Joseph Vacher: A Murderer in France

The case of Joseph Vacher was as well-known, more deadly, and even compared to, the murders committed by “Jack the Ripper” so much so that Vacher even screamed that he was “Joseph the Ripper”. This murder, whose identity was unknown at the time, left a trail of terror where ever he went, his capture became a career making opportunity for the investigating magistrates. After Vacher was captured a new branch of criminal interrogation was used to try to incriminate him in the murders that it was believed he had done. The major breakthrough in criminology came in the form of the methods that lead to his capture and identification.

The magistrates all over France were searching for “Jack the Ripper of the Southeast”, the first notable magistrate was notified of “the murder of the little shepherd”. This crime is what proved to be Vacher’s downfall, as it resulted in a pattern being formed of the many murders that he had committed. The connection was first made by the investigating magistrate, Émile Fourquet, of the town of Belley. Vacher had committed a murder in the town some two years earlier, the connection was made by the similarities to the way the two victims were killed. The help of other magistrates was needed in order to gather information to connect the two murders, this is when the Magistrate of Dijon, Louis-Albert Fonfréde, who sent over seven other murders that shared many of the same elements.

This is when the belief that one killer could be responsible for the deaths of eight different people, that they know of, all across France. The Magistrate who jurisdiction over the Laurent Case, Alphonse Benoist of Lyon, noticed similarities as well and using the resources of a reporter was able to gain a common element in many of...

... middle of paper ...

...this entire process of the magistrate attempting to lure him to his own doom, Vacher was attempting to convince the case that he was insane and therefore had no control over his actions.

Through out Vacher’s travels across the French Country side he was implicated to the murder of at least eight different people. While the belief that he may have been behind the many deaths of many others is still alive today, that truth may have died with him. While the processes used in investigation will continue to evolve in response to the changes in the way criminals commit their crimes, we must remember that to stop crime we should stop the reasons for their existence. The use of reasoning and questioning to bring about the desired result had equal, and fairer, manner of bring about the confession of a criminal gives me hope that from violence we can become a better society.