Marie Besnard
Encyclopedia
Marie Besnard also known as 'The Good Lady of Loudun', was an accused serial poison
er in the mid 20th century.
Besnard was first charged with multiple murder on July 21, 1949, under her given name, Marie Joséphine Philippine Davaillaud. After three trials lasting over 10 years (the first held in Poitiers
), Besnard was finally freed in 1954, then acquitted
on December 12, 1961. The case attracted widespread attention throughout the country and remains one of the most enigmatic in modern French legal history.
, France
, Marie married her cousin, Auguste Antigny, in 1920. The marriage lasted until his death from pleurisy
on July 21, 1927 (Antigny was known to suffer from tuberculosis
). When his body was eventually exhumed, 60 mg of arsenic
was found in his remains.
In 1928, Marie married Léon Besnard.
s.
His mother followed three months later, apparently a victim of pneumonia
. The parents' estate was left to Besnard's husband and his sister, Lucie, who supposedly committed suicide
a few months later. Around this time, on May 14, 1940, Marie Besnard's father Pierre Davaillaud also died, officially due to cerebral haemorrhage, although his exhumed remains contained 36 mg of arsenic.
Shortly afterward, the Besnards sublet rooms to a wealthy childless couple, the Rivets, who were friends of Marie's husband. Monsieur Toussaint Rivet died of pneumonia
on July 14, 1939, although 18 mg of arsenic was later discovered in his exhumed remains. Madame Blanche Rivet (née Lebeau) died on December 27, 1941 from aortitis
, although her remains contained 30 mg of arsenic. The Rivets' will had named Marie Besnard as their only heir.
Pauline Bodineau, (née Lalleron) and Virginie Lalleron, cousins of Marie, had also named Marie as their only beneficiary. Pauline died aged 88 on July 1, 1945, after mistaking a bowl of lye
for her dessert
one night. Her remains were later found to contain 48 mg of arsenic. Virginie apparently made the same mistake a week later and died aged 83 on July 9, 1945. Her remains were later found to contain 20 mg of arsenic.
Marie's mother, Marie-Louise Davaillaud (née Antigny) died on January 16. Her remains contained 48 mg of arsenic.
After Marie discovered Léon was having an affair, Léon remarked to a close friend, Madame Pintou, that he believed he was being poisoned, saying "that his wife had served him some soup on a bowl that already contained a liquid." He died shortly afterwards October 25, 1947 apparently of uremia
.
A few days after Léon's burial, details of his testimony reached the gendarmerie
and were passed to an investigating magistrate. As Marie had by now also accumulated most of the wealth of both families, suspicions were aroused of foul play and the magistrate ordered the exhumation of Léon's body on May 11, 1949. A forensic surgeon, doctor Béroud, discovered 19.45 mg of arsenic in his body. Marie was arrested, the bodies of her other alleged victims were exhumed, and Marie was charged with 13 counts of murder.
Béroud's autopsy
report, based on an analytical method developed by Marsh and Cribier, concluded that the victims had been slowly poisoned by arsenic. Further analysis by professors Fabre, Kohn-Abrest and Griffon also found that there were abnormal levels of arsenic in the exhumed bodies. Another report, carried out by professor Piedelièvre in 1954 confirmed the results of the 1952 analysis, but differed in some respects from Béroud's. The presence of abnormally high levels of arsenic were also confirmed by another report by Professor
Frédéric Joliot-Curie.
Béroud had difficulty in defending his results under examination from Besnard's lawyers. The defence also claimed that there were errors in the labelling of the jars containing the tissue sample, and that several jars had been lost or replaced. In addition, an investigation at the cemetery was able to show that arsenic may have leached into the soil and bodies from chemicals used on the flowers and from zinc ornaments and other sources. As a result, the first two trials ended without a conviction.
The length of the trials, the successful attacks on the evidence, and the turning of public opinion in favor of Marie Besnard contributed to her eventual acquittal at her third trial in 1961.
Besnard died in 1980.
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
er in the mid 20th century.
Besnard was first charged with multiple murder on July 21, 1949, under her given name, Marie Joséphine Philippine Davaillaud. After three trials lasting over 10 years (the first held in Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
), Besnard was finally freed in 1954, then acquitted
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
on December 12, 1961. The case attracted widespread attention throughout the country and remains one of the most enigmatic in modern French legal history.
Early life
Born in LoudunLoudun
Loudun is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.It is located south of the town of Chinon and 25 km to the east of the town Thouars...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Marie married her cousin, Auguste Antigny, in 1920. The marriage lasted until his death from pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
on July 21, 1927 (Antigny was known to suffer from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
). When his body was eventually exhumed, 60 mg of arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
was found in his remains.
In 1928, Marie married Léon Besnard.
Suspicious deaths
When Léon Besnard's parents inherited family wealth, the couple invited them to move in with them. Soon thereafter, his father died, apparently from eating poisoned mushroomMushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s.
