Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and we are today continuing the two part episode of the events that led up to the last public guillotine execution in France. If you missed part one of this story, in which we detailed the vanishing of Gene to Covin and the man who she was last seen with, go back and listen to that before jumping into this one, because we're really not reviewing here and we're kind of picking up where we left off, so it will feel completely confusing if you don't have the backstory. Today, we're going to talk about the trial, the verdict, and the aftermath, including the execution heads up just in case. Like the first part, this episode will involve discussion of violence, specifically murder. We will also talk a lot about capital punishment. When we left off last time, Oigan Vidman had been captured by police and had confessed to several murders, including the death of the young American tourist Jeane to Covin. On December nine seven, Jeane to Covin's body was found that was right where Vidman had told the police that it would be. He hadn't taken it very far. It was buried under the front porch of the cottage he lived in. Jean's wallet had been emptied, but most of her personal effects were still there with her, including the new camera that she had taken to Europe to capture memories of her travels. When the film was developed, it showed the last photos she took were of Oigan Vibeman in his apartment. When they found her, she had a cord tied around her neck. She had been strangled. Vidman had refused to accompany authorities as they went to his home to exhume the bodies of Jean and also of Fritz Frohmer, who was buried in the cellar. He said that he couldn't bear the side of it. When Oigan confessed to Jean's murder, it's reported that this was the only one out of the six that he exhibited regret over. He would not say her name, but wrote it on a piece of paper, and he is said to have wept as he told the police quote last July, I did something horrible, he went on. She was gentle, and unsuspecting. I enjoyed speaking English to her, which I learned in Canada. When I reached out for her throat, she went down like a doll. After collecting evidence, French police transferred Jean's body to a coffin and contacted the de Covin family to make arrangements for her to be laid to rest. Her body was transported back to the US on the white star liner Berengaria. It arrived in the States on December. The family had it taken to a mortician to prepare for a proper burial. Although the answer was surely painful, they finally knew what had happened to Jean. Her mother was quoted in the Boston Globe as saying, quote that means our last ray of hope is gone. That was quoted, of course, when she heard the news of Vinman's confession and the exhumation of the body. Although the family had believed that she was dead, this still just came as a shock. On December tenth, Viidmont's three accomplices surrendered to police for questioning. They had been staying at the resort town of Nantua, near the Swiss border when Jean Blanc's brother phoned them to tell them they were wanted in connection with the arrest of Videman. It might be tempting to suspect that they had gone on this trip to avoid police, but that was not the case. This was more of a coincidence situation. They were already in Nantua when Videman was apprehended, having gone there to scope out a possible business opportunity. According to Jean Blanc, he and Milion were planning to open a lumber business there, and they quickly returned to Paris and they all turned themselves in. When Million Entrico arrived at the Versailles police office, they already had a lawyer with them. There were some, but not many, conflicting accounts about exactly what happened during the murders. When Videman's confession was compared with his friend's statements. For example, Mion Entrico had both claimed that the plan had never been to kill Leblan, just to rob him. Tricole had told police that Vidman had told her he'd murder them both if they told anybody about it. Mion admitted he was present during Lebland's murder, but that the entire crime was Wrigan's doing. Meon also characterized his relationship with Viedman as having helped a down on his luck friend when Vidman moved to Paris without any money. Because of this, for a time, Mion was considered to be the leader of this gang rather than Vidman. Meon was described in the press as having quote gone completely to pieces in his cell. Guards said he frequently broke down and fits of hysterical weeping, moaning I've done nothing nothing. Jean Blanc claimed to have a high degree of ignorance regarding my to what has happened, and that actually did line up with a lot of what Voidmon and Mill had told the police. He was, it seems, someone that they kind of strung along, showing him just enough danger that it kept him interested, and of course he kept loading them money to cover rent and other expenses. He constantly asserted to police that he was just a small time criminal involved in things like forgeries and counterfeiting, certainly not murder. The first few days after five months arrest were busy for the police as they searched the villa for evidence, and they found a lot. Search continued for months. One thing that was noted was how impeccably clean the house was. It was regularly dusted, and the furniture had white covers which were described by the police as spotless. Early on, investigators found several suitcases filled with what papers reported as quote feminine apparel, meaning lingerie. Several of the items were laundry marked with names. The items marked Jeanie were presumed to have belonged to Janine Keller, but they also found items that have been labeled with other names, Caroline and Josephine, as well as other items that were not marked. But we're in a range of different sizes. That made police worry that there may have been many more victims. They believed when they counted it all up, that the clothing belonged to twelve different women, and the entire garden of La Vozi the villa was dug up, although no additional bodies were found there. Investigators also found a lock box in which Videman had carefully stored the pasports and other legal documents that belonged to the victims. Just as the rest of the house was nit as a pen, these items had been organized and carefully stored. On December twenty, several weeks into Videman's home still being searched. Letters from numerous women were found. Among his things are reported five hundred letters. He had been placing ads in English papers asking women to send him references. Some of these ads indicated that he was hiring a governess for his children, others that he needed an English tutor. This was of course, really similar to the situation that led to Madame Keller's murder, so authorities were planning to try to track down the writers of the letters to see if anyone was missing, and a follow up to the letter situation that appeared in the London press, it was announced that Scotland Yard was able to determine that four people on its list to follow up on, which were three men and a woman, were safe. But more curious was the fact that there were two people and the information that French authorities sent that just didn't seem to exist at all. There weren't instances of people who were missing the addresses that their letters appeared to be from. We're not real addresses at all. They were made up. Yeah, we have no idea what the scoop was there if people were just trying to as a safety measure not give a real return address or if there was something else going on. Once Vidman was in custody, the police were quick to release a statement that made clear that they had not been east with the way they had been characterized as not taking the de Covin case seriously. The statement as related in English language papers read quote. Inspector Shaye was assigned to the de Covin search. He speaks English, especially American English. He succeeded in listening into telephone communications of the kidnapper and concluded he was a German American. After inquiries, the police did not reject the theory that Mr Covin had been murdered, and they followed up on several clues, including one in Toulouse and another in Switzerland. At no time was Monsieur chalets On vide Months track. After vide Month's confession, he spent his time in prison in France in a way that was very much like when he had been incarcerated in Germany. He read a great deal. One of the books that comes up an account is Phenelon's Les Aventur de Telemark, in which the writer used Telemachus his search for his father Ulysses to examine political issues in the late seventeenth century France, so not exactly light reading. Viedman also started working on his own memoirs, which was something his lawyers suggested. Weidmann was described in a ninety article in The New Yorker so in between when he was apprehended and when he went on trial as quote an exceptionally handsome male in the medieval manner. He was reportedly dismayed to not be able to be more fastidious in his appearance once he was in custody, being unshaven and not being able to wipe his face with a handkerchief, something he had been denied out of fear he might try to kill himself with. It is said to have made him embarrassed when he appeared before authorities. In addition to forbidding any sort of material that he might use to harm himself, the prison also assigned o Agan to cell mates who were instructed to alert the guards if he attempted self harm. That may have been the case, and he may have been chagrined to not be as tidy in his appearance as he had wished, but that model behavior that he was known for while incarcerated earlier in his life started to fade a bit. During the trial, the multi lingual Videman started claiming that he had forgotten how to speak French. He would only speak German or English. He had been charged with six murders for all the victims that we've mentioned. The head of his defense team was Vincent the Morrow Jeoffrey, and had worked on other high profile cases. Morrow Geoffrey's second was Rene Jardin, who was notable because she was a woman Avoca at a time when that was unusual. She would remain associated with this trial throughout her career. Yeah, she was the one that had suggested he keep that diary, and she some quite a number of years down the road, published it with a lot of of notation and kind of her thoughts on what had been going on. She really um seemed to feel that he was not in his right mind. It took a lot longer to start the trial than had initially been anticipated by authorities. In early January night so a month after Vidmann was apprehended, did the investigating magistrate. George Berry told reporters that he really expected to have all of the evidence processed and ready to hand off to prosecutors by the summer. He mentioned July specifically, but there was so much evidence that they needed far more time than six months to do all that processing. The trial didn't start until March tenth, nine, fifteen months after Vidmon had been arrested. In a moment, we'll talk about the way the press turned Oigan Videman into an almost mythic figure of dark possibility. For that, we will take a quick sponsor break. There was a British tabloid story that appeared in February nine, so just before the trial, that indicated that friends of Sidman were trying to break him out ahead of the trial by posing a gendarme to infiltrate the prison and escort the suspect to a waiting car. This, it was reported, was all conveyed to Videmond by a letter which looked harmless, but on closer inspection, was found to contain invisible ink detailing the plan. The prison was said to have doubled the number of guards after this escape plan was discovered. This is hard to verify and it comes from a pretty dubious source, but we mentioned it to illustrate the degree to which Oigan Videmand had become an almost mythic boogeyman in the international press. By the time the trial was approaching, his crimes had been reported in just horrifying detail for more than a year. There was a constant frenzy for more information, even after most of the facts of the case had been disclosed and discussed over and over in the public. There was a combination of fear that people could easily vanish, especially tourists, and there was the desire for some combination of justice and vengeance. So running a story that suggested that the most rightening man alive also had people trying to break him out of prison, it was a sure fireway to attract readers. Yeah, we'll talk about the press a little bit more at the end, and then I definitely want to talk about it in the behind the scenes this week. Uh, it was something of a marvel as all of the various evidence and statements were collected that it had taken an accident, really the tracking down of the Arthur shot business card to discover Jean to Covin's murderer, because it came out that even beyond Million Blanc and Collette, there were other people who knew about the murders and never said a word about it. For example, Millon reportedly told his father about Jeane to Covin's murder, and his father told his boss. And there were allegedly two additional people that got information about the Covin from million or secondhand from one of the people that he had confided in. So while all of these people seemed to be blabbing to each other, authorities had never heard a word of it, but this was all disclosed by the defendants before the trial began. On the first day of the trial, Oigan Wiedman was not his own best witness. He reportedly told his lawyer, Vine Jardine, that he believed he would be executed, that he was ready to die, and that he wanted to quote be in order with God before that happened. Although Jardine, who was the attorney that Origan was most comfortable speaking to, had instructed him not to confess anything in court and to not say anything that might endanger their chances of claiming insanity, he did not take her advice when questions sometimes he just strugged, but he did confirm his confession of killing de Covin Fromer