At the end of the nineteenth century, serial murderer Joseph Vacher, dubbed "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 typified the Belle Epoque, a period of immense scientific achievement and fascination with its promise to reