—Friend of the Wolffs and Basches who wrote an anonymous letter to Massu concerning their disappearance.
GAUL, JEANNETTE—Drug addict and prostitute who lived with Van Bever and was arrested for procuring narcotics from Petiot.
GÉNIL-PERRIN, DR.—Psychiatrist who examined Petiot before his release from a hospital in 1937 and again before his 1946 murder trial.
GÉRARD, DR. HENRI—Doctor who unsuspectingly referred Petiot to Dr. Wetterwald.
GIGNOUX, INSPECTOR ROGER—Police detective assigned to the Van Bever and Khaït disappearances in early 1942; he suspected Petiot was involved.
GOLETTY, FERDINAND—Juge d’instruction who handled the Petiot murder case from shortly after his arrest until he was sent to trial.
GOUEDO, JEAN—Rue Caumartin furrier who reported his partner Joachim Guschinov missing.
GOURIOU, DR.—One of three psychiatrists who examined Petiot before his murder trial.
GRIFFON, PROFESSOR HENRI—Director of the police toxicology lab who examined the rue Le Sueur bodies for traces of poison.
GRIPPAY, JOSÉPHINE-AIMÉE (aka Paulette la Chinoise)—Prostitute, Piereschi’s mistress, and a presumed victim of Petiot.
GUÉLIN, JEAN—Former lawyer, codirector with Dequeker of the Théâtre des Nouveautés; he collaborated with Jodkum to expose Petiot’s “escape route” by using Yvan Dreyfus.
GUINTRAND, HENRI (aka Henri le Marseillais; Robert)—Petty criminal who introduced Kahan to Pintard.
GUSCHINOV, JOACHIM—Rue Caumartin furrier presumed to have been Petiot’s first Paris victim.
GUSCHINOV, RENÉE—Joachim Guschinov’s wife, who neglected to report him missing.
GUTTIN, MAÎTRE HENRI—Petiot’s most ardent political opponent at Villeneuve-sur-Yonne.
HANSS, RAYMONDE—Patient of Petiot’s who died under mysterious circumstances in 1934.
HENRI LE MARSEILLAIS—See Guintrand, Henri.
HENRY, MAÎTRE CHARLES—Civil-suit attorney representing the Grippay family at the murder trial.
HEUYER, DR. GEORGES—One of three psychiatrists who examined Petiot before his murder trial.
HOLLANDER—See Arnsberg, Ludwig and Ludwika; Basch, Gilbert and Marie-Anne.
HOTIN, DENISE (née Bartholomeus)—Young woman who disappeared after an alleged abortion and was counted among Petiot’s victims.
HOTIN, JEAN—Denise Hotin’s husband, who made little effort to find her.
IBARNE, LIEUTENANT JACQUES (aka Jacques Yonnet)—As a journalist, he published Rolland’s deposition in Résistance and wrote articles on the Petiot case; as a member of Military Security, he investigated Petiot’s alleged Resistance activity with Brouard.
JACQUET, MAÎTRE PIERRE—Assistant to Floriot on the Petiot murder case.
JODKUM, ROBERT—Highly placed civilian employee in the Jewish Affairs sector of the rue des Saussaies Gestapo office; he made plans with Guélin to trace Petiot’s “escape network,” and later furnished information to Massu.
JO LE BOXEUR—See Réocreux, Joseph.
JOSIAN—Mysterious, unidentified person the Allards claimed had helped Dr. Braunberger escape.
KAHAN, RUDOLPHINE (aka Eryane Kahan)—Woman who sent the Wolffs, Basches, Schonkers, Arnsbergs, and Cadoret de l’Epinguens to Petiot; she went into hiding after the rue Le Sueur discovery.
KHAÏT, DAVID—Marthe Khaït’s husband at the time of her disappearance.
KHAÏT, MARTHE (née Fortin)—Mother of Fernand Lavie and Raymonde Baudet; she vanished shortly before her daughter’s narcotics trial and was presumed to be a victim of Petiot.
KNELLER, KURT, MARGERET (aka Greta, née Lent), and RENÉ—Family of naturalized French Jews of German origin; almost caught in a Gestapo raid, they sought to escape through Petiot but presumably were murdered.
LABLAIS, MONSIEUR—Father of Georgette Petiot.
LAFONT, HENRI (aka Henri Chamberlin)—Head of the French Gestapo on the rue Lauriston, for whom Estébétéguy and several other victims of Petiot had worked; defended by Floriot, he was executed in December 1944.
LAIGNEL-LAVASTINE, DR. MAXIME—Psychiatrist who joined two others in recommending Petiot’s release from a hospital in 1937.
LATEULADE, ROBERT—Resistant imprisoned at Fresnes with Petiot who may have been the source of some of his information about the Resistance.
LAVIE, FERNAND—Marthe Khaït’s son by her first marriage.
LÉON-LÉVY, MAÎTRE—Civil-suit attorney representing the Kneller family at the murder trial.
LESAGE, AIMÉE—Nurse who lived with Nézondet as his mistress.
LESER, MICHEL—President of the tribunal at Petiot’s murder trial.
LHÉRITIER, LIEUTENANT RICHARD—Paratrooper who shared a cell at Fresnes with Petiot and was a star defense witness at the murder trial.
LOUISETTE—See Delaveau, Louise.
LULU—See Chamoux, Claudia.
MALFET, ROBERT—Man who helped the Arnsbergs and Schonkers go from Nice to Paris and who introduced the Cadoret de l’Epinguens to Kahan.