and sob. He confessed to the rest of it during the following days. Although the murder of Leblan was something that he and Mayo blamed on one another. They both acknowledged being involved, but each man said the other one had been the primary aggressor. In mid March, prosecutors pressed Vidman for details about the murder of Geane to COVID. On the stand, the defendant was reticent. He refused to give any specific information about how the knight had played out, leading the judge to accuse him of indifference to what he had done. Oigan replied, I am not indifferent, but I am not in a fit state to talk. He elaborated when the judge asked what he meant, that he was not morally fit to talk. When the judge told Vidman that he hoped to hear some words of at least pity for Gene from the defendant, all Oigan said was I can only confess. But he had given more details than his initial confession, and though he was not willing to reflect or elaborate on that information and court, his co defendant roge Male, did confirm that things had happened as Widman had originally stated. Gene and Oigan had arrived at the house in Saint Clu between six and seven pm on July, although according to me all she was not killed until after eleven pm. She was buried under the porch that same night, and the rose bushes were planted over and around the area the next morning. The last day of Jeane Dekovin's life actually has a few inconsistencies in terms of how the details were confessed, at least as they were reported in the English language press. Remember this is all being translated as it's being reported. An article in the New York Times just two days after Zidmann was taken into custody indicated that he told police she had not died right away. He had tried and failed to strangle her, and had to do so a second time, using two handkerchiefs knotted together to do so, but that still placed it very near their arrival at the Saint clu villa, not at the later hour mentioned a moment ago. The earlier death is the more common version of the story, and there are mentions of the handkerchiefs being found at the villa while the home was being combed for evidence. Regardless though of which set of specifics had truly played out, there was no debate that Jean had been killed by Vidmon that night. One thing that became less mysterious and shut down the speculation about fetishes was the reveal during the trial of the reason that Oigan Videman usually took personal effects things like clothes and shoes and wigs or other accessories from the victims. He wasn't just keeping those for himself or hoarding them away somewhere. He was distributing them to his accomplices so they could use them as disguises. Jean's aunt, Ida Sackheim, wanted very badly to testify in the trial. She had hoped that the police would call her to Versilles so she could do so, but they never did. She actually sent a telegram protesting the family's lack of representation at the trial, but she really didn't need to have done that, and they really didn't need her because even if she had testified, it probably would not have changed the outcome at all. In an effort to avoid the death penalty, Videmont pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the prosecution made the case that the methodical name nature of his preparation for the crimes indicated otherwise. On March thirty one, nine, the case concluded and the jury went into deliberations. It took five hours, not because there was much to debate on the matter. Viedman had confessed there really wasn't any doubt regarding his guilt, but they had before them eighty different questions for many different crimes, including thefts and levels of premeditation that they believed were involved. Weidmann was of course convicted for gene to Covin's death. He was found guilty of murder without premeditation in the cases of Les Bras and Frommer's murders. He was found guilty with extenuating circumstances. For the remaining three charges, the murders of Jeanine Keller, Joseph Kuffie, and roche LeBlanc, they found Widman guilty of murder with premeditation. He was also found guilty of attempting to extort ransom from Ida Sackheim. After the verdicts were read, Videman was asked if he'd like to say anything, and he just shook his head no. As for his accomplices, they mostly fared better. Blanc had never been as trusted by Vidman as Meal was, so he really didn't know a lot. Additionally, he had not killed anyone. He was found guilty of harboring criminals and was sentenced to twenty months in prison. Collectrico had also not committed any murder. She was charged with receiving the proceeds of murder, but was acquitted. Her defense throughout the investigation and the trial was that she knew the goods she received were stolen, but did not know that any of it had come from murder victims. Meal was found guilty of attempted extortion of ransom and for his participation in the murders of Keller and Leblon. Like Videman, he was sentenced to death. Unlike Videman, who was quite calm when his verdicts were announced, Meal and was reported to have screamed his innocence. He begged the magistrate quote, don't convict me. I am in a sent I was an instrument in vide months hands. The jury in the case also awarded a hundred and twenty thousand francs to the Dekovian family. It's considerably less than the two thousand they had asked for. This financial penalty was to be shouldered by the entire group that was charged, although papers noted that since only Jean Blanc had any money, the burden would likely all fall to him. I never found anything that indicated whether this award was ever paid out or not. It was like literally mentioned as a weird coda in one of the trial wrap ups. For the next several months, Videmont and Millon waited in prison for their sentences to be carried out. And we will talk about that after we hear from the sponsors that keep Stuffy missing history glass going. On June fourteenth, two and a half months after the sentencing, the lawyers representing both Videmont and Million went to the Elise Palace to formally plead for clemency for their clients. Both men were hoping their sentences would be reduced to life in prison, although the prevailing opinion of both the public and legal experts was that Widemand had no chance at a commuted sentence. He was older than Million and very clearly the ringleader. On June sevent nine, thirty nine, at four thirty two am Oigan, Videmand was executed by guillotine on a scaffold that was erected outside Versailles Men's Prison in Louis Bartow Square. The Monsieur de Paris. The public executioner was Jules des Fourneaux, who had inherited the job from his uncle. It was a massive draw for spectators, many of whom had spent the night before partying in Paris before making the driver taking the train out to Versailles to see the man who had become the most frightening figure of the day put to death. Estimates for attendance usually put it around three thousand people. Police had to be stationed around the guillotine to maintain a border that the crowd could not push past. In attendance, among others, was the mother of Roger LeBlanc. Initially, Vidman resisted as he was let out of the prison to his sentence, and was, according to write ups in the US press, quote snarling in fury. He was angry that he was to be killed while his close accomplice, Roget Millon had been spared his death sentence commuted to life in prison two days earlier. But the closer Oigan got to the scaffold, the less he resisted. According to press reports, his attorneys gave a statement that Voidmont quote lived like a monster and died like a saint. There was no end of coverage about this execution. Three days after it happened, the Midland Daily Telegraph of Coventry published a lengthy piece titled eye Witness a public execution. The attribution for it was simply our Paris correspondent, and it's surprising how nonsensational it is. It opens with quote, I want to described soberly and exactly what a public execution is like. I don't want to take sides for or against the execution of murderers, or to discuss the propriety or otherwise of executions in public. And the rite up stays fairly true to that, and it does describe the whole situation in detail. The crowd immediately near the prison, so right up near the scaffold, was mostly eighteen to twenty year olds who had taken the midnight train from Paris to Versailles. The cafes in the block surrounding the prison were described as also open all through the night and filled with more diverse age ranges of people, many of whom were debating the merits of capital punishment even hours before the actual execution. The police had difficulty with the crowd. At two a m. When the guillotine arrived police had to force onlookers to move so that the cart could pass through the crowd. Several fights broke out among the onlookers. Several people were reported to have fainted. The arrival of the executioner was accounted or and then the moment of execution. The Midland Daily Telegraph does not describe by Demant as snarling, but rather entirely silent even as he tried to break away from his escorts. And this account's conclusion it mentions that it's inherently upsetting for someone to witness such a thing, regardless of their position on the issue of the death penalty. Quote. The violent assault of physical horror upon the tempt onlooker is not to be described in measured terms, and cold print and the frenzy of the crowd in attendance at Viidmont's execution was a major factor in the end of public guillotine ing. There had been some very real concerns that police might not be able to maintain the peace, and the French government moved swiftly to address the problem. On June nine, the following brief article appeared in the New York Times. Quote. The Cabinet issued a decree today abolishing the age old French custom of holding executions in public. This makes Oigan Weidmann, executed last week for the murder of gene To Covin Brooklyn Dancer, the last criminal to undergo decapitation in the open. Indeed, it is believed the cabinet's decision was prompted by objectionable publicity and incidents surrounding the guillotining of Weidmund. The article goes on to describe the general atmosphere of mayhem around the prison. The crowd reportedly got really out of hand when the execution was delayed, briefly stamping their feet and yelling. But perhaps more than any issue with the crowd, the French government was horrified with the day after the execution, candid photographs of the event ran in a number of papers. According to the article quote, these had been taken in defiance of a strict ban on photographs. The determination of the French cabinet was that executions would take place inside prisons going forward, clergyman and magistrates would be the only attendees alone. In nineteen seventy seven, France held its last execution by guillotine, when Hamina Jambouti was put to death for the murder of Elizabeth Bouquet in The death penalty was abolished in France after efforts of Robert bad, Minister of Justice during the presidency of francoelzer Home. The abolition of the death penalty became incorporated into the French constitution after it passed a vote in the Congress of the French Parliament in two thousand seven. Oh, there's so much to unpack here. Yeah, do you have maybe some less heavy listener mail? Oh? Yes, you know when I do a a horrible one. Um, I got him do some fun things, so I have to. They're both fairly short, and they're both about food. The first one is from our listener Maria, who writes, Hello, ladies, I'm currently four months pregnant, getting caught up in the last few months of podcasts. When I listened to the eponymous food episode, I had to make fettuccini Alfredo after you're talking about it. I'm at that stage where if I hear something I want, I need to eat it, or I will fixate on it for days until it is resolved. Sadly, I don't currently have the energy to make it from scratch, but thankfully I had a jar in the pantry. Had to share my funny story with y'all and hope you appreciate it. Thank you for all you do. I wanted to read this so I could say I do not have the pregnancy excuse. I worked the same way. If I think about a food, I have to have it. Uh. And also I just want to say congratulations Maria and wish you good health and a smooth rest of your pregnancy. I'm very excited and I hope it all goes well. Uh. And then my other one is about waffles, so it's a little bit of a throwback to an earlier episode from our listener, Christian, who writes, Hello, Holly and Tracy. I've been listening to your podcast for many years and love how informative you are. I've been meaning to write you for more than a year about the episode on the history of waffles, but I usually listen to you when I'm out and about, so I kept forgetting to do it when I was home. I'm originally from Columbia but live in Vancouver, Canada. After listening to your podcast, I realized that a popular Columbian snack that we have called Obelias had the same origin as waffles. I was in shock when you mentioned that name in your episode. At the same time of listening to that episode, I had formed a pandemic bubble with a guy from Belgium who had just moved to Vancouver. I realized that Obelia is called fret in French, and I knew that we were both going to be good friends. But after listening to your podcast, we felt like long lost brothers. Thanks so much for all of the work you do. Listen. Food brings people together and it's important. And now I want waffles and fantasyd op rad now, so it's gonna be an interesting lunch time. Uh. If you would like to write to us again, keep sending these light things because they're good for the strangely depressing things I keep focusing on as a little save at the end. You could do that at History Podcast at iHeart radio dot com. You can also find us on social media as a Missed in History and you can subscribe to the podcast on the I heart Radio app or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of I Heart Radio. Are more podcasts from I Heart radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H

Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and we are today continuing the two part episode of the events that led up to the last public guillotine execution in France. If you missed part one of this story, in which we detailed the vanishing of Gene to Covin and the man who she was last seen with, go back and listen to that before jumping into this one, because we're really not reviewing here and we're kind of picking up where we left off, so it will feel completely confusing if you don't have the backstory. Today, we're going to talk about the trial, the verdict, and the aftermath, including the execution heads up just in case. Like the first part, this episode will involve discussion of violence, specifically murder. We will also talk a lot about capital punishment. When we left off last time, Oigan Vidman had been captured by police and had confessed to several murders, including the death of the young American tourist Jeane to Covin. On December nine seven, Jeane to Covin's body was found that was right where Vidman had told the police that it would be. He hadn't taken it very far. It was buried under the front porch of the cottage he lived in. Jean's wallet had been emptied, but most of her personal effects were still there with her, including the new camera that she had taken to Europe to capture memories of her travels. When the film was developed, it showed the last photos she took were of Oigan Vibeman in his apartment. When they found her, she had a cord tied around her neck. She had been strangled. Vidman had refused to accompany authorities as they went to his home to exhume the bodies of Jean and also of Fritz Frohmer, who was buried in the cellar. He said that he couldn't bear the side of it. When Oigan confessed to Jean's murder, it's reported that this was the only one out of the six that he exhibited regret over. He would not say her name, but wrote it on a piece of paper, and he is said to have wept as he told the police quote last July, I did something horrible, he went on. She was gentle, and unsuspecting. I enjoyed speaking English to her, which I learned in Canada. When I reached out for her throat, she went down like a doll. After collecting evidence, French police transferred Jean's body to a coffin and contacted the de Covin family to make arrangements for her to be laid to rest. Her body was transported back to the US on the white star liner Berengaria. It arrived in the States on December. The family had it taken to a mortician to prepare for a proper burial. Although the answer was surely painful, they finally knew what had happened to Jean. Her mother was quoted in the Boston Globe as saying, quote that means our last ray of hope is gone. That was quoted, of course, when she heard the news of Vinman's confession and the exhumation of the body. Although the family had believed that she was dead, this still just came as a shock. On December tenth, Viidmont's three accomplices surrendered to police for questioning. They had been staying at the resort town of Nantua, near the Swiss border when Jean Blanc's brother phoned them to tell them they were wanted in connection with the arrest of Videman. It might be tempting to suspect that they had gone on this trip to avoid police, but that was not the case. This was more of a coincidence situation. They were already in Nantua when Videman was apprehended, having gone there to scope out a possible business opportunity. According to Jean Blanc, he and Milion were planning to open a lumber business there, and they quickly returned to Paris and they all turned themselves in. When Million Entrico arrived at the Versailles police office, they already had a lawyer with them. There were some, but not many, conflicting accounts about exactly what happened during the murders. When Videman's confession was compared with his friend's statements. For example, Mion Entrico had both claimed that the plan had never been to kill Leblan, just to rob him. Tricole had told police that Vidman had told her he'd murder them both if they told anybody about it. Mion admitted he was present during Lebland's murder, but that the entire crime was Wrigan's doing. Meon also characterized his relationship with Viedman as having helped a down on his luck friend when Vidman moved to Paris without any money. Because of this, for a time, Mion was considered to be the leader of this gang rather than Vidman. Meon was described in the press as having quote gone completely to pieces in his cell. Guards said he frequently broke down and fits of hysterical weeping, moaning I've done nothing nothing. Jean Blanc claimed to have a high degree of ignorance regarding my to what has happened, and that actually did line up with a lot of what Voidmon and Mill had told the police. He was, it seems, someone that they kind of strung along, showing him just enough danger that it kept him interested, and of course he kept loading them money to cover rent and other expenses. He constantly asserted to police that he was just a small time criminal involved in things like forgeries and counterfeiting, certainly not murder. The first few days after five months arrest were busy for the police as they searched the villa for evidence, and they found a lot. Search continued for months. One thing that was noted was how impeccably clean the house was. It was regularly dusted, and the furniture had white covers which were described by the police as spotless. Early on, investigators found several suitcases filled with what papers reported as quote feminine apparel, meaning lingerie. Several of the items were laundry marked with names. The items marked Jeanie were presumed to have belonged to Janine Keller, but they also found items that have been labeled with other names, Caroline and Josephine, as well as other items that were not marked. But we're in a range of different sizes. That made police worry that there may have been many more victims. They believed when they counted it all up, that the clothing belonged to twelve different women, and the entire garden of La Vozi the villa was dug up, although no additional bodies were found there. Investigators also found a lock box in which Videman had carefully stored the pasports and other legal documents that belonged to the victims. Just as the rest of the house was nit as a pen, these items had been organized and carefully stored. On December twenty, several weeks into Videman's home still being searched. Letters from numerous women were found. Among his things are reported five hundred letters. He had been placing ads in English papers asking women to send him references. Some of these ads indicated that he was hiring a governess for his children, others that he needed an English tutor. This was of course, really similar to the situation that led to Madame Keller's murder, so authorities were planning to try to track down the writers of the letters to see if anyone was missing, and a follow up to the letter situation that appeared in the London press, it was announced that Scotland Yard was able to determine that four people on its list to follow up on, which were three men and a woman, were safe. But more curious was the fact that there were two people and the information that French authorities sent that just didn't seem to exist at all. There weren't instances of people who were missing the addresses that their letters appeared to be from. We're not real addresses at all. They were made up. Yeah, we have no idea what the scoop was there if people were just trying to as a safety measure not give a real return address or if there was something else going on. Once Vidman was in custody, the police were quick to release a statement that made clear that they had not been east with the way they had been characterized as not taking the de Covin case seriously. The statement as related in English language papers read quote. Inspector Shaye was assigned to the de Covin search. He speaks English, especially American English. He succeeded in listening into telephone communications of the kidnapper and concluded he was a German American. After inquiries, the police did not reject the theory that Mr Covin had been murdered, and they followed up on several clues, including one in Toulouse and another in Switzerland. At no time was Monsieur chalets On vide Months track. After vide Month's confession, he spent his time in prison in France in a way that was very much like when he had been incarcerated in Germany. He read a great deal. One of the books that comes up an account is Phenelon's Les Aventur de Telemark, in which the writer used Telemachus his search for his father Ulysses to examine political issues in the late seventeenth century France, so not exactly light reading. Viedman also started working on his own memoirs, which was something his lawyers suggested. Weidmann was described in a ninety article in The New Yorker so in between when he was apprehended and when he went on trial as quote an exceptionally handsome male in the medieval manner. He was reportedly dismayed to not be able to be more fastidious in his appearance once he was in custody, being unshaven and not being able to wipe his face with a handkerchief, something he had been denied out of fear he might try to kill himself with. It is said to have made him embarrassed when he appeared before authorities. In addition to forbidding any sort of material that he might use to harm himself, the prison also assigned o Agan to cell mates who were instructed to alert the guards if he attempted self harm. That may have been the case, and he may have been chagrined to not be as tidy in his appearance as he had wished, but that model behavior that he was known for while incarcerated earlier in his life started to fade a bit. During the trial, the multi lingual Videman started claiming that he had forgotten how to speak French. He would only speak German or English. He had been charged with six murders for all the victims that we've mentioned. The head of his defense team was Vincent the Morrow Jeoffrey, and had worked on other high profile cases. Morrow Geoffrey's second was Rene Jardin, who was notable because she was a woman Avoca at a time when that was unusual. She would remain associated with this trial throughout her career. Yeah, she was the one that had suggested he keep that diary, and she some quite a number of years down the road, published it with a lot of of notation and kind of her thoughts on what had been going on. She really um seemed to feel that he was not in his right mind. It took a lot longer to start the trial than had initially been anticipated by authorities. In early January night so a month after Vidmann was apprehended, did the investigating magistrate. George Berry told reporters that he really expected to have all of the evidence processed and ready to hand off to prosecutors by the summer. He mentioned July specifically, but there was so much evidence that they needed far more time than six months to do all that processing. The trial didn't start until March tenth, nine, fifteen months after Vidmon had been arrested. In a moment, we'll talk about the way the press turned Oigan Videman into an almost mythic figure of dark possibility. For that, we will take a quick sponsor break. There was a British tabloid story that appeared in February nine, so just before the trial, that indicated that friends of Sidman were trying to break him out ahead of the trial by posing a gendarme to infiltrate the prison and escort the suspect to a waiting car. This, it was reported, was all conveyed to Videmond by a letter which looked harmless, but on closer inspection, was found to contain invisible ink detailing the plan. The prison was said to have doubled the number of guards after this escape plan was discovered. This is hard to verify and it comes from a pretty dubious source, but we mentioned it to illustrate the degree to which Oigan Videmand had become an almost mythic boogeyman in the international press. By the time the trial was approaching, his crimes had been reported in just horrifying detail for more than a year. There was a constant frenzy for more information, even after most of the facts of the case had been disclosed and discussed over and over in the public. There was a combination of fear that people could easily vanish, especially tourists, and there was the desire for some combination of justice and vengeance. So running a story that suggested that the most rightening man alive also had people trying to break him out of prison, it was a sure fireway to attract readers. Yeah, we'll talk about the press a little bit more at the end, and then I definitely want to talk about it in the behind the scenes this week. Uh, it was something of a marvel as all of the various evidence and statements were collected that it had taken an accident, really the tracking down of the Arthur shot business card to discover Jean to Covin's murderer, because it came out that even beyond Million Blanc and Collette, there were other people who knew about the murders and never said a word about it. For example, Millon reportedly told his father about Jeane to Covin's murder, and his father told his boss. And there were allegedly two additional people that got information about the Covin from million or secondhand from one of the people that he had confided in. So while all of these people seemed to be blabbing to each other, authorities had never heard a word of it, but this was all disclosed by the defendants before the trial began. On the first day of the trial, Oigan Wiedman was not his own best witness. He reportedly told his lawyer, Vine Jardine, that he believed he would be executed, that he was ready to die, and that he wanted to quote be in order with God before that happened. Although Jardine, who was the attorney that Origan was most comfortable speaking to, had instructed him not to confess anything in court and to not say anything that might endanger their chances of claiming insanity, he did not take her advice when questions sometimes he just strugged, but he did confirm his confession of killing de Covin Fromer and sob. He confessed to the rest of it during the following days. Although the murder of Leblan was something that he and Mayo blamed on one another. They both acknowledged being involved, but each man said the other one had been the primary aggressor. In mid March, prosecutors pressed Vidman for details about the murder of Geane to COVID. On the stand, the defendant was reticent. He refused to give any specific information about how the knight had played out, leading the judge to accuse him of indifference to what he had done. Oigan replied, I am not indifferent, but I am not in a fit state to talk. He elaborated when the judge asked what he meant, that he was not morally fit to talk. When the judge told Vidman that he hoped to hear some words of at least pity for Gene from the defendant, all Oigan said was I can only confess. But he had given more details than his initial confession, and though he was not willing to reflect or elaborate on that information and court, his co defendant roge Male, did confirm that things had happened as Widman had originally stated. Gene and Oigan had arrived at the house in Saint Clu between six and seven pm on July, although according to me all she was not killed until after eleven pm. She was buried under the porch that same night, and the rose bushes were planted over and around the area the next morning. The last day of Jeane Dekovin's life actually has a few inconsistencies in terms of how the details were confessed, at least as they were reported in the English language press. Remember this is all being translated as it's being reported. An article in the New York Times just two days after Zidmann was taken into custody indicated that he told police she had not died right away. He had tried and failed to strangle her, and had to do so a second time, using two handkerchiefs knotted together to do so, but that still placed it very near their arrival at the Saint clu villa, not at the later hour mentioned a moment ago. The earlier death is the more common version of the story, and there are mentions of the handkerchiefs being found at the villa while the home was being combed for evidence. Regardless though of which set of specifics had truly played out, there was no debate that Jean had been killed by Vidmon that night. One thing that became less mysterious and shut down the speculation about fetishes was the reveal during the trial of the reason that Oigan Videman usually took personal effects things like clothes and shoes and wigs or other accessories from the victims. He wasn't just keeping those for himself or hoarding them away somewhere. He was distributing them to his accomplices so they could use them as disguises. Jean's aunt, Ida Sackheim, wanted very badly to testify in the trial. She had hoped that the police would call her to Versilles so she could do so, but they never did. She actually sent a telegram protesting the family's lack of representation at the trial, but she really didn't need to have done that, and they really didn't need her because even if she had testified, it probably would not have changed the outcome at all. In an effort to avoid the death penalty, Videmont pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the prosecution made the case that the methodical name nature of his preparation for the crimes indicated otherwise. On March thirty one, nine, the case concluded and the jury went into deliberations. It took five hours, not because there was much to debate on the matter. Viedman had confessed there really wasn't any doubt regarding his guilt, but they had before them eighty different questions for many different crimes, including thefts and levels of premeditation that they believed were involved. Weidmann was of course convicted for gene to Covin's death. He was found guilty of murder without premeditation in the cases of Les Bras and Frommer's murders. He was found guilty with extenuating circumstances. For the remaining three charges, the murders of Jeanine Keller, Joseph Kuffie, and roche LeBlanc, they found Widman guilty of murder with premeditation. He was also found guilty of attempting to extort ransom from Ida Sackheim. After the verdicts were read, Videman was asked if he'd like to say anything, and he just shook his head no. As for his accomplices, they mostly fared better. Blanc had never been as trusted by Vidman as Meal was, so he really didn't know a lot. Additionally, he had not killed anyone. He was found guilty of harboring criminals and was sentenced to twenty months in prison. Collectrico had also not committed any murder. She was charged with receiving the proceeds of murder, but was acquitted. Her defense throughout the investigation and the trial was that she knew the goods she received were stolen, but did not know that any of it had come from murder victims. Meal was found guilty of attempted extortion of ransom and for his participation in the murders of Keller and Leblon. Like Videman, he was sentenced to death. Unlike Videman, who was quite calm when his verdicts were announced, Meal and was reported to have screamed his innocence. He begged the magistrate quote, don't convict me. I am in a sent I was an instrument in vide months hands. The jury in the case also awarded a hundred and twenty thousand francs to the Dekovian family. It's considerably less than the two thousand they had asked for. This financial penalty was to be shouldered by the entire group that was charged, although papers noted that since only Jean Blanc had any money, the burden would likely all fall to him. I never found anything that indicated whether this award was ever paid out or not. It was like literally mentioned as a weird coda in one of the trial wrap ups. For the next several months, Videmont and Millon waited in prison for their sentences to be carried out. And we will talk about that after we hear from the sponsors that keep Stuffy missing history glass going. On June fourteenth, two and a half months after the sentencing, the lawyers representing both Videmont and Million went to the Elise Palace to formally plead for clemency for their clients. Both men were hoping their sentences would be reduced to life in prison, although the prevailing opinion of both the public and legal experts was that Widemand had no chance at a commuted sentence. He was older than Million and very clearly the ringleader. On June sevent nine, thirty nine, at four thirty two am Oigan, Videmand was executed by guillotine on a scaffold that was erected outside Versailles Men's Prison in Louis Bartow Square. The Monsieur de Paris. The public executioner was Jules des Fourneaux, who had inherited the job from his uncle. It was a massive draw for spectators, many of whom had spent the night before partying in Paris before making the driver taking the train out to Versailles to see the man who had become the most frightening figure of the day put to death. Estimates for attendance usually put it around three thousand people. Police had to be stationed around the guillotine to maintain a border that the crowd could not push past. In attendance, among others, was the mother of Roger LeBlanc. Initially, Vidman resisted as he was let out of the prison to his sentence, and was, according to write ups in the US press, quote snarling in fury. He was angry that he was to be killed while his close accomplice, Roget Millon had been spared his death sentence commuted to life in prison two days earlier. But the closer Oigan got to the scaffold, the less he resisted. According to press reports, his attorneys gave a statement that Voidmont quote lived like a monster and died like a saint. There was no end of coverage about this execution. Three days after it happened, the Midland Daily Telegraph of Coventry published a lengthy piece titled eye Witness a public execution. The attribution for it was simply our Paris correspondent, and it's surprising how nonsensational it is. It opens with quote, I want to described soberly and exactly what a public execution is like. I don't want to take sides for or against the execution of murderers, or to discuss the propriety or otherwise of executions in public. And the rite up stays fairly true to that, and it does describe the whole situation in detail. The crowd immediately near the prison, so right up near the scaffold, was mostly eighteen to twenty year olds who had taken the midnight train from Paris to Versailles. The cafes in the block surrounding the prison were described as also open all through the night and filled with more diverse age ranges of people, many of whom were debating the merits of capital punishment even hours before the actual execution. The police had difficulty with the crowd. At two a m. When the guillotine arrived police had to force onlookers to move so that the cart could pass through the crowd. Several fights broke out among the onlookers. Several people were reported to have fainted. The arrival of the executioner was accounted or and then the moment of execution. The Midland Daily Telegraph does not describe by Demant as snarling, but rather entirely silent even as he tried to break away from his escorts. And this account's conclusion it mentions that it's inherently upsetting for someone to witness such a thing, regardless of their position on the issue of the death penalty. Quote. The violent assault of physical horror upon the tempt onlooker is not to be described in measured terms, and cold print and the frenzy of the crowd in attendance at Viidmont's execution was a major factor in the end of public guillotine ing. There had been some very real concerns that police might not be able to maintain the peace, and the French government moved swiftly to address the problem. On June nine, the following brief article appeared in the New York Times. Quote. The Cabinet issued a decree today abolishing the age old French custom of holding executions in public. This makes Oigan Weidmann, executed last week for the murder of gene To Covin Brooklyn Dancer, the last criminal to undergo decapitation in the open. Indeed, it is believed the cabinet's decision was prompted by objectionable publicity and incidents surrounding the guillotining of Weidmund. The article goes on to describe the general atmosphere of mayhem around the prison. The crowd reportedly got really out of hand when the execution was delayed, briefly stamping their feet and yelling. But perhaps more than any issue with the crowd, the French government was horrified with the day after the execution, candid photographs of the event ran in a number of papers. According to the article quote, these had been taken in defiance of a strict ban on photographs. The determination of the French cabinet was that executions would take place inside prisons going forward, clergyman and magistrates would be the only attendees alone. In nineteen seventy seven, France held its last execution by guillotine, when Hamina Jambouti was put to death for the murder of Elizabeth Bouquet in The death penalty was abolished in France after efforts of Robert bad, Minister of Justice during the presidency of francoelzer Home. The abolition of the death penalty became incorporated into the French constitution after it passed a vote in the Congress of the French Parliament in two thousand seven. Oh, there's so much to unpack here. Yeah, do you have maybe some less heavy listener mail? Oh? Yes, you know when I do a a horrible one. Um, I got him do some fun things, so I have to. They're both fairly short, and they're both about food. The first one is from our listener Maria, who writes, Hello, ladies, I'm currently four months pregnant, getting caught up in the last few months of podcasts. When I listened to the eponymous food episode, I had to make fettuccini Alfredo after you're talking about it. I'm at that stage where if I hear something I want, I need to eat it, or I will fixate on it for days until it is resolved. Sadly, I don't currently have the energy to make it from scratch, but thankfully I had a jar in the pantry. Had to share my funny story with y'all and hope you appreciate it. Thank you for all you do. I wanted to read this so I could say I do not have the pregnancy excuse. I worked the same way. If I think about a food, I have to have it. Uh. And also I just want to say congratulations Maria and wish you good health and a smooth rest of your pregnancy. I'm very excited and I hope it all goes well. Uh. And then my other one is about waffles, so it's a little bit of a throwback to an earlier episode from our listener, Christian, who writes, Hello, Holly and Tracy. I've been listening to your podcast for many years and love how informative you are. I've been meaning to write you for more than a year about the episode on the history of waffles, but I usually listen to you when I'm out and about, so I kept forgetting to do it when I was home. I'm originally from Columbia but live in Vancouver, Canada. After listening to your podcast, I realized that a popular Columbian snack that we have called Obelias had the same origin as waffles. I was in shock when you mentioned that name in your episode. At the same time of listening to that episode, I had formed a pandemic bubble with a guy from Belgium who had just moved to Vancouver. I realized that Obelia is called fret in French, and I knew that we were both going to be good friends. But after listening to your podcast, we felt like long lost brothers. Thanks so much for all of the work you do. Listen. Food brings people together and it's important. And now I want waffles and fantasyd op rad now, so it's gonna be an interesting lunch time. Uh. If you would like to write to us again, keep sending these light things because they're good for the strangely depressing things I keep focusing on as a little save at the end. You could do that at History Podcast at iHeart radio dot com. You can also find us on social media as a Missed in History and you can subscribe to the podcast on the I heart Radio app or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of I Heart Radio. Are more podcasts from I Heart radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H