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(dramatic music)
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Downloaded from
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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(sinister music)
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[Narrator] At the
dawn of the 1940s,
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Paris is a city of
glamor, style and culture.
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Yet as war breaks
out across Europe,
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Nazi forces overpower
the French defenses,
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and Parisians soon find their
city overrun by the enemy.
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When the Germans invade France
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and defeat the French
Army so quickly,
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they've got all of
France at their feet.
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A lot of people
were very worried
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when the Germans arrived,
people were scared.
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People didn't know exactly
what was going to happen.
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[Narrator] And while the
occupants of Paris struggled
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to adapt to this
hostile environment,
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a serial killer uses the
chaos to his own advantage.
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Posing as an undercover ally,
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he preys on those most
desperate to flee persecution
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under the Nazi regime.
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It was a very cleverly,
cunningly put together plan.
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He shamelessly,
ruthlessly took advantage
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of the situation
for his own gain.
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People disappeared
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and their relatives never
heard from them again.
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And they wouldn't
go to the police
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because going to the police
was going to the Germans.
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This was a splendid opportunity
to murder these people.
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Nobody would look for them.
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[Narrator] This film
uncovers the shocking crimes
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of Dr. Marcel Petiot,
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the psychopath who believes
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he has devised
the perfect murder
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and the race against time
to bring him to justice.
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(dramatic music)
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(dramatic suspenseful music)
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France, 1940.
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Only 20 years since it had
been the central battleground
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of the First World War,
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the nation is under
threat once again.
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Following Germany's
invasion of Poland,
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Hitler's Nazi
forces have stormed
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through Denmark,
Norway, and Belgium,
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and now begin their offensive
against France itself.
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And although the nation
has bolstered its military
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and strengthened its defenses
since the last conflict,
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the ferocity of
the Nazis assault
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on the country's northern
border is relentless.
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It came as a huge surprise.
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Within five weeks,
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the French Army was
completely obliterated.
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France was in a state
of panic and chaos.
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You had 10 million
people fleeing
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from the north to the south.
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This was the largest number
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of people moving in
go since the Bible.
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There was no communication.
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You couldn't phone anybody.
You couldn't send letters.
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So France was really,
really on its knees.
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[Narrator] With whole towns
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and villages devastated
by the onslaught,
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the nation's government
quickly falls apart.
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And this chaos
provides an opportunity
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for an aging icon
of France's past,
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Marshall Phillipe Petain.
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The prime minister resigned
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and was replaced
by Marshall Petain,
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who is this huge war leader
from the First World War,
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a total hero of France.
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And Petain and the
people around him
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were all in favor of an
armistice with Germany.
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They wanted the fighting to end.
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The military elites, the
leading generals in 1940,
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they're very much supporters
of French right wing politics.
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For people like Marshall Petain,
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the great hero of World War I,
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who is going to step
up as the new premier,
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and then cut this
deal with the Germans,
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they see this as being
possibly a positive development
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that the Germans are importing
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this very disciplined
Nazi system
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and France will adopt its own
version of the Nazi system,
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and join its place in
what Hitler's calling
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and then France will be
rebuilt under German tutelage.
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And Petain sees this
as a positive thing.
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[Narrator] And although this
feeling is not widely shared
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among the French
people themselves,
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on June 22nd, Petain and
France's military leaders meet
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with Hitler and
formally surrender.
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As the Nazi occupation begins,
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the nation is immediately
divided in two,
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with the German military
controlling the north
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of the country and a
free zone established
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in the south known
as Vichy France,
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left under the command
of Marshall Petain.
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Here he instantly falls into
step with Hitler's master plan
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and establishes
the French State,
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an authoritarian
regime operating
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out of the small
spa town of Vichy.
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The country's capital
Paris, however,
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is under the Nazi's command.
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And within days of the invasion,
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its landscape is
radically transformed.
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The Tricolore, the
French national flag,
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was banned and replaced
by the swastika.
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Paris was moved
onto German time.
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You had Germans everywhere,
German soldiers,
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but also auxiliary staff,
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particularly in the center
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and particularly
around tourist sites,
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you had black and
white signposts
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to help the Germans find
their way around Paris.
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The Germans were everywhere.
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It was utter humiliation
to the French.
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The French were
very proud people
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and to suddenly have
your country taken over
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and be powerless
in your own land
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and have despots reveling
in the joys of your city
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was absolutely, you know,
horrifying to the French people.
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[Narrator] And
Parisians are quickly cast
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into an uncertain,
paranoid world,
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no longer able to distinguish
between allies and enemies.
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French society is
just utterly divided.
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There's no freedom of the press.
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There's no freedom of speech.
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Everything's very
heavily censored.
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People have to be very
careful what they say,
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because remember not only are
the Germans there in control,
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but they enlist this huge
apparatus of collaborationists,
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as distinct from collaborators.
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Collaborators were
just people that said,
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"I'm gonna go along
to get along".
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00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,040
The collaborationists
were people who said,
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"I'm going to make my
future with the Germans.
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I'm gonna hitch my wagon
to the Nazi wagon".
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So you're not only
just dodging Germans.
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You're dodging a lot
of French bureaucrats
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and policemen employed
by the Germans
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00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:28,960
who are as keen as the
Germans to get you.
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00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:32,600
[Narrator] But
some remain defiant.
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Despite the risks, French
patriots form the Resistance,
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an underground army that
fights from the shadows
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to subvert German rule and
aid the Allied war effort.
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Resistance is small at
first, and people are uncertain
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what resistance is going to be.
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00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,920
So lots of early Resistors don't
necessarily regard violence
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as part of what
they're going to do.
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There is a resistance in Paris
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and there are lots of
different kinds of resistance.
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So you have a resistance
revolving around intelligence,
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a resistance revolving
around escape networks,
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a resistance revolving
around provision
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of information and publication.
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Resistance was something
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00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,000
few people gravitated
towards early on.
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But of course, as the
occupation went on,
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as people were able to
see the kind of conditions
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that were affecting
everyday life,
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00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,600
more and more people
decided to take a stand.
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[Narrator] As the
Resistance expands,
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the Nazis and the French
state tighten their grip
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on the nation, imprisoning
or executing anyone
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with links to this
underground army.
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And while this further
intensifies the climate
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of fear and distrust,
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in Paris the hostile environment
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creates the perfect
hunting ground
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for a ruthless serial killer.
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And his presence goes undetected
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by the authorities until 1944,
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when a shocking
discovery is made
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at the home of
Dr. Marcel Petiot.
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In early March, 1944,
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dirty foul smelling greasy
smoke was coming out
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of the chimney of a house
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on the Rue Le Sueur in the
16th arrondissement in Paris.
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And it continued for
a couple of days.
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And on March 11th, the
weather conditions were such
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that the smoke was
bottled into the street
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and was really annoying
all of the neighbors.
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After five days,
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this one couple couldn't
take the stink anymore.
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She was vomiting, they were ill.
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So he called the police.
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(dramatic music)
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They found a note
on the house's door
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about forwarding
mail to Auxerre,
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giving the address in Auxerre.
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They asked next door
and another neighbor said,
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"Oh, the property was
owned by Dr. Marcel Petiot,
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who lived two miles
away in Paris."
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They called Petiot's number.
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He answered and he said,
"Have you gone in yet?"
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They said, "No."
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And he said, "Well,
wait right there,
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I'll be there in 15 minutes."
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They waited about
a half an hour.
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00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:01,680
And when nobody had arrived,
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00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:05,280
they climbed up to a second
floor window, broke in
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and traced the source of
the smoke to the basement.
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00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,840
(dramatic music)
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They let their noses
lead them to the basement
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where they found bodies burning
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in the furnace of
a water boiler.
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From the furnace, stuck an arm,
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00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:32,440
a human arm with fingers
still left on the arm.
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00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:36,440
Inside the boiler they
could see a human head.
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[Narrator] On the floor
surrounding the furnace
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are assorted rib
cages, jaw bones,
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00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,320
and large chunks of charred
flesh from at least 10 victims.
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00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,840
As the police inspect
the building further,
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they discover a pit of quicklime
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00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,360
and within it the remains
of yet more bodies.
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00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,040
Initially, they believe
they have stumbled
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00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,160
upon a secret Gestapo base.
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00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:03,400
The corpses, murdered
resistance operatives.
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00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,720
Yet as they cordon
off the crime scene,
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00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:07,600
a mysterious stranger appears.
220
00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:09,560
(mysterious music)
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A man on a green bicycle
rode up and identified himself
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00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,840
as the brother of the
owner of the house.
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00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:16,320
The police escorted him inside,
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00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:17,440
took him down to the basement.
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00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,880
And he said, "My God, my
head might be at stake."
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00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,120
And they weren't at
all surprised by that.
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00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:24,280
But he identified himself as
a member of the Resistance.
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00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:26,040
He said, "I'm sure
that you've notified
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00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,360
The German authorities
of this discovery.
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00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:32,080
And I have hundreds
of Resistance files
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00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:33,200
that I have to destroy
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00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:35,600
before the Germans can
get their hands on it."
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00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,160
There was a Gestapo
office not far away.
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00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,840
And the first thought
that the police had was
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00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,240
that these were dead
Germans and collaborators,
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and that this mysterious person
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on the green bicycle
was in fact a Resistant.
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00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:50,840
So they let him go.
239
00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,840
For these French police
officers on duty that night,
240
00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,840
it probably would've made
a lot of sense for them
241
00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:00,880
given the situation
in Paris at that time
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00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:04,320
to encourage him to abscond.
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00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,720
Their loyalties lay
with the French,
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00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:07,840
with the French police.
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00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,640
They didn't want to be
dealing with the Germans.
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00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:11,840
[Narrator] But as
the police continue
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00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,360
to search the house,
they discover photos
248
00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:15,840
of the building's owner
249
00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,040
and realize that the
mysterious stranger was,
250
00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,120
in fact, Dr. Marcel
Petiot, himself.
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00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,600
As they prepare a
warrant for his arrest,
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00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:26,440
Commissaire Georges Massu
arrives at the crime scene
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00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:27,920
to lead the investigation.
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00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:32,080
Commissaire Massu
was a 37-year veteran
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of the police judiciaire.
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He had well over 3,000
arrests to his name.
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He was very prominent.
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He was one of the models
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for George Simenon's
character Inspector Maigret.
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He was senior most investigator
and immediately took charge
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of the Petiot investigation.
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[Narrator] As Massu
investigates the
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he is struck by its
state of total disrepair.
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Room after room is filled
with discarded furniture
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while ornate valuables
and expensive artworks
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are left neglected,
strewn about the floor.
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As he makes his way down
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to study the carnage
in the basement.
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An officer arrives with a
simple message from the Gestapo.
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"Arrest, Petiot.
Dangerous lunatic".
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But Massu considers
this further evidence
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that the doctor may well be
a member of the Resistance
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and he ignores the
German's order.
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There was always a very,
very uneasy relationship
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between the French
police and the Gestapo.
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When the Germans invaded France,
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the French police had the
option of leaving their posts,
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but they were
fearful of doing that
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because the German military
police would've taken over.
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So they wanted to still
administer justice.
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And certainly there
were still crimes
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that needed to be
punished by the police.
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But they were always in
the very awkward position
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that they might inadvertently
arrest Resistants,
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or they might be accused
of collaboration.
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It was a very, very
difficult thing.
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The French police did their best
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to subvert any of
the investigations
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that they thought were involved
in Resistance operations,
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but they had to do
so very cautiously.
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[Narrator] Although
cautious of colluding
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with the Gestapo's operation
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that night Massu does issue
an arrest for Marcel Petiot.
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But when police arrive at the
doctor's other Paris property,
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they find that both
Petiot and his wife
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have already packed and fled.
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As a manhunt begins
to find the pair,
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the human remains from
the basement are taken
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to the police
laboratory for analysis.
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Upon inspection, however,
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they offer very little
in the way of evidence.
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With both the fingertips
and faces expertly removed
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from the corpses
and with hundreds of
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the forensic experts
have their work cut out.
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There was a very well known
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and flamboyant medical
examiner, Dr. Albert Paul,
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who loved the press
and the press loved him
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because he made
outrageous statements.
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He said that in the quick lime
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they had found three garbage
cans full of small bones,
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but there was no
way to determine
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how any of the people had died.
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They were too badly decomposed
or consumed by the lime.
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One thing that did concern
him was that the thighs
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of some of the legs had
stab wounds in them.
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And they were very
similar to some bodies
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that had been found floating
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in the Seine a
year or so earlier,
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which also had stab
wounds in the thighs.
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And the thing that
particularly concerned Dr. Paul
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about that was "As
a coroner," he said,
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"Sometime when you're
doing an autopsy,
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when you're picking
up another instrument,
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you don't put your scalpel down.
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You use the thigh
as a pin cushion."
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[Narrator] Dr. Paul's
discovery suggests
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that the killer had
medical training
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further indicating Dr. Petiot's
involvement in the murders.
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And Massu immediately
turns his attention
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to the bodies found
in the River Seine
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between 1942 and 1943,
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suspecting that they may be
victims of the same killer.
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He finds that the dissected
limbs of nine torsos
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had washed up on the shore,
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including those of
an 8-year-old boy.
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As a full investigation
begins in earnest,
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the papers across Paris
and Auxerre report
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the macabre details of
the Rue Le Sueur discovery
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and the manhunt for
both Marcel Petiot
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and his wife, Georgette.
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For the citizens
of occupied France,
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this horrific affair proves
an engrossing distraction.
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People were intrigued.
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It was so gruesome.
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The press were able to
sensationalize that.
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It raised a lot of questions.
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It raised questions
about who did this,
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was this really Petiot
or was it somebody else?
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Why did he do this?
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I think the fact
that he was a doctor
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was an important
factor. In that period,
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a doctor has a very high status,
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a pillar of society,
man you trust.
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And the very notion of a doctor
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is somebody who looks after us,
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who looks after people,
cares for people,
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makes them well.
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And so this is a
complete negation
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of what we traditionally
think of as a doctor.
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(sinister music)
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And just as Mass's
investigation has
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between Petiot and the
River Seine bodies,
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a telegram from
the Gestapo arrives
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that complicates matters.
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It reveals that the
Nazis had arrested
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and interrogated
Petiot a year earlier,
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suspecting him of being
a prominent member
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of the French Resistance.
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This again, suggests
that the doctor
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is an underground operative.
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Yet a witness soon emerges
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to paint a far more
disturbing picture
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of Petiot's
resistance activities.
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A couple of days
after the discovery
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of the bodies on
the Rue Le Sueur,
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the business partner
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00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,840
of a Jewish furrier named
Joachim Gushinov came
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00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:31,600
to Commissaire
Massu and told him
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00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:36,360
about the disappearance
of Gushinov. Back in 1941,
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when the Germans were beginning
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to crack down more
on Jews in Paris,
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00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,840
Gushinov, who was treated
by Petiot as a physician,
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decided that he needed to
escape from the country.
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So Petiot told him that he
could help him with that.
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He had an escape network,
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00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:51,960
he was involved in a
Resistance organization.
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00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:58,200
Petiot told Gushinov that he
would have to be vaccinated.
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He would do the vaccination,
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and then he would be
taken across France
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to the Spanish border, into
Spain, which was neutral.
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And then to a port in
Africa to sail to Argentina.
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(dramatic music)
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So Gushinov took one and
a half million dollars worth
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00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:24,120
of cash and silver
and gold and diamonds,
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00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:27,840
and went with Petiot and
was never seen again.
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00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:29,840
(dramatic music)
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00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:31,120
So the business partner,
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00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:33,480
when he had heard about the
discovery at the Rue Le Sueur,
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00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,360
went to Commissaire Massu
and told him this story.
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00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:38,920
And all of a sudden it
began to seem that, in fact,
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00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,840
the bodies might be
something even more sinister
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00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,840
than they had
originally expected.
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00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,280
And that there might have
been this escape network
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00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,560
that, in fact, did not
go to South America,
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00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:50,480
but ended at the Rue Le Sueur.
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00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:53,600
[Narrator] Checking the
facts of this testimony,
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00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,840
Massu discovers that
the secret rendezvous
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00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,440
where Petiot met Gushinov
was on the Rue Pergolese,
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00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:01,680
a street that intersects
the Rue Le Sueur.
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00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:03,840
In the coming days,
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00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,560
the investigation uncovers
more and more details
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00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:08,840
about Petiot's escape network.
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00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:10,000
And it becomes apparent
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00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,240
that Gushinov was not the
only desperate Parisian
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to look to the doctor
for safe passage
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out of occupied France.
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00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:19,840
People came, they phoned,
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00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,840
they said so and so had
left, a friend of mine.
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00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:27,840
She was going to go to a
doctor to help her escape.
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00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:29,720
I think it could be Dr. Petiot.
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00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:35,440
So they had a list of people
who they knew had been
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00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:39,840
in contact with Petiot
and who had disappeared.
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[Narrator] As the
investing identifies
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00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,840
countless potential victims,
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00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:46,680
Massu realizes
that he is dealing
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00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:49,120
with a devious
ruthless, serial killer,
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00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:52,240
and his hunt for Marcel
Petiot now intensifies.
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00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:55,480
Using the forwarding address,
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00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,240
found at the Rue Le
Sueur house as a guide,
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00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,800
Massu sends his men to Auxerre,
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00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,960
a town 100 miles south of
Paris, where Petiot grew up.
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00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:06,960
Speaking with the locals,
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00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,520
the officers pieced together
a disturbing picture
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00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:10,960
of the doctor's early life.
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00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,240
His parents were postal workers
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00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:15,840
whose busy schedule forced them
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00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,720
to send the young Marcel to
live with his elderly aunt
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and her maid periodically
from the age of two.
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00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:24,480
With his father often
absent from his life,
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00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:26,600
and with few friends
as he grew up,
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00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,920
Petiot was a lonely
unstable child.
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00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,840
I think we can
certainly see signs
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00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,600
of a trouble mind
from very early on.
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00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:41,360
He shows signs of
being very clever,
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00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:45,440
but also signs of
all the origins
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that one might expect in someone
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00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,840
who is going to become
a full blown psychopath
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00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,280
in later life.
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00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:56,720
A psychopath is somebody
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00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,080
who doesn't have the
same emotional responses
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00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,240
to situations that
most of us would.
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00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,120
A psychopath is often described
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00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:06,400
as lacking remorse,
lacking empathy.
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00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:08,840
And usually this
fits with something
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00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:10,680
that we call an instrumental
use of other people.
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00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,840
So a psychopath is willing
to use other people
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00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:15,880
to get what they want and
not show any guilt, remorse,
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or empathy with the
people that they're using.
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00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,440
People, for them, become
a means to an end.
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00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,840
And we know that those kind
of traits usually exhibit
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00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:27,840
in terms of cruelty to other
people, cruelty to animals,
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00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,960
delinquent behavior,
bullying can be seen in kids
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00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:33,520
as young as seven
or nine years old.
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He impaled birds and insects
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on knitting needles.
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00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,480
He stuck pins into the
eyes of the little birds.
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00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,840
He locked them into
boxes, shoe boxes,
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and he didn't feed them.
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00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:53,480
So he could sit watching
them die of hunger.
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[Narrator] As he is enrolled
into the school system,
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00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,120
despite being a
brilliant people,
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Petiot's behavior becomes
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increasingly disruptive
and dangerous.
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00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,520
He behaved very
badly in class.
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00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,240
One day, he went into
the classroom with a gun,
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00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:10,440
which he had taken
from his father
477
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,800
and he fired bullets
into the ceiling.
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00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,560
His father thought
it was rather funny.
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00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:21,000
And he told his
father that he did so
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00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,200
because he wanted to
brighten up a dull lesson.
481
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,720
Marcel Petiot is
certainly a psychopath.
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00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,480
He fulfills probably the
majority of the criteria
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00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:32,240
on the psychopathy checklist.
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00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,840
When we think about why
people become psychopaths,
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00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,720
usually we think of
it as an interaction
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00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,560
between people's
genetic heritage,
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00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,080
the traits and the genotype
that they've grown up with
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00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:45,120
and also the kind of environment
that they exhibit those in.
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00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:47,840
So I think in Petiot's case,
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00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,240
he has quite an invalidating
early environment.
491
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,360
His parents palm him off
with two local spinsters
492
00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:55,040
when he's quite young,
493
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:58,000
he seems to struggle to
engage with his father.
494
00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,840
However, I think
because there's evidence
495
00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:01,640
of cruelty to animals
in quite a young age
496
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,840
because of the bullying,
the difficulties in school,
497
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:06,400
I think it's
probably fair to say
498
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,040
that there's a mix
of both genetic
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00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,040
and environmental
inferences in the mix
500
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,280
that somebody else going
through those same experiences
501
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,440
that Petiot did wouldn't
necessarily have developed
502
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,160
into a psychopath in the
same way and become what is,
503
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,160
I think by most
modern definitions,
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00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:25,080
quite a sort of a high level
psychopath in Petiot's case.
505
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:26,680
(sinister music)
506
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,120
[Narrator] But outside
of his disciplinary record,
507
00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:31,520
Petiot is a highly gifted pupil
508
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,840
and he develops a genuine
interest in medicine.
509
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,120
Within a year of his graduation,
510
00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:38,880
the First World War erupts.
511
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,000
With France its
central battleground,
512
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,440
he enlists in the hope
of becoming a medic.
513
00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,520
His stay on the front line
is short lived, however,
514
00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:50,360
transferred to a
psychiatric unit,
515
00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:52,400
following a nervous breakdown,
516
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,600
here doctors decide
that he should be kept
517
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:56,840
under constant observation.
518
00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:00,440
Military psychiatrists
examined him
519
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,120
and they found him insane.
520
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,840
I have absolutely
no confidence that
521
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:10,840
that wasn't a full blown act
so that he could get back
522
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,600
from the front and be
nannied and nursed.
523
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,840
Psychopaths can be so
very, very convincing
524
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:19,960
and know exactly
what to say and do
525
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,200
to obtain their objectives.
526
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:24,840
For somebody like Petiot
527
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:26,840
with quite psychopathic
tendencies,
528
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,440
this chance to see
other people suffering
529
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,080
and to understand a little
bit about what suffering was,
530
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,840
where it came from
and how to mimic it,
531
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:36,800
is really critical to
our understanding of,
532
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:38,920
I think, the rest
of his development.
533
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,600
Because psychopaths don't
necessarily understand
534
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,480
or appreciate or respond to
human emotions in the same way.
535
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:47,480
So what they do instead
536
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:49,840
is something that we
call pseudo-mentalizing.
537
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,720
They think that they
understand what emotions are
538
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:54,000
and how other people
experience them.
539
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,960
And they learn to sort of do
a kind of copycat of that.
540
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:02,960
He was discharged as
40% mentally disabled,
541
00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:05,400
and he was put on a pension
542
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:11,520
and he received that disability
pension until the day died.
543
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:14,720
[Narrator] This diagnosis
doesn't put an end
544
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:16,840
to Petiot's ambitions.
545
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,720
Still determined to pursue
a career in medicine,
546
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:21,080
upon leaving the army,
547
00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,920
he takes advantage of a
new government initiative
548
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,560
and enrolls at the University
of Paris to become a doctor.
549
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:28,840
At the end of the
First World War,
550
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:30,240
there was a program in France
551
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,840
to accelerate the medical
education of former soldiers,
552
00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:35,720
where you could take
eight months of classes
553
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:37,840
and do two years
of an internship.
554
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:39,000
And after the First World War
555
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:40,720
with all the people
who had been killed,
556
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:42,840
they really needed to replenish
the supply of physicians.
557
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:44,680
So this accelerated
program tried
558
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:47,840
to get new doctors helping
patients as quickly as possible.
559
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:51,840
It was never established
that he really was a doctor,
560
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,120
that he really had
a medical diploma.
561
00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:57,480
He was intelligent.
562
00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,200
He had spent many years
in mental asylums.
563
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:06,200
He learned a lot about
illnesses, about diagnosis,
564
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:09,000
and that's what it was.
565
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,240
He was not a doctor.
566
00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:16,120
[Narrator] In 1922,
following his rapid graduation,
567
00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:18,840
the newly qualified
doctor, Marcel Petiot,
568
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,840
travels to the small rural
town of Villeneuve-Sur-Yonne
569
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,320
and establishes a
medical practice.
570
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,040
And apparently overcoming
both his troubled childhood
571
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,000
and his mental health issues,
572
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,840
here he seems to turn a
corner and emerges a new man.
573
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:36,840
He was a charming person.
574
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:38,840
He was devoted to his patients.
575
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,160
He worked long hours. He
treated poor people for free.
576
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,440
He would stay open nights
and open on Sundays
577
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,960
if people couldn't
come at any other time.
578
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:48,400
He listened patiently to people.
579
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,840
Some people said that they
discovered after they left,
580
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:52,040
that they had spent
more time talking
581
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,160
about their lives with
him listening attentively
582
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,840
than they had spent talking
about their complaints.
583
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:58,840
His patients
absolutely adored him.
584
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,240
Of course, a
psychopath would be drawn
585
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,640
to that sort of profession
586
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,000
simply because it gives
him unique access to power.
587
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,840
He was revered by
many of his patients
588
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,000
as the man who would
go the extra mile,
589
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,800
the man who would open
surgeries on Saturdays
590
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,200
and Sundays and all of that.
591
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,880
Pure superficial
charm to gain access
592
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:28,240
and to see what he could
manipulate for his own gain.
593
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,440
[Narrator] And his
popularity enables Petiot
594
00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,120
to quickly become a prominent
figure in the local community.
595
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:37,840
Ambitious, intelligent,
and committed,
596
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,160
the young doctor is
the talk of the town.
597
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,880
And in 1926, he falls in
love for the first time
598
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:48,080
with a mysterious woman of
far lower social standing.
599
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:49,840
Her name was Louise,
600
00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,520
but the townspeople
called her Louisette.
601
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,120
One evening, he
went to have dinner.
602
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:58,520
Louise was the maid.
603
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:00,280
She was 26.
604
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,760
She didn't have a boyfriend.
605
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,600
Nobody knew where she came from.
606
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,200
Very soon, she was his lover.
607
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,560
She went to live with him,
608
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:16,480
but a doctor could
not have mistress
609
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:18,840
who was a domestic.
610
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,520
So they pretended
she was his maid.
611
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:26,280
All the people knew that
she was not his maid.
612
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:27,320
(dramatic music)
613
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:28,600
[Narrator] Yet
this relationship
614
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:33,600
soon exposes Marcel
Petiot's darkest instincts.
615
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:35,640
Within months of
moving in with him,
616
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,400
Louisette confesses to her
friends that she is pregnant.
617
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,760
And then, overnight, she
vanishes without a trace.
618
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:47,320
Petiot complains that his young
lover has walked out on him.
619
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,280
But days later, a discovery
in the Yonne River
620
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:53,800
suggests a far more
disturbing version of events.
621
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:58,200
One Sunday, a bad smell
rose from the river.
622
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,920
The townspeople went
to see what it was.
623
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:05,920
And they found a trunk caught
in bushes beside the river,
624
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,280
and they opened it
and they looked inside
625
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:14,280
and they found the headless
body of a young woman.
626
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,800
People immediately
said it was Louisette.
627
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,600
It's important to understand
what this act means.
628
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,840
Again, if we understand
that Petiot is a psychopath.
629
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:25,000
Psychopath's relationships
630
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:26,680
with other people
are characterized
631
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,240
by what we call multiple
marital-type relationships.
632
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:30,280
So these are relationships
633
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,800
where the psychopath will
go into a relationship.
634
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,760
They will probably seek to
get what they can out of it.
635
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:37,840
That could be sex.
It could be money.
636
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:39,760
It could be some sort
of sense of intimacy.
637
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:41,200
And I think in Petiot's case,
638
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,240
intimacy has been something
that he's been largely denied.
639
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:48,080
But then the point will come
where something becomes stuck.
640
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,160
And I think in this case,
Louisette becomes pregnant.
641
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,000
Petiot is unable
to reconcile this
642
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:54,400
with his visions for himself.
643
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:55,800
Perhaps he doesn't
want be a father,
644
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:57,360
perhaps he just panicked,
645
00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,840
realizes he needs to get
out of the relationship.
646
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:01,440
And I think calculates
that the best way
647
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,120
to do that is simply to
kill Louisette Delaveaux.
648
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,840
[Narrator] Despite some
locals raising concerns
649
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:09,840
over Petiot's role
in the murder,
650
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:11,800
due to its mutilated state,
651
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,200
the body in the river
cannot be identified
652
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:15,640
and the case runs cold.
653
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,560
The doctor, meanwhile,
has ambitious designs
654
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,400
on an even more prominent
role within the town.
655
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,480
And only weeks after the
discovery of the corpse
656
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,840
begins a campaign to become
mayor of Villeneuve-Sur-Yonne.
657
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,360
His election was
a little bit funny.
658
00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:33,640
It occurred soon after
the disappearance
659
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:35,240
of Louisette Delaveaux.
660
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,160
And one dramatic moment was
he dragged himself painfully
661
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:39,840
up to the stage and said,
662
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:43,800
"I must confess that I am
guilty of a very serious crime."
663
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:45,160
And everybody gasped.
664
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,320
And after a dramatic
pause, he said,
665
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:50,320
"I stand accused of loving
the people too much."
666
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,800
He was elected with
a landslide of 80%.
667
00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:01,360
He promised the people
he would reform the town
668
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:06,360
because after the Great War,
France was almost destroyed.
669
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:09,840
He said he will
rebuild the town.
670
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:12,520
And the people loved that.
671
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,440
That's what people
wanted to hear.
672
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:17,960
[Narrator] Having now
risen to the very top
673
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:22,320
of the local community, in 1927,
Petiot meets a new partner.
674
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:24,640
Georgette, the
daughter of a wealthy
675
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:26,200
and influential landowner.
676
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:27,920
And the couple
married soon after.
677
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:30,840
Yet in his new role as mayor,
678
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,480
Petiot quickly begins
to abuse his power.
679
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,680
And over time his kindly
reputation unravels.
680
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,720
There were still people in
the town who supported him,
681
00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,360
who still thought
he was wonderful,
682
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:48,400
but not from the people
who worked with him.
683
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:52,720
He was dictatorial
and they suspected
684
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:55,880
that he was stealing
from the coffers.
685
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,840
They called in an auditor.
686
00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:03,840
The auditor found that
he had signed contracts
687
00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:07,840
with contractors who
nobody had ever heard of.
688
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:12,600
He paid huge amount of the
town hall's money over to them
689
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:15,720
for work which had
never been done,
690
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,600
for equipment the town
hall had never received.
691
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:22,600
[Narrator] In 1930, however,
692
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,120
a far more serious
crime is discovered
693
00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,000
on a cold winter evening
694
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,120
when firemen are called
to the local dairy.
695
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:34,600
Smoke was pouring
from the dairy complex.
696
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:39,600
They found the dairy
owner's house was on fire.
697
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:44,640
On the kitchen floor, lay
the dairy owner's wife.
698
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,200
Her head was bashed in.
699
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,840
She had obviously been murdered.
700
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:54,200
[Narrator] Upon investigation,
701
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:57,200
the police discovered that
the property has been burgled
702
00:31:57,200 --> 00:31:58,840
and rumors quickly circulate
703
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:01,040
that the new mayor has
been having an affair
704
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,600
with Henriette Debauve,
the murdered woman.
705
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,840
And Petiot had in
fact been present
706
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:08,600
on the night of the discovery.
707
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,520
When the firemen were
putting out the fire,
708
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,000
Dr. and Mrs. Petiot
drove by in their car.
709
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:14,440
They slowed down and looked,
710
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:16,840
and then continued
on to go to a movie.
711
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:18,520
A lot of the people
in the town thought
712
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:19,600
that it was really the place
713
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,520
of not only the
mayor of the town,
714
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:24,920
but also of a physician to be
at the site of this disaster,
715
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,400
rather than going
to a movie theater.
716
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,880
There was one townsman, a
Monsieur Fiscot, I believe,
717
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:32,640
who said that he thought
he had seen Petiot
718
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:34,720
near the dairy at the
time of the crime.
719
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,760
Unfortunately, Mr.
Fiscot had rheumatism
720
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,400
and he went to his
doctor, Dr. Petiot,
721
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,120
who said that he had a
wonderful new treatment
722
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,880
for rheumatism and
gave him an injection.
723
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,200
Three hours later,
Mr. Fiscot was dead.
724
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:50,800
[Narrator] With
no other witnesses
725
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:54,600
to tie him to the
murder, Petiot, once
726
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:56,920
Yet when soon after
he has found guilty
727
00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,800
of fraud and embezzlement,
he is thrown out of office.
728
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,080
His reputation in ruins.
729
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:04,560
His career in
Villeneuve-sur-Yonne
730
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:05,360
had just come to an end.
731
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:06,720
He had lost his
position as mayor.
732
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:08,880
He had been dismissed
as a counselor,
733
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:10,760
public opinion was
turning against him.
734
00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:13,440
He was a suspect despite
the lack of evidence
735
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,920
in the murder, in two murders.
736
00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:17,600
So it was a good time
to get out of town.
737
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,360
And I think also he just
had larger ambitions
738
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,560
than a small town
in the provinces.
739
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,280
So the obvious thing
was to move to Paris.
740
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:27,840
(eerie music)
741
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,160
[Narrator] In Paris, joined
by his wife and infant son,
742
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,840
Petiot sets himself up with a
small urban medical practice
743
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:37,920
and looks to quickly
revive his career
744
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:39,640
and attract new clients.
745
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,000
In Paris, he had
a leaflet printed,
746
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:48,520
which he delivered himself and
he left it with pharmacists
747
00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:52,840
in nightclubs, in
bars and in brothels.
748
00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:57,840
He claimed he could
cure gonorrhea.
749
00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:01,840
He claimed he had a method
of painless childbirth
750
00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:04,720
and he claimed he
could cure cancer.
751
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:06,840
So the patients poured in.
752
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:10,080
[Narrator] Despite
his outlandish claims,
753
00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:11,680
over the next seven years,
754
00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:13,720
Petiot remains on
his best behavior,
755
00:34:13,720 --> 00:34:17,360
determined to make an
impression in Parisian society.
756
00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,840
But in May, 1940,
everything changes.
757
00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:23,160
Hitler's war machine
storms into France
758
00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:25,160
and overwhelms the Allied forces
759
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:28,000
and the French government
quickly flees Paris.
760
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:29,840
A mass exodus follows,
761
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:31,560
the residents of
the city desperate
762
00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,280
to avoid the enemy
at their gates.
763
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:36,640
When Nazi battalions
march down the streets
764
00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:39,640
of Paris in June, they
enter a ghost town,
765
00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:42,040
its inhabitants scattered
across the countryside.
766
00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:47,400
Yet ever defiant, Petiot
himself remains in his apartment
767
00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:49,120
with his wife and
their young son.
768
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:53,480
The Parisians fled Paris.
769
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:55,840
Petiot stood at his window
770
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:59,280
and he was appalled
at their behavior.
771
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:04,000
And he told his family,
they will not flee.
772
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,600
And he also said they will
not suffer because of the war.
773
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,000
He will provide for them.
774
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:15,520
[Narrator] As the doctor
begins formulating plans
775
00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:18,440
to prosper in this
new uncertain world,
776
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,440
the German authorities
themselves look
777
00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:22,840
to contain the
chaos in the city.
778
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,240
The German military
had a very clear view
779
00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:26,360
of what they wanted.
780
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:28,080
They didn't want any trouble.
781
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:30,840
They worked very hard
to give the impression
782
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,440
that nothing had really changed
783
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,920
and that's to reassure the
Parisians who are there
784
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,160
and to encourage
people to return.
785
00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:42,320
[Narrator] And over time,
786
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,840
a sense of normality is restored
with returning Parisians
787
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:49,320
slowly growing accustomed to
life under Nazi occupation.
788
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:53,800
Yet the joint authoritarian
rule of the Germans in the north
789
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:55,840
and the Vichy
government in the south
790
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,760
soon makes life unbearable
for one group in particular,
791
00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:01,360
France's Jewish community.
792
00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:03,840
Even before the occupation,
793
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:06,960
there was a deep
rooted antisemitism
794
00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:08,720
of the nation's population,
795
00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:11,760
fueled by figures on
the French far right.
796
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:15,040
Now, many of these figures
have assumed power in Vichy
797
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:17,840
and emboldened by their
alignment with the Nazis,
798
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:20,520
the persecution begins.
799
00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,000
There were a lot of
people on the far right
800
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,480
in 1930s France who
wanted to reduce the role
801
00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:30,440
of Jews and the role that
Jews were playing in France.
802
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,000
And Vichy offered
them an opportunity
803
00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:36,840
to put some of these
antisemitic ideas into practice.
804
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:38,960
There was a great
deal of antisemitism.
805
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,040
A feeling that
Jews ran the media,
806
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:43,960
Jews ran the department stores
807
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:47,760
that put smaller shops and
artisans out of business.
808
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:52,120
And so they are happy to begin
kind of sidetracking Jews,
809
00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:54,240
kicking them out
of government jobs,
810
00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:55,840
removing them from the police,
811
00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:57,840
removing them from the military.
812
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,840
The Germans ordered
all Jews in Paris
813
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,800
to register at police stations.
814
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:06,120
Petain, for his part,
815
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:09,840
issued a directive that
Jews could no longer be
816
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:12,960
in the higher echelons
of the civil service,
817
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,880
of the army and the
all Jewish teachers,
818
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,760
university and school
teachers had to resign
819
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:19,840
by the end of the year.
820
00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:23,440
And then as the
occupation progresses,
821
00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:26,320
the measures against
the Jews increase.
822
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:29,720
[Narrator] Many in Paris'
Jewish community begin
823
00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:31,840
to look for ways
out of the country,
824
00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:33,200
but this is strictly outlawed
825
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:35,560
by both the German and
French authorities.
826
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:38,240
And to successfully escape,
827
00:37:38,240 --> 00:37:40,280
those fleeing would
first have to cross over
828
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:43,360
from the occupied zone
into Vichy France itself.
829
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,800
Their only hope lies
with the Resistance,
830
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:47,840
the underground network
831
00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,840
of patriots operating
in the shadows.
832
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,680
These two zones on the
French territory were split
833
00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:56,560
by what was called
a demarcation line,
834
00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:58,720
a heavily guarded border,
835
00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:01,840
which physically divided
the French territory,
836
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:06,440
cut it down the middle and was
extremely difficult to cross.
837
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:07,840
What came about was the creation
838
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,720
of so-called escape networks.
839
00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:12,840
These were originally set up
840
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,680
by people working
with the Allies.
841
00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,480
It was very important to
get servicemen or airmen
842
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,720
who might have been shot
down in Nazi occupied France.
843
00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:25,840
These people needed to find
their way back to the UK,
844
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,440
back to London via
a neutral country
845
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:32,920
and Spain and Switzerland
would've been the
846
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:36,840
The escape route were part
of the Resistance activities.
847
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:39,760
From the very start,
there was an escape route,
848
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:42,840
which ran through Brittany
and across the Channel,
849
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:44,880
others down to points
on the Pyrenees,
850
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,440
getting people into Spain
and then if necessary
851
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:50,440
down to Gibraltar or to Lisbon.
852
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,360
And to get across
the demarcation line,
853
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,080
you needed the help of
someone called a "passeur",
854
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:57,920
who was someone who
helped you pass through,
855
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:00,120
get over the demarcation line.
856
00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:04,560
And it wasn't always easy and
they weren't always reliable.
857
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,040
[Narrator] And this
increasingly hostile environment
858
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,040
provides Dr. Marcel
Petiot with an opportunity
859
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:13,320
to exploit those most
in fear for their lives.
860
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:14,720
Following the invasion,
861
00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:16,360
the Nazis have plundered France
862
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:18,600
of its resources and manpower.
863
00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:20,160
And with produce scarce,
864
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,840
many Parisians have
fallen on hard times.
865
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:25,840
Yet since the start
of the occupation,
866
00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:27,800
the doctor has thrived,
867
00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,840
enhancing his earnings by
offering illegal abortions
868
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:33,440
and selling narcotics
to drug addicts.
869
00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,840
Enriched by these
criminal activities,
870
00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:39,040
he is soon able to buy
an enormous second home,
871
00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:41,400
at 21 Rue Le Sueur.
872
00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:43,240
And this property
offers him the chance
873
00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:46,360
to devise a more brutal
cold-blooded scheme.
874
00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:51,840
In late 1941, He visits
local barber Raoul Fourrier,
875
00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:55,000
a man with connections in
the Parisian underworld.
876
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,920
Here, Petiot concocts
an elaborate story
877
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,360
and puts his new
plan into action.
878
00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:06,360
Petiot told Fourrier
that he's a Resistant.
879
00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:11,400
He is the head of a
Resistance cell named Fly-Tox
880
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:16,080
and Fly-Tox had
an escape network.
881
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,320
So if he knew of anybody
who wanted to flee
882
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:21,840
from France and the Nazis,
883
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:25,840
especially Jews,
Fly-Tox could help them.
884
00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:30,600
He said, he's undercover
name was Dr. Eugene.
885
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:33,840
[Narrator] Taken
in by this tall tale,
886
00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:36,840
Fourrier doesn't notice
Petiot's simple methods
887
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:38,840
in concocting the story.
888
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:42,120
Fly-Tox is the name of
a popular insecticide
889
00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,840
and Eugene a French
brand of hair product.
890
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:47,480
Both of which sit directly
in the doctor's eye line
891
00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:49,600
on the shelves of the
barber shop itself.
892
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:52,560
Instead Fourrier is fascinated
893
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:54,840
by the deal Petiot is offering.
894
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:57,240
For a minimum of 25,000 francs,
895
00:40:57,240 --> 00:40:59,920
he will provide false
papers and vaccinations
896
00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:02,400
and take the escapees
to a safe house
897
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:05,360
where they will be met
by a people smuggler.
898
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:07,840
This individual will then
take them into Spain.
899
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,840
And from here, they will travel
to sanctuary in Argentina.
900
00:41:11,720 --> 00:41:15,880
He also told Fourrier that
their potential escapees
901
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:20,680
should bring their most
valuable possessions along,
902
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:25,600
watches, jewellery,
cash, gold bullion.
903
00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:30,280
Petiot offers Fourrier
a share of Fly-Tox's fee
904
00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:31,600
if he can spread the word
905
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:34,000
and help identify
potential escapees.
906
00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:38,880
Fourrier agrees and enlists
his friend Edmund Pintard,
907
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,440
a stage actor with similarly
shady underworld connections
908
00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:44,360
to aid in the search
for customers.
909
00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:47,800
Within weeks, the
pair provide Petiot
910
00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:49,840
with his first set of exiles,
911
00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:51,160
a gang of French criminals
912
00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:52,920
who have fallen
foul of the Nazis.
913
00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:57,240
These include thief
and pimp Jo Le Boxeur,
914
00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:01,440
his mistress Claudia Chamoux,
prostitute Josephine Grippay
915
00:42:01,440 --> 00:42:03,840
and hardened criminal,
Adrien Le Basque.
916
00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:08,720
Between the end of 1941
and the beginning of 1942,
917
00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:11,400
eight of this criminal
gang are met by Petiot
918
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:13,840
and taken to his house
on the Rue Le Sueur.
919
00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:17,000
Here they receive
their vaccinations
920
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:20,400
and afterwards, none of them
are ever seen alive again.
921
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:24,480
It was possible for him to
really invite his victims,
922
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:26,840
to package themselves
perfectly as victims.
923
00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:28,760
You had people who were
desperate to escape.
924
00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:30,400
You asked them to take
everything they owned
925
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:35,000
and convert it into gold,
jewels and liquid cash,
926
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:36,320
to bring few possessions,
927
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:37,960
because you're gonna
be traveling light,
928
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:39,840
not tell anybody
where you're going.
929
00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:41,600
Don't bring any
identification papers,
930
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:43,720
remove all the marking
from your clothes.
931
00:42:43,720 --> 00:42:44,600
They made themselves
932
00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:47,640
into perfect untraceable
victims for him.
933
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:48,880
[Narrator] In
an occupied city,
934
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,040
in which the Nazis were
already imprisoning
935
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:54,480
and executing Jews,
criminals and partisans,
936
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:56,840
those apparently
departing to Argentina
937
00:42:56,840 --> 00:43:00,000
through Petiot are
never reported missing.
938
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:01,840
Through his elaborate scheme,
939
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:05,320
the doctor believes he has
devised the perfect crime,
940
00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:07,880
one that will be
endlessly repeatable.
941
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:11,600
He's a very successful
charismatic con man.
942
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:13,000
And he convinces a lot of people
943
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:14,920
and he tells people
what they want to hear,
944
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,320
which is always what a
good con man will do.
945
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:19,520
They'll find out what you want
to hear and then tell you.
946
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:21,640
And they're not just
anybody that he's fooling.
947
00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:23,840
I mean, some of the
people who he's fooling
948
00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:27,280
were tough gangsters. Jo le
Boxeur. Adrien Le Basque.
949
00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:29,320
And if you're fooling
people like that,
950
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:30,760
that's pretty skillful.
951
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:32,920
One of the things that people
maybe misunderstand a bit
952
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:36,240
about psychopaths is how
easily grifting comes to them,
953
00:43:36,240 --> 00:43:38,600
how easily they can find scams
954
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:40,320
that people will be taken in by.
955
00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:43,800
If you really don't care
in your heart of hearts,
956
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:44,840
what other people think of you,
957
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:46,440
if you don't care
about the possibility
958
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:47,760
of being caught out for lying
959
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:50,360
or being found out for saying
something that you are not,
960
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:51,960
then what's the incentive
961
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:55,360
for you to tell the truth
at any point to anyone.
962
00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:56,920
So psychopaths are
excellent grifters
963
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,840
because their stories can
seem very, very complete,
964
00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:03,000
well fleshed out. The scam
in Petiot's case, you know,
965
00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:06,080
there's clear, there's need
for what he's providing.
966
00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:09,200
He's identified the
victims very carefully.
967
00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:10,720
He's identified a cover.
968
00:44:10,720 --> 00:44:11,840
He's got accomplices
969
00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:14,200
who can help provide
the victims to him.
970
00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:18,120
People who come to a
psychopathic doctor
971
00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:19,560
that only he can provide
972
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:22,000
and they're desperate and
emotional and grateful,
973
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:25,600
that probably marks them out
as quite weak in his eyes.
974
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:26,840
And therefore makes it easier
975
00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:28,840
for him to justify
disposing of them
976
00:44:28,840 --> 00:44:31,920
in such a callous
and horrific way.
977
00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,160
[Narrator] And just as
Petiot's murder network
978
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:36,640
is set in motion,
979
00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:40,640
the Nazi's own war crimes
intensify on a far larger scale.
980
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:45,200
At the Wannsee Conference
in January, 1942,
981
00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:48,120
The Final Solution is
formally announced.
982
00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:50,360
A program to
systematically exterminate
983
00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:52,040
Europe's Jewish population.
984
00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:54,840
As the Germans begin
the construction
985
00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:56,720
of death camps in the east,
986
00:44:56,720 --> 00:44:58,120
they look to the
Vichy government
987
00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:01,560
for help in deporting
Jews out of France.
988
00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:03,080
On the condition
that their power
989
00:45:03,080 --> 00:45:05,560
in the southern zone
remains absolute,
990
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:07,760
Petain's government
agrees to arrest
991
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:09,480
and detain foreign Jews,
992
00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:13,040
transfer them to a Paris
concentration camp, Drancy,
993
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:15,840
and then send them to
their deaths in Auschwitz.
994
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:19,760
The first major roundup
takes place in Paris
995
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:22,680
on June 16th, 1942,
996
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:24,720
in which thousands
of Jews are detained
997
00:45:24,720 --> 00:45:26,840
at the winter Velodrome.
998
00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:29,440
These men, women and
children are captured
999
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:32,840
not by Nazi soldiers,
but by the French police.
1000
00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:37,480
The Vichyites are enlisted
in removing the Jews of France.
1001
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:40,840
And to this day, it's a
source of great controversy.
1002
00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:42,760
The relative ease
1003
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:45,240
with which the Vichyites
surrender the Jews
1004
00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:47,400
of France to the gas chambers.
1005
00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:51,840
Times had changed for Jews
in France, for foreign Jews.
1006
00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:55,000
People who had fled from their
old countries, from Germany,
1007
00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:57,880
from Poland, from wherever,
thinking that France,
1008
00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:02,720
the land of the Enlightenment
would protect them.
1009
00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:05,320
And suddenly they're seeing
1010
00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:07,520
that it wasn't
gonna protect them.
1011
00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:11,680
13,152 Jewish people
1012
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:16,000
were taken in one fell swoop.
1013
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:17,840
So it didn't take
long, therefore,
1014
00:46:17,840 --> 00:46:21,440
given how many thousands
of policemen were in Paris
1015
00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:24,400
on the 16th of July
knocking on doors.
1016
00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:25,840
The fact that there
was so much chaos,
1017
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:27,640
the fact that busloads
1018
00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:29,720
of Jewish families
were being transported
1019
00:46:29,720 --> 00:46:31,440
to the Vel d'Hiv stadium.
1020
00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:33,080
Parisians knew
what was going on.
1021
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:37,160
They saw, they heard
the concierges knew
1022
00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:39,120
to the families
in their building.
1023
00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:45,120
Any Jew who hadn't been taken
at that point was terrified
1024
00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:46,520
that they would be next.
1025
00:46:48,240 --> 00:46:49,640
[Narrator] And
this leads many Jews
1026
00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:52,280
with the necessary contacts
and financial means
1027
00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:54,840
to frantically attempt
to evacuate Paris.
1028
00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:57,440
And one family who
do have the money
1029
00:46:57,440 --> 00:47:01,360
to flee are the Knellers, a
German couple with a young son.
1030
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:04,040
Kurt and Margaret
Kneller were German Jews
1031
00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:06,240
who had left Germany in 1933
1032
00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:07,920
when Hitler came to power.
1033
00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:11,720
On the first day of the roundup
at the Velodrome d'Hiver,
1034
00:47:11,720 --> 00:47:14,400
the Gestapo came to the
Kneller's apartment.
1035
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:16,840
Fortunately, they weren't
at home at the time.
1036
00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:19,520
Unfortunately, they
decided to escape
1037
00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:22,360
using Dr. Petiot's
escape network.
1038
00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:24,760
The Knellers were German Jews,
1039
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:27,840
Kurt, Greta and little Rene.
1040
00:47:27,840 --> 00:47:30,840
On that day of the roundup,
1041
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:34,040
they went to a friend
who was not Jewish.
1042
00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:36,000
They went to hide with her.
1043
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:40,040
They then told her that
a very kind doctor,
1044
00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:43,960
a saint of a man is
going to help them
1045
00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:46,520
to escape France.
1046
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:48,880
They were never seen again.
1047
00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:50,920
However, a couple
of weeks later,
1048
00:47:50,920 --> 00:47:53,600
parts of bodies were found
floating in the Seine,
1049
00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:57,120
which included a man's head,
parts of a woman's body
1050
00:47:57,120 --> 00:48:00,040
and the vertically sectioned
body of an eight-year-old boy.
1051
00:48:01,040 --> 00:48:02,880
The Knellers'
bodies are the first
1052
00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:05,720
of nine dissected cadavers
the police discover
1053
00:48:05,720 --> 00:48:08,440
in the River Seine
over the coming months.
1054
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:12,160
Throughout 1942, more and
more desperate Jews come
1055
00:48:12,160 --> 00:48:15,000
to the doctor for help through
his unwitting accomplices,
1056
00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:19,280
the barber Raoul Fourrier
and the actor Edmund Pintard,
1057
00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:21,320
and they all meet a similar end.
1058
00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:24,040
These include Lena Wolff,
her husband, Maurice,
1059
00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:27,960
and sister-in-law Rachel,
Dr. Paul Braunberger
1060
00:48:27,960 --> 00:48:32,000
and Gilbert Basch, and five
members of his extended family.
1061
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:33,840
As Petiot murders, dissects
1062
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:36,240
and dispatches
victim after victim,
1063
00:48:36,240 --> 00:48:37,720
the press will later claim
1064
00:48:37,720 --> 00:48:39,440
that this killing
spree is motivated
1065
00:48:39,440 --> 00:48:41,800
by a vicious blood lust.
1066
00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:43,360
For the doctor, however,
1067
00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:46,680
these horrific murders are
simply a means to an end.
1068
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:49,840
There is a common
misconception
1069
00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:52,680
that psychopaths are
necessarily sadists as well,
1070
00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:53,920
but it's not the case at all.
1071
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:55,840
However, there does,
I think with anyone
1072
00:48:55,840 --> 00:48:57,480
who commits violent acts,
1073
00:48:57,480 --> 00:48:59,600
that there always has to
be something driving that.
1074
00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:01,480
It could be survival.
1075
00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:05,440
It could be sadism, it could
be a paraphilia, for example.
1076
00:49:05,440 --> 00:49:07,240
And I think it's actually
quite hard for us
1077
00:49:07,240 --> 00:49:09,840
to conceive of somebody
who simply kills
1078
00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:12,840
because it's efficient, an
efficient way of getting money,
1079
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:14,880
or because it's carrying
out the end of a scam.
1080
00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:16,520
And I think Petiot then becomes
1081
00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:17,800
a slightly odd character
1082
00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:20,160
because the killings are
very, very efficient.
1083
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:21,240
They're painless.
1084
00:49:21,240 --> 00:49:22,960
He uses cyanide, which
I think is probably one
1085
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:25,120
of the more expensive
and potent ways
1086
00:49:25,120 --> 00:49:26,720
of killing people at that point.
1087
00:49:26,720 --> 00:49:28,640
He knows how he's going
to dispose of the bodies.
1088
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:30,320
It's almost, it's funny,
1089
00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:32,320
it has sort of echoes
of Nazi Germany
1090
00:49:32,320 --> 00:49:33,280
and the way in which
1091
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:35,360
this sort of very
psychopathic organization
1092
00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:36,840
simply destroys human life
1093
00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:39,840
in order to advance
a particular ideal.
1094
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:43,760
Petiot has maybe a sort of
slightly earthier human drive
1095
00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:44,920
that he seems to want money,
1096
00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:47,240
although it's not clear
what he ever does with that.
1097
00:49:47,240 --> 00:49:49,400
So I don't think
there's any evidence
1098
00:49:49,400 --> 00:49:51,000
that Petiot is a sadist at all.
1099
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:52,880
In fact, the clinical nature
1100
00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:55,280
of his killing is
quite striking.
1101
00:49:55,280 --> 00:49:57,840
And maybe one of the
more disturbing aspects
1102
00:49:57,840 --> 00:49:58,840
of the case actually.
1103
00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:02,200
[Narrator] But in April, 1943,
1104
00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:04,440
just as Petiot is
lining up more victims
1105
00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:06,440
to invite to his slaughterhouse,
1106
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:08,840
convinced that his
scheme is undetectable,
1107
00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:12,040
the escape network is
discovered by the authorities.
1108
00:50:13,200 --> 00:50:15,160
Yet not by the French
police officers
1109
00:50:15,160 --> 00:50:16,760
investigating the body parts,
1110
00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:18,840
washing up on the
banks of the Seine,
1111
00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:23,480
but by the Gestapo and the Nazis
are not hunting a murderer,
1112
00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:27,160
but instead take Petiot's
cover story at face value.
1113
00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:29,160
An informant told the Germans
1114
00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:31,840
that there was an
escape organization
1115
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:33,840
and there was a
mysterious doctor
1116
00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:35,640
who they hadn't been
able to identify
1117
00:50:35,640 --> 00:50:37,440
who was really
responsible for it.
1118
00:50:37,440 --> 00:50:39,360
So the Gestapo went
to the barbershop,
1119
00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:41,800
they arrested
Fourrier and Pintard.
1120
00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:43,960
They tortured these two.
1121
00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:48,960
They very quickly gave Dr.
Eugene's real name, his address,
1122
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:51,440
and even his telephone number.
1123
00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:55,840
[Narrator] And like that the
murder network is shut down.
1124
00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:57,920
Petiot is dragged
into Fresne Prison
1125
00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:00,120
and subjected to a
brutal interrogation
1126
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:03,280
by Gestapo Commisaire
Robert Jodkum.
1127
00:51:03,280 --> 00:51:06,560
Yet rather than come clean and
explain his criminal scheme
1128
00:51:06,560 --> 00:51:07,680
in which he had been murdering
1129
00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:10,720
the same people the Nazis
themselves were hunting,
1130
00:51:10,720 --> 00:51:12,960
the doctor sticks
to his cover story
1131
00:51:12,960 --> 00:51:16,040
and suffers for months at
the hands of his captors.
1132
00:51:16,040 --> 00:51:18,160
They tortured him
for eight months.
1133
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:19,880
They beat him, they
filed his teeth.
1134
00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:22,440
They compressed his
head in iron bands,
1135
00:51:22,440 --> 00:51:24,720
trying to find out more
about the escape network,
1136
00:51:24,720 --> 00:51:26,600
genuine Resistants, who
were in prison with him,
1137
00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:29,840
said that he was the bravest
person they had ever seen,
1138
00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:30,960
that he taunted the Germans.
1139
00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:33,720
He ridiculed them.
He laughed at them.
1140
00:51:33,720 --> 00:51:36,800
They were in awe of his
courage and dedication,
1141
00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:37,600
and they believed
1142
00:51:37,600 --> 00:51:40,960
that he was genuinely a
Resistant and fearless.
1143
00:51:40,960 --> 00:51:43,600
It's interesting why when
he's captured by the Gestapo
1144
00:51:43,600 --> 00:51:45,360
that Petiot holds to the line
1145
00:51:45,360 --> 00:51:46,840
that he's a Resistance fighter
1146
00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:49,920
and that he has a network
that he's pursuing,
1147
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:52,320
even when doing so would
likely have saved him
1148
00:51:52,320 --> 00:51:54,240
from torture by the Gestapo.
1149
00:51:54,240 --> 00:51:55,960
You know, he's risking
quite a severe end
1150
00:51:55,960 --> 00:51:59,160
if the Gestapo think that he
is really a Resistance fighter.
1151
00:51:59,160 --> 00:52:01,040
But I think that Gestapo
take the wrong angle here.
1152
00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:02,560
Not that they would
necessarily have known that
1153
00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:03,440
by torturing him
1154
00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:05,840
because you can't really
punish a psychopath
1155
00:52:05,840 --> 00:52:07,000
for their behavior.
1156
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:08,720
It doesn't really
work like that.
1157
00:52:08,720 --> 00:52:11,200
So torturing isn't going
to encourage Petiot
1158
00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:12,440
to do anything different
1159
00:52:12,440 --> 00:52:14,560
because psychopaths don't
respond to punishment.
1160
00:52:14,560 --> 00:52:16,400
It's not something that they
really have the capacity
1161
00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:17,520
to do in their brains.
1162
00:52:18,400 --> 00:52:20,800
[Narrator] Despite his
refusal to cooperate,
1163
00:52:20,800 --> 00:52:22,760
in January, 1944,
1164
00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:26,080
the Gestapo surprisingly
releases Marcel Petiot,
1165
00:52:26,080 --> 00:52:29,720
planning to monitor the
doctor further on the outside.
1166
00:52:29,720 --> 00:52:32,200
Yet fearful that his actual
crimes will be discovered
1167
00:52:32,200 --> 00:52:34,840
by the Germans and
with decomposing bodies
1168
00:52:34,840 --> 00:52:38,040
still littering the floor of
his Rue Le Sueur basement,
1169
00:52:38,040 --> 00:52:40,320
Petiot returns to
dispose of the evidence.
1170
00:52:41,320 --> 00:52:44,040
He calls his brother
Maurice in Auxerre
1171
00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:47,520
and has him deliver 400
kilos of quick lime,
1172
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:49,000
then fires up his furnace
1173
00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:51,000
and begins incinerating
the remains.
1174
00:52:52,840 --> 00:52:55,320
And yet rather than
oversee the entire process,
1175
00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:56,760
he leaves the property,
1176
00:52:56,760 --> 00:52:58,760
the flesh still burning
in the basement.
1177
00:52:59,720 --> 00:53:02,000
He let the furnace burn.
1178
00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,520
Why? Why did he do that?
1179
00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:07,840
He seemed to have planned
everything else so well,
1180
00:53:07,840 --> 00:53:09,840
why was he so stupid doing that?
1181
00:53:09,840 --> 00:53:11,120
It really feels like,
1182
00:53:11,120 --> 00:53:13,680
and this is actually quite
typical of a psychopath,
1183
00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:17,640
he sort of lost interest
in that part of it.
1184
00:53:17,640 --> 00:53:18,840
He's left with these corpses.
1185
00:53:18,840 --> 00:53:19,840
What does he do with them?
1186
00:53:19,840 --> 00:53:22,840
So he creates this sort
of quasi-industrial place
1187
00:53:22,840 --> 00:53:24,840
where he can burn them and
then dissolve the bodies
1188
00:53:24,840 --> 00:53:26,880
in quick lime as
quickly as possible.
1189
00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:29,640
But it sounds like it's messier
1190
00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:31,680
and less straightforward
than he bargained for.
1191
00:53:31,680 --> 00:53:32,920
And I think this is
sort of the roots
1192
00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:35,440
of his eventual capture,
1193
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:38,000
because he can't stop the
filthy smoke coming out.
1194
00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:40,400
He can't stop the
smells of decomposition.
1195
00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:44,240
So eventually the suspicions
are raised and he's found out.
1196
00:53:45,120 --> 00:53:47,480
[Narrator] On
March the 11th, 1944,
1197
00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:50,120
the police are called
to 21 Rue Le Sueur
1198
00:53:50,120 --> 00:53:52,600
and the fateful
discovery is made.
1199
00:53:52,600 --> 00:53:54,920
With Petiot and his wife
nowhere to be found,
1200
00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:58,800
Commissaire Georges Massu's
manhunt gets underway.
1201
00:53:58,800 --> 00:54:00,440
The note left on the
door of the property
1202
00:54:00,440 --> 00:54:01,520
leads them directly to the house
1203
00:54:01,520 --> 00:54:04,840
of the doctor's brother,
Maurice, in Auxerre.
1204
00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:07,800
And within three days they
track him down and arrest him.
1205
00:54:09,840 --> 00:54:12,520
They also discover
Petiot's wife, Georgette,
1206
00:54:12,520 --> 00:54:13,960
at the Auxerre train station
1207
00:54:13,960 --> 00:54:16,720
and she too is brought
in for questioning.
1208
00:54:16,720 --> 00:54:19,320
But the doctor himself
proves more elusive
1209
00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:21,600
and the police's search
is soon disrupted
1210
00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:25,760
as the Second World War
enters a decisive new stage.
1211
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:28,040
On June 6th, D-Day occurs
1212
00:54:28,040 --> 00:54:30,840
when the Allies invade
the beaches of Normandy
1213
00:54:30,840 --> 00:54:34,080
and France is transformed into
a battleground once again.
1214
00:54:35,840 --> 00:54:37,680
And with the tables now turning,
1215
00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:40,840
the Resistance suddenly gains
an influx of volunteers,
1216
00:54:40,840 --> 00:54:42,960
looking to join their ranks.
1217
00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:44,840
There's lots of
reasons why people
1218
00:54:44,840 --> 00:54:48,080
after D-Day decided to
join the Resistance.
1219
00:54:48,080 --> 00:54:52,760
Some people just felt a sudden
urge to want to do something,
1220
00:54:52,760 --> 00:54:56,600
anything to kind of
release themselves.
1221
00:54:56,600 --> 00:55:00,920
But at the same time, some
people really thought,
1222
00:55:00,920 --> 00:55:04,040
I have not had a very good
record for the last four years.
1223
00:55:04,040 --> 00:55:07,800
Some of my actions have
actually been quite shady.
1224
00:55:07,800 --> 00:55:09,520
I better join the
Resistance now,
1225
00:55:09,520 --> 00:55:13,400
so that there's a good place
for me in the new France.
1226
00:55:13,400 --> 00:55:15,880
Once Vichy and the
occupation ends,
1227
00:55:15,880 --> 00:55:19,280
my Resistance record
is going to protect me.
1228
00:55:20,680 --> 00:55:21,960
[Narrator] And
although the motivations
1229
00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:24,520
of these new recruits
may be ambiguous,
1230
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:27,160
as the Allies fight
their way across France,
1231
00:55:27,160 --> 00:55:30,000
within rural towns and
in cities countrywide,
1232
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:32,800
this expanded Resistance
joins the campaign.
1233
00:55:34,280 --> 00:55:38,320
The D-Day invasion was
the beginning of June, 1944,
1234
00:55:38,320 --> 00:55:40,120
and it took about two
months for the Allies
1235
00:55:40,120 --> 00:55:42,840
to make their way across
Normandy to Paris.
1236
00:55:42,840 --> 00:55:45,280
(dramatic music)
1237
00:55:45,280 --> 00:55:46,800
As soon as the Allies landed,
1238
00:55:46,800 --> 00:55:49,600
the Resistance everywhere
started blowing up bridges,
1239
00:55:49,600 --> 00:55:51,520
blowing up trains, doing
everything they could
1240
00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:54,200
to make sure that the Germans
couldn't send reinforcements.
1241
00:55:54,200 --> 00:55:56,880
And in Paris, the Resistance
put up barriers in the street
1242
00:55:56,880 --> 00:55:58,760
and began attacking the Germans
1243
00:55:58,760 --> 00:56:01,160
and creating as much chaos
as they possibly could.
1244
00:56:02,160 --> 00:56:06,840
(dramatic music)
(guns firing)
1245
00:56:06,840 --> 00:56:08,840
The liberation of
Paris is accomplished
1246
00:56:08,840 --> 00:56:12,160
by the Americans, British
and Canadians advancing
1247
00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:13,720
from the Normandy beaches.
1248
00:56:13,720 --> 00:56:15,720
The French Resistance
though is important
1249
00:56:15,720 --> 00:56:18,160
in securing the
city from within.
1250
00:56:18,160 --> 00:56:21,720
The existence of large and
growing numbers of Resistors,
1251
00:56:21,720 --> 00:56:23,520
who now are emboldened
to become Resistors
1252
00:56:23,520 --> 00:56:25,000
by the turning of the tide,
1253
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:28,440
leads to the rapid
pacification of Paris
1254
00:56:28,440 --> 00:56:31,960
and its preservation as one
of the jewels of civilization.
1255
00:56:31,960 --> 00:56:35,160
(dramatic music)
1256
00:56:35,160 --> 00:56:38,880
The Parisians were
out on the streets,
1257
00:56:38,880 --> 00:56:43,880
they were kissing the GIs and
giving them flowers and roses.
1258
00:56:45,400 --> 00:56:47,200
It was their liberation.
1259
00:56:48,240 --> 00:56:50,000
Paris was free.
1260
00:56:50,000 --> 00:56:51,680
The occupation was over.
1261
00:56:52,480 --> 00:56:55,840
[Narrator] With victory comes
an immediate regime change.
1262
00:56:55,840 --> 00:56:58,920
The Vichy government of
collaborationists is toppled
1263
00:56:58,920 --> 00:57:02,480
and power passes to
General Charles De Gaulle.
1264
00:57:02,480 --> 00:57:05,840
And his central aim
is to unify the people
1265
00:57:05,840 --> 00:57:07,640
of this fractured nation.
1266
00:57:07,640 --> 00:57:08,600
At the liberation of France,
1267
00:57:08,600 --> 00:57:11,440
it was really
important for De Gaulle
1268
00:57:11,440 --> 00:57:12,840
and for others at the top
1269
00:57:12,840 --> 00:57:15,760
to make sure that France
spoke with a single voice.
1270
00:57:15,760 --> 00:57:19,640
And one of the ways it
tried to do this was to say
1271
00:57:19,640 --> 00:57:22,040
we were a nation of resistors,
1272
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:25,480
a handful, a minuscule number
1273
00:57:25,480 --> 00:57:28,480
of people in France
collaborated,
1274
00:57:28,480 --> 00:57:31,760
but the rest of you,
the rest of France,
1275
00:57:31,760 --> 00:57:34,000
even if we weren't
acting as resistors,
1276
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:36,080
we believed in the Resistance.
1277
00:57:36,080 --> 00:57:37,680
So this myth of the resistance,
1278
00:57:37,680 --> 00:57:41,120
I mean, which was created at
the liberation by De Gaulle,
1279
00:57:41,120 --> 00:57:42,840
this was very powerful.
1280
00:57:43,880 --> 00:57:46,240
[Narrator] While celebrations
break out across the city,
1281
00:57:46,240 --> 00:57:48,840
there are some who
are far less jubilant.
1282
00:57:49,840 --> 00:57:51,360
For those who aided the Germans,
1283
00:57:51,360 --> 00:57:53,160
there are brutal repercussions
1284
00:57:53,160 --> 00:57:55,640
as angry Parisians
set up people's courts
1285
00:57:55,640 --> 00:57:58,040
and begin serving out
harsh street justice.
1286
00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:02,040
To bring order to the city,
the Resistance transforms
1287
00:58:02,040 --> 00:58:05,760
into the French Forces
of the Interior, the FFI,
1288
00:58:05,760 --> 00:58:07,840
and they help police
the liberated streets.
1289
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:12,840
But again, with motivations
to join often dubious,
1290
00:58:12,840 --> 00:58:15,800
this voluntary army becomes
the perfect hiding place
1291
00:58:15,800 --> 00:58:18,320
for fugitives looking
to escape their past.
1292
00:58:19,240 --> 00:58:21,880
Everybody who
just wanted to help
1293
00:58:21,880 --> 00:58:24,240
and be patriotic joined the FFI
1294
00:58:24,240 --> 00:58:29,240
and collaborators
joined the FFI to hide.
1295
00:58:30,480 --> 00:58:33,560
Petiot joined the FFI
1296
00:58:33,560 --> 00:58:36,120
and they made him a captain.
1297
00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:38,920
[Narrator]
Remarkably, undeterred
1298
00:58:38,920 --> 00:58:40,840
by the extensive
police operation
1299
00:58:40,840 --> 00:58:42,840
that has been hunting
him for months,
1300
00:58:42,840 --> 00:58:45,960
Marcel Petiot has never
left Paris at all.
1301
00:58:47,040 --> 00:58:50,600
Assuming a false identity,
Captain Henri Valleri,
1302
00:58:50,600 --> 00:58:52,520
the doctor has
remained one step ahead
1303
00:58:52,520 --> 00:58:54,720
of the investigators
pursuing him
1304
00:58:54,720 --> 00:58:57,840
and proving a master of
disguise even played a role
1305
00:58:57,840 --> 00:58:59,840
in the liberation
of Paris itself.
1306
00:59:00,920 --> 00:59:03,440
Yet Commissaire Massu,
the detective in charge
1307
00:59:03,440 --> 00:59:05,840
of the manhunt
sees an opportunity
1308
00:59:05,840 --> 00:59:07,040
in newly liberated France.
1309
00:59:08,080 --> 00:59:10,360
With the press free once again,
1310
00:59:10,360 --> 00:59:13,560
he leaks a phony
newstory to a reporter,
1311
00:59:13,560 --> 00:59:17,640
one that falsely exposes
Petiot as a Nazi collaborator.
1312
00:59:17,640 --> 00:59:20,040
Massu clearly knew that
with somebody like Petiot
1313
00:59:20,040 --> 00:59:21,960
and he knew enough
about him by then
1314
00:59:21,960 --> 00:59:24,480
that this was going to
make him very angry,
1315
00:59:24,480 --> 00:59:25,400
which indeed it did.
1316
00:59:25,400 --> 00:59:26,400
Within a few days,
1317
00:59:26,400 --> 00:59:29,120
a letter from Marcel Petiot
reached the newspaper
1318
00:59:29,120 --> 00:59:30,880
boasting of how he
had been a Resistor
1319
00:59:30,880 --> 00:59:32,960
and how he had never
collaborated and so on.
1320
00:59:32,960 --> 00:59:35,560
The police looked at the
handwriting on the letter
1321
00:59:35,560 --> 00:59:37,400
and they knew from some of
the internal information,
1322
00:59:37,400 --> 00:59:41,000
that one, it suggested that
Petiot was still in Paris
1323
00:59:41,000 --> 00:59:42,880
and two, that he
was probably serving
1324
00:59:42,880 --> 00:59:44,840
in the French Forces
of the Interior.
1325
00:59:44,840 --> 00:59:48,880
So they sent samples of the
handwriting around to officers
1326
00:59:48,880 --> 00:59:50,840
in the French Forces
of the Interior
1327
00:59:50,840 --> 00:59:51,960
and asked them to compare them
1328
00:59:51,960 --> 00:59:54,200
to the handwriting of
all of the officers
1329
00:59:54,200 --> 00:59:56,840
in the FFI stationed in Paris.
1330
00:59:56,840 --> 00:59:58,600
[Narrator] The trap works
1331
00:59:58,600 --> 01:00:00,800
and within weeks
Petiot is arrested
1332
01:00:00,800 --> 01:00:04,920
at a Paris metro station and
pulled in for interrogation.
1333
01:00:04,920 --> 01:00:08,080
Heavily bearded and
significantly more gaunt,
1334
01:00:08,080 --> 01:00:10,720
on his person are
several false documents,
1335
01:00:10,720 --> 01:00:12,680
including the
altered ration card
1336
01:00:12,680 --> 01:00:14,640
of eight-year-old Rene Kneller.
1337
01:00:15,600 --> 01:00:17,960
Protesting his innocence
and claiming the murders
1338
01:00:17,960 --> 01:00:19,000
of which he was accused
1339
01:00:19,000 --> 01:00:21,520
were legitimate
Resistance executions,
1340
01:00:21,520 --> 01:00:23,840
he is immediately
jailed pending a trial.
1341
01:00:24,840 --> 01:00:26,840
Here he waits for
more than a year,
1342
01:00:26,840 --> 01:00:28,920
the story disappearing
from the headlines
1343
01:00:28,920 --> 01:00:30,840
amidst the more
substantial cases
1344
01:00:30,840 --> 01:00:33,480
of high level collaborators
and Vichyites.
1345
01:00:34,400 --> 01:00:36,960
Yet when he finally
does go before a judge,
1346
01:00:36,960 --> 01:00:39,840
the doctor comes to the
forefront, once again,
1347
01:00:39,840 --> 01:00:42,840
pushing even the Nuremberg
Trials from the front pages.
1348
01:00:43,920 --> 01:00:47,040
Exuding intelligence,
passion and charisma,
1349
01:00:47,040 --> 01:00:49,960
he maintains his innocence
like a master showman.
1350
01:00:50,960 --> 01:00:52,160
It was a sensational case
1351
01:00:52,160 --> 01:00:54,720
and people had been following
this in the newspapers
1352
01:00:54,720 --> 01:00:56,640
for two years by then,
1353
01:00:56,640 --> 01:01:00,120
and Petiot had been so defiant
and announced ahead of time
1354
01:01:00,120 --> 01:01:01,200
that he was going to have fun,
1355
01:01:01,200 --> 01:01:03,840
that this was gonna be
an entertaining trial.
1356
01:01:03,840 --> 01:01:05,800
So nobody knew what was
going to happen with him.
1357
01:01:05,800 --> 01:01:07,560
And it really is,
one person said
1358
01:01:07,560 --> 01:01:10,080
was the theatrical
event of the year.
1359
01:01:10,080 --> 01:01:13,120
Suddenly he was famous.
1360
01:01:13,120 --> 01:01:15,400
Infamous, yes, but to him,
1361
01:01:15,400 --> 01:01:19,800
he was famous and
he wasn't guilty.
1362
01:01:19,800 --> 01:01:21,200
Oh no.
1363
01:01:21,200 --> 01:01:23,360
I think there was
probably a very real danger
1364
01:01:23,360 --> 01:01:25,600
that Petiot could have
walked free from that trial.
1365
01:01:25,600 --> 01:01:28,880
I think it was, I'm not gonna
say it was poorly conducted,
1366
01:01:28,880 --> 01:01:30,320
because I just, I don't think
1367
01:01:30,320 --> 01:01:32,920
that the justice system
had ever seen anybody
1368
01:01:32,920 --> 01:01:35,040
quite like Petiot at that time.
1369
01:01:35,040 --> 01:01:37,880
And certainly not in the
context of, you know,
1370
01:01:38,840 --> 01:01:40,960
a country just coming
out of occupation.
1371
01:01:40,960 --> 01:01:44,160
Most psychopaths usually have
IQs probably in the region
1372
01:01:44,160 --> 01:01:45,000
of around about 90.
1373
01:01:45,000 --> 01:01:47,120
So significantly below the norm.
1374
01:01:47,120 --> 01:01:50,840
It is quite rare to see somebody
who's quite so articulate,
1375
01:01:50,840 --> 01:01:54,240
quite so, you know,
professionally
1376
01:01:54,240 --> 01:01:55,840
And to have somebody like that,
1377
01:01:55,840 --> 01:01:57,600
who's also got the
psychopathic features
1378
01:01:57,600 --> 01:01:59,560
of being very
charming, very glib,
1379
01:01:59,560 --> 01:02:01,840
up to a point it
ceases to become about
1380
01:02:01,840 --> 01:02:03,440
whether he's found
guilty or not.
1381
01:02:03,440 --> 01:02:04,880
He wants to be the
Marcel Petiot show
1382
01:02:04,880 --> 01:02:06,840
and he wants to make sure
that his voice is heard
1383
01:02:06,840 --> 01:02:09,600
and his identity as
a patriot is affirmed
1384
01:02:09,600 --> 01:02:11,360
by the people in the courtroom.
1385
01:02:11,360 --> 01:02:14,120
The prosecution has
substantial material evidence
1386
01:02:14,120 --> 01:02:16,800
to link the doctor to
his alleged victims.
1387
01:02:16,800 --> 01:02:19,360
At Petiot's Rue Le Sueur home,
1388
01:02:19,360 --> 01:02:22,360
the police have recovered a
wealth of personal clothing,
1389
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:24,840
dresses, hats,
shoes, and fur coats,
1390
01:02:24,840 --> 01:02:28,720
belonging to Josephine
Grippay, Jo Le Boxeur,
1391
01:02:28,720 --> 01:02:31,440
Kurt and Margaret
Kneller and many others.
1392
01:02:32,240 --> 01:02:35,360
Interrogation of the doctor's
brother, Maurice Petiot,
1393
01:02:35,360 --> 01:02:38,600
has also led to the
discovery of 49 suitcases
1394
01:02:38,600 --> 01:02:40,600
in a large attic in Auxerre,
1395
01:02:40,600 --> 01:02:43,720
all of which are sat piled
high in the courtroom
1396
01:02:43,720 --> 01:02:45,840
as evidence of this
murder network.
1397
01:02:46,840 --> 01:02:49,880
But Petiot himself does
not dispute this evidence
1398
01:02:49,880 --> 01:02:53,600
and instead incorporates
it into his own defense.
1399
01:02:53,600 --> 01:02:54,960
Outside of the courtroom,
1400
01:02:54,960 --> 01:02:57,560
although Petiot is back
on the front pages,
1401
01:02:57,560 --> 01:03:00,880
the French public is no longer
so certain of his guilt.
1402
01:03:01,840 --> 01:03:04,160
The backstory
puts him on the map.
1403
01:03:04,160 --> 01:03:05,840
People have now gone, oh,
let's have a look at him.
1404
01:03:05,840 --> 01:03:06,720
What does he look like?
1405
01:03:06,720 --> 01:03:10,480
People are looking for an
answer and they get an answer,
1406
01:03:10,480 --> 01:03:12,840
but it's an answer that's
full of ambiguities.
1407
01:03:12,840 --> 01:03:14,840
It isn't like Petiot's on trial
1408
01:03:14,840 --> 01:03:18,000
and then they decide he's insane
and not fit to stand trial.
1409
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:20,520
No, we have a man
who's standing up
1410
01:03:20,520 --> 01:03:25,520
and putting forward a
very elaborate story
1411
01:03:25,680 --> 01:03:27,160
to defend himself.
1412
01:03:27,160 --> 01:03:30,480
Petiot was accused
of 27 murders.
1413
01:03:30,480 --> 01:03:32,960
He claimed that he
had killed 63 people,
1414
01:03:32,960 --> 01:03:36,080
but he said his were all
justifiable homicides.
1415
01:03:36,080 --> 01:03:40,160
For people like Gushinov he
said, "I got him out of France.
1416
01:03:40,160 --> 01:03:42,200
He's in South America,
South America's a big place.
1417
01:03:42,200 --> 01:03:43,000
Go find him."
1418
01:03:43,000 --> 01:03:46,560
For Jo Le Boxeur and the
pimps and collaborators,
1419
01:03:46,560 --> 01:03:47,520
he said, "Yes, I killed him.
1420
01:03:47,520 --> 01:03:48,760
And I'm very proud of it.
1421
01:03:48,760 --> 01:03:51,000
I should get a medal rather
than being prosecuted.
1422
01:03:51,000 --> 01:03:53,200
Why are you persecuting
me this way?"
1423
01:03:53,200 --> 01:03:57,880
The ambiguity of
Petiot's defense,
1424
01:03:58,920 --> 01:04:03,720
there is an echo with the
ambiguity of the moment,
1425
01:04:03,720 --> 01:04:05,040
if you like.
1426
01:04:05,040 --> 01:04:07,800
There are going to be
people in any situation
1427
01:04:07,800 --> 01:04:09,480
where there's a
change of regime,
1428
01:04:09,480 --> 01:04:11,720
particularly where the
regime is being replaced
1429
01:04:11,720 --> 01:04:14,840
is one that's involved
collaboration with
1430
01:04:14,840 --> 01:04:19,400
There's going to be a
moment when people will say,
1431
01:04:19,400 --> 01:04:21,720
actually, I'm going to
pretend I was something else.
1432
01:04:21,720 --> 01:04:23,880
I'm gonna pretend I
did things I didn't do.
1433
01:04:23,880 --> 01:04:25,640
And I'm gonna deny I did things
1434
01:04:25,640 --> 01:04:27,080
that other people say I did do.
1435
01:04:27,080 --> 01:04:28,960
Now you have gonna have
that on a mass scale.
1436
01:04:28,960 --> 01:04:30,720
People are gonna tell
themselves stories
1437
01:04:30,720 --> 01:04:31,840
about what they
did or didn't do.
1438
01:04:31,840 --> 01:04:34,240
You have people who say
they were in the Resistance.
1439
01:04:34,240 --> 01:04:35,440
Where's the evidence?
1440
01:04:35,440 --> 01:04:39,840
In order to try and
adapt to the new society,
1441
01:04:39,840 --> 01:04:43,840
and Petiot is living
that out publicly
1442
01:04:43,840 --> 01:04:45,720
in a very extreme form, I think.
1443
01:04:47,160 --> 01:04:49,720
[Narrator] And Petiot
latches on these ambiguities
1444
01:04:49,720 --> 01:04:52,280
to his own advantage,
knowing that his claims
1445
01:04:52,280 --> 01:04:55,600
of being a persecuted
Resistance hero will play well
1446
01:04:55,600 --> 01:04:57,200
to his audience.
1447
01:04:57,200 --> 01:04:59,840
A psychopath is
particularly well poised
1448
01:04:59,840 --> 01:05:01,320
to exploit those kind of things
1449
01:05:01,320 --> 01:05:03,960
because of a trait that we
call pathological lying.
1450
01:05:03,960 --> 01:05:05,280
A pathological liar,
1451
01:05:05,280 --> 01:05:07,280
doesn't have really
a sort of grand truth
1452
01:05:07,280 --> 01:05:08,480
to what they're saying.
1453
01:05:08,480 --> 01:05:11,840
There isn't really, I think,
in Petiot's mind a grand truth
1454
01:05:11,840 --> 01:05:14,000
about whether or not he
is a Resistance fighter,
1455
01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:14,960
whether or not
1456
01:05:14,960 --> 01:05:17,840
he has been gassing the
Gestapo collaborators,
1457
01:05:17,840 --> 01:05:19,440
whether he or not
he is doing this
1458
01:05:19,440 --> 01:05:20,840
for financial gain.
1459
01:05:20,840 --> 01:05:21,960
It's all very murky.
1460
01:05:21,960 --> 01:05:23,120
And because of that,
1461
01:05:23,120 --> 01:05:24,840
he can simply
emphasize the parts
1462
01:05:24,840 --> 01:05:27,400
of which he wants to
believe at any given time
1463
01:05:27,400 --> 01:05:28,880
to any given responder.
1464
01:05:28,880 --> 01:05:30,600
Which means that you
can't really catch
1465
01:05:30,600 --> 01:05:32,520
a pathological liar out of a lie
1466
01:05:32,520 --> 01:05:35,240
because they can always
find another way around it.
1467
01:05:35,240 --> 01:05:38,280
It's simply left to the beholder
to try and find a point,
1468
01:05:38,280 --> 01:05:39,640
which I think in Petiot's trial,
1469
01:05:39,640 --> 01:05:41,520
they do find where
simply the lie
1470
01:05:41,520 --> 01:05:42,880
just isn't convincing anymore
1471
01:05:42,880 --> 01:05:45,360
because the weight of
evidence goes against it.
1472
01:05:46,440 --> 01:05:48,640
[Narrator] No matter how
engrossing his performance
1473
01:05:48,640 --> 01:05:51,000
nor how inconclusive
the case against him,
1474
01:05:51,000 --> 01:05:52,720
as the trial draws to a close,
1475
01:05:52,720 --> 01:05:55,840
the jury swiftly delivers
a verdict of guilty.
1476
01:05:55,840 --> 01:05:57,200
While his wife, brother
1477
01:05:57,200 --> 01:05:58,680
and unwitting accomplices
1478
01:05:58,680 --> 01:06:01,000
Fourrier and Pintard
are exonerated,
1479
01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:02,680
Petiot is sentenced to death,
1480
01:06:02,680 --> 01:06:04,320
still maintaining
that he was acting
1481
01:06:04,320 --> 01:06:08,080
only on orders as a genuine
member of the Resistance.
1482
01:06:08,080 --> 01:06:11,840
On May 25th, 1946, he is
brought into the courtyard
1483
01:06:11,840 --> 01:06:14,360
of Sante Prison and
awaits his execution.
1484
01:06:15,160 --> 01:06:16,920
As he stands beside
the guillotine,
1485
01:06:16,920 --> 01:06:19,200
he addresses the
witnesses and tells them,
1486
01:06:19,200 --> 01:06:21,880
"Look away, this
won't be pretty."
1487
01:06:21,880 --> 01:06:23,640
After the blade comes down,
1488
01:06:23,640 --> 01:06:25,720
a court official looks
at his severe head
1489
01:06:25,720 --> 01:06:28,840
and later reports that
Petiot was smiling.
1490
01:06:28,840 --> 01:06:32,360
You only have to
see right at the last,
1491
01:06:32,360 --> 01:06:34,840
when he's facing the guillotine
1492
01:06:34,840 --> 01:06:37,000
and good riddance
too, I might add,
1493
01:06:37,000 --> 01:06:40,120
even that's a smiling affair.
1494
01:06:40,120 --> 01:06:42,920
"Turn away. This
won't be pretty."
1495
01:06:42,920 --> 01:06:44,840
It's psychopathic.
1496
01:06:44,840 --> 01:06:45,960
(dramatic music)
1497
01:06:45,960 --> 01:06:47,280
[Narrator] With
the war now over
1498
01:06:47,280 --> 01:06:48,960
and with the
treacherous masterminds
1499
01:06:48,960 --> 01:06:51,320
of the Vichy regime
brought to justice,
1500
01:06:51,320 --> 01:06:53,320
the years of occupation
become an era
1501
01:06:53,320 --> 01:06:55,200
many survivors choose to forget.
1502
01:06:56,520 --> 01:06:57,840
And the unbelievable case
1503
01:06:57,840 --> 01:07:00,560
of Dr. Marcel Petiot
is also confined
1504
01:07:00,560 --> 01:07:03,880
to that same dark chapter
in France's history.
1505
01:07:03,880 --> 01:07:05,600
One of the nation's
most prolific
1506
01:07:05,600 --> 01:07:07,840
and cold-hearted serial killers
1507
01:07:07,840 --> 01:07:10,080
who may never have
become so infamous
1508
01:07:10,080 --> 01:07:12,520
were it not for the war itself.
1509
01:07:12,520 --> 01:07:13,840
(dramatic music)
1510
01:07:13,840 --> 01:07:16,440
In a time of sort
of tragedy and death,
1511
01:07:16,440 --> 01:07:18,840
this was almost a footnote
of tragedy and death,
1512
01:07:18,840 --> 01:07:20,240
which is the funny thing.
1513
01:07:20,240 --> 01:07:24,200
I think Petiot will probably
remain a unique case
1514
01:07:24,200 --> 01:07:28,600
because it just required such
a precise set of circumstances
1515
01:07:28,600 --> 01:07:31,240
for somebody who was
quite psychopathic, yes,
1516
01:07:31,240 --> 01:07:33,200
but also quite prone to violence
1517
01:07:33,200 --> 01:07:35,000
and had this very
callous attitude
1518
01:07:35,000 --> 01:07:36,680
to his fellow men and women,
1519
01:07:36,680 --> 01:07:38,840
that they were simply
chaff under the wheels
1520
01:07:38,840 --> 01:07:42,400
for him to advance his career
and his financial standings.
1521
01:07:42,400 --> 01:07:45,240
And I don't think that if
that was to happen today,
1522
01:07:45,240 --> 01:07:47,800
there would be
anything like the space
1523
01:07:47,800 --> 01:07:50,040
for him to get away
with that for so long.
1524
01:07:50,040 --> 01:07:53,560
It is totally
grotesque, what he did.
1525
01:07:53,560 --> 01:07:57,480
He shamelessly,
ruthlessly took advantage
1526
01:07:57,480 --> 01:08:00,600
of the situation
for his own gain.
1527
01:08:00,600 --> 01:08:05,600
And it is marvelous that
finally justice came to him.
1528
01:08:05,920 --> 01:08:08,440
Would he have
become a serial killer
1529
01:08:08,440 --> 01:08:10,840
if the war had never happened?
1530
01:08:10,840 --> 01:08:11,840
I don't think so.
1531
01:08:12,920 --> 01:08:17,920
The war gave him a fantastic
opportunity to enrich himself
1532
01:08:18,760 --> 01:08:22,400
and to enrich himself
he had to kill.
1533
01:08:22,400 --> 01:08:24,840
He enjoyed showing that he
was better than everyone else,
1534
01:08:24,840 --> 01:08:26,960
and he could make other
people believe anything.
1535
01:08:26,960 --> 01:08:30,680
He could make people love him
and adore him and respect him.
1536
01:08:30,680 --> 01:08:32,960
He could take their things.
He could take their lives.
1537
01:08:32,960 --> 01:08:34,840
Everybody else was
at his disposal.
1538
01:08:34,840 --> 01:08:37,840
He was the one who was in
supreme control of everything.
1539
01:08:37,840 --> 01:08:39,880
My question is why
wasn't he a Resistant?
1540
01:08:39,880 --> 01:08:42,600
I mean, he was brave.
He was intelligent.
1541
01:08:42,600 --> 01:08:45,120
He was absolutely courageous
and defiant of the Germans
1542
01:08:45,120 --> 01:08:46,840
when they had him in a prison.
1543
01:08:46,840 --> 01:08:47,840
If he had wanted money,
1544
01:08:47,840 --> 01:08:50,320
Germans and collaborators
probably had more
1545
01:08:50,320 --> 01:08:53,600
of the poor refugees
that he in fact killed.
1546
01:08:53,600 --> 01:08:54,880
If he just liked killing people,
1547
01:08:54,880 --> 01:08:57,320
there were plenty of Germans
and collaborators to kill.
1548
01:08:57,320 --> 01:09:00,160
He would've genuinely
been admired by people.
1549
01:09:00,160 --> 01:09:02,640
So why did he not do that?
1550
01:09:02,640 --> 01:09:04,920
And the only explanation
that I can come up with
1551
01:09:04,920 --> 01:09:08,840
is that he only would've
been fooling half people.
1552
01:09:08,840 --> 01:09:11,840
Whereas this way he
was fooling everybody.
1553
01:09:11,840 --> 01:09:15,440
(dramatic sinister music)
1554
01:09:21,920 --> 01:09:25,840
(dramatic suspenseful music)
1555
01:09:41,240 --> 01:09:44,920
(dramatic suspenseful music)
1556
01:10:00,120 --> 01:10:03,840
(dramatic suspenseful music)
1557
01:10:19,640 --> 01:10:23,440
(dramatic suspenseful music)
117566
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