The Killer of Little Shepherds
A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science
1 of 1 copy available
At the end of the nineteenth century, serial murderer Joseph Vacher, known and feared as “The Killer of Little Shepherds,” terrorized the French countryside. He eluded authorities for years—until he ran up against prosecutor Emile Fourquet and Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne, the era’s most renowned criminologist. The two men—intelligent and bold—typified the Belle Époque, a period of immense scientific achievement and fascination with science’s promise to reveal the secrets of the human condition.
With high drama and stunning detail, Douglas Starr revisits Vacher’s infamous crime wave, interweaving the story of how Lacassagne and his colleagues were developing forensic science as we know it. We see one of the earliest uses of criminal profiling, as Fourquet painstakingly collects eyewitness accounts and constructs a map of Vacher’s crimes. We follow the tense and exciting events leading to the murderer’s arrest. And we witness the twists and turns of the trial, celebrated in its day. In an attempt to disprove Vacher’s defense by reason of insanity, Fourquet recruits Lacassagne, who in the previous decades had revolutionized criminal science by refining the use of blood-spatter evidence, systematizing the autopsy, and doing groundbreaking research in psychology. Lacassagne’s efforts lead to a gripping courtroom denouement.
The Killer of Little Shepherds is an important contribution to the history of criminal justice, impressively researched and thrillingly told.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 5, 2010 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780307875778
- File size: 359028 KB
- Duration: 12:27:58
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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A series of killings takes place in France between 1894 and 1897. The killer, Joseph Vacher, finds himself being stalked by an intrepid forensic examiner, the famed criminologist Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne. The doctor had pioneered a new science that specialized in identifying felons. True-crime fans will love the intricate descriptions of disfigured and gory remains, and technical listeners will be fascinated by the details of forensic knowledge before 1900, which included blood spatter, poison, and hematologic analysis. The low-toned whisper effect of narrator Erik Davies's voice adds to the suspense. He changes his speech to a different range for quotes, but most importantly, he speaks perfect French, which is called for by the setting of the senseless murders and the long hunt for the killer. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from July 26, 2010
Starr (Blood) eloquently juxtaposes the crimes of French serial killer Joseph Vacher and the achievements of famed criminologist Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne during France's belle époque. From 1894 to 1897, Vacher is thought to have raped, killed, and mutilated at least 25 people, though he would confess to only 11 murders. Lacassagne, who headed the department of legal medicine at the university in Lyon, was a pioneer in crime scene analysis, body decomposition, and early profiling, and investigated suspicious deaths, all in an era when rural autopsies were often performed on the victim's dinner table. Lacassagne's contributions to the burgeoning field of forensic science, as well as the persistence of investigating magistrate Émile Fourquet, who connected crimes while crisscrossing the French countryside, eventually brought Vacher to justice. Vacher claimed insanity, which then (as now) was a vexed legal issue. Lacassagne proved the "systematic nature" of the crimes. Starr, codirector of Boston University's Center for Science and Medical Journalism, creates tension worthy of a thriller; in Lacassagne, he portrays a man determined to understand the "how" behind some of humanity's most depraved and perhaps take us one step closer to the "why." 16 pages of photos.
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