MALLARD, MADAME—Parisian midwife from whom Denise Hotin allegedly sought an abortion.
MARÇAIS, JACQUES and ANDRÉE—Couple who lived on the fifth floor of 22 rue Le Sueur; disturbed by smoke on March 11, 1944, they summoned the police.
MARIE, RENÉ and MARCELLE—Couple Porchon sent to Petiot but who did not trust the doctor and gave up their escape plans.
MARTINETTI, ROBERT—Presumably fictitious Resistant who Petiot claimed was the real head of the supposed escape organization Fly-Tox.
MASSU, COMMISSAIRE GEORGES-VICTOR—Head of the Police Judiciaire Criminal Brigade who was in charge of the murder investigation until shortly before Petiot’s capture.
MAXIME, ROBERT—Maurice Petiot’s shop employee in Auxerre.
MOURON, GILBERTE—Daughter of the deceased Madame Mallard; she testified that Denise Hotin had gone to see Petiot.
NEUHAUSEN, ALBERT and SIMONE—Couple at Courson-les-Carrières who stored the suitcases Maurice Petiot removed from the rue Le Sueur; both were arrested for receiving stolen goods.
NÉZONDET, RENÉ-GUSTAVE—Friend of Petiot’s in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne and Paris who was arrested with him by the Germans in 1943; he later claimed Maurice Petiot had told him about the bodies at the rue Le Sueur and was arrested for concealing a crime.
NOÉ, CLARA—The friend and neighbor at whose home the Knellers hid before departing with Petiot.
OLMI, ACHILLE—Juge d’instruction who handled the Gaul–Van Bever and Baudet narcotics cases, and who showed little concern about finding Van Bever and Madame Khaït when they vanished.
PAPINI, UGO—Van Bever’s business associate and sole friend, who reported him missing.
PASCAUD, INSPECTOR—Police Judiciaire detective active in the murder investigation.
PAUL, DR. ALBERT—Chief coroner in charge of examining the rue Le Sueur bodies.
PAULETTE LA CHINOISE—See Grippay, Joséphine-Aimée.
PÉHU, PIERRE—Former policeman who worked for Guélin and served as an intermediary in the negotiations to release Yvan Dreyfus from prison.
PERLÈS, MAÎTRE CLAUDE—Civil-suit attorney representing Madame Braunberger at the murder trial.
PETIOT, FÉLIX IRÉNÉ MUSTIOLE and MARTHE MARIE CONSTANCE JOSÉPHINE (née Bourdon)—Parents of Marcel and Maurice Petiot.
PETIOT, GEORGETTE VALENTINE (née Lablais)—Dr. Petiot’s wife; she was arrested for receiving stolen goods.
PETIOT, GERHARDT GEORGES CLAUDE FÉLIX (called Gérard)—Petiot’s son, born at Villeneuve-sur-Yonne on April 19, 1928.
PETIOT, MAURICE—Petiot’s younger brother from Auxerre who implicated himself by transporting the rue Le Sueur lime and suitcases.
PETIOT, MONIQUE—Maurice Petiot’s wife; Marcel’s sister-in-law.
PIÉDELIÈVRE, DR. RENÉ—Forensic expert who studied the rue Le Sueur remains.
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p; PIERESCHI, JOSEPH DIDIONI SIDISSÉ (aka Dionisi; Zé)—Thief and pimp who, along with his mistress Paulette Grippay, was among Petiot’s presumed victims.
PINAULT, COMMISSAIRE LUCIEN—Police Judiciaire detective who worked on the murder investigation and took over Massu’s position when the latter was suspended.
PINTARD, EDMOND (aka Francinet)—Makeup artist and former vaudeville song-and-dance man who collected prospective refugees and passed them to Fourrier.
POIRIER, INSPECTOR—Detective who worked on the murder investigation.
PORCHON, ROLAND ALBERT—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.
REDOUTÉ, GEORGES—Housepainter who harbored Petiot in his rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis apartment after the rue Le Sueur discovery.
RÉOCREUX, JOSEPH (aka Jo le Boxeur; Iron Arm Joe)—Pimp, thief, and collaborator who, along with his mistress Claudia Chamoux, was among Petiot’s presumed victims.
ROART, CHRISTIANE—Neighbor of the Knellers and René Kneller’s godmother; she told police about the family’s departure.
ROGUES DE FURSAC, DR.—Psychiatrist who examined Petiot in 1936 and recommended his release from a hospital.
ROLLAND, CHARLES—Possibly fictitious informant whose supposed interrogation by Massu concerning Petiot’s alleged Gestapo activities was transcribed in the newspaper Résistance.
ROMIER, LUCIEN—Vichy minister of state who Petiot claimed had helped his escape organization procure false identity papers.
ROSSMY, GISÈLE—Mistress of Estébétéguy and a presumed victim of Petiot.
ROUGEMONT, EDOUARD DE—Graphologist who testified about the letters supposedly written by Marthe Khaït, Dr. Braunberger, Denise Hotin, and Van Bever.
SAINT-PIERRE, DR. LOUIS-THÉOPHILE—Through his patient Guintrand, he introduced Kahan to Petiot.
SALVAGE, CORPORAL JEAN—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.
SANNIÉ, PROFESSOR CHARLES—Director of the police identification lab who examined 21 rue Le Sueur, the remains, and the victims’ personal effects.