His mother followed three months later, apparently a victim of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. The parents' estate was left to Besnard's husband and his sister, Lucie, who supposedly committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
a few months later. Around this time, on May 14, 1940, Marie Besnard's father Pierre Davaillaud also died, officially due to cerebral haemorrhage, although his exhumed remains contained 36 mg of arsenic.
Shortly afterward, the Besnards sublet rooms to a wealthy childless couple, the Rivets, who were friends of Marie's husband. Monsieur Toussaint Rivet died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
on July 14, 1939, although 18 mg of arsenic was later discovered in his exhumed remains. Madame Blanche Rivet (née Lebeau) died on December 27, 1941 from aortitis
Aortitis
-Causes:This inflammation has a number of possible causes, to include: trauma, viral infection, certain immune disorders, and bacterial infection .-Treatment:...
, although her remains contained 30 mg of arsenic. The Rivets' will had named Marie Besnard as their only heir.
Pauline Bodineau, (née Lalleron) and Virginie Lalleron, cousins of Marie, had also named Marie as their only beneficiary. Pauline died aged 88 on July 1, 1945, after mistaking a bowl of lye
Lye
Lye is a corrosive alkaline substance, commonly sodium hydroxide or historically potassium hydroxide . Previously, lye was among the many different alkalis leached from hardwood ashes...
for her dessert
Dessert
In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...
one night. Her remains were later found to contain 48 mg of arsenic. Virginie apparently made the same mistake a week later and died aged 83 on July 9, 1945. Her remains were later found to contain 20 mg of arsenic.
Marie's mother, Marie-Louise Davaillaud (née Antigny) died on January 16. Her remains contained 48 mg of arsenic.
After Marie discovered Léon was having an affair, Léon remarked to a close friend, Madame Pintou, that he believed he was being poisoned, saying "that his wife had served him some soup on a bowl that already contained a liquid." He died shortly afterwards October 25, 1947 apparently of uremia
Uremia
Uremia or uraemia is a term used to loosely describe the illness accompanying kidney failure , in particular the nitrogenous waste products associated with the failure of this organ....
.
A few days after Léon's burial, details of his testimony reached the gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
and were passed to an investigating magistrate. As Marie had by now also accumulated most of the wealth of both families, suspicions were aroused of foul play and the magistrate ordered the exhumation of Léon's body on May 11, 1949. A forensic surgeon, doctor Béroud, discovered 19.45 mg of arsenic in his body. Marie was arrested, the bodies of her other alleged victims were exhumed, and Marie was charged with 13 counts of murder.
Trials
The presence of arsenic in the bodies of her alleged victims was central to Besnard's trials, the first of which began in February 1952.Béroud's autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
report, based on an analytical method developed by Marsh and Cribier, concluded that the victims had been slowly poisoned by arsenic. Further analysis by professors Fabre, Kohn-Abrest and Griffon also found that there were abnormal levels of arsenic in the exhumed bodies. Another report, carried out by professor Piedelièvre in 1954 confirmed the results of the 1952 analysis, but differed in some respects from Béroud's. The presence of abnormally high levels of arsenic were also confirmed by another report by Professor
Frédéric Joliot-Curie.
Béroud had difficulty in defending his results under examination from Besnard's lawyers. The defence also claimed that there were errors in the labelling of the jars containing the tissue sample, and that several jars had been lost or replaced. In addition, an investigation at the cemetery was able to show that arsenic may have leached into the soil and bodies from chemicals used on the flowers and from zinc ornaments and other sources. As a result, the first two trials ended without a conviction.
The length of the trials, the successful attacks on the evidence, and the turning of public opinion in favor of Marie Besnard contributed to her eventual acquittal at her third trial in 1961.
Besnard died in 1980.
Popular culture
- The 1986 television film L'Affaire Marie Besnard (The Marie Besnard Affair) won the Sept d'or French television awards for Alice SapritchAlice SapritchAlice Sapritch was a French film actress of Armenian descent. She appeared in 66 films between 1950 and 1989.-Filmography:* Candide ou l'optimisme au XXe siècle * Who Are You, Polly Magoo?...
, best actress in the role of Marie Besnard; Yves-André HubertYves-André HubertYves-André Hubert is a French actor, television film director and theatre metteur en scène. He received a Sept d'or award in 1988 for L'Affaire Marie Besnard.- Filmography :* 1961 : Youm et les longues moustaches...
, director, for best movie made for TV; and Frédéric Pottecher, best writer. - The 2006 television film Marie Besnard, l'empoisonneuse (Marie Besnard, the Poisoner), resulted in the 2007 Best Performance by an Actress Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Muriel Robin in the title role.
External links
- Black Widow's Best Friend, CrimeLibrary.com, accessed May 20, 2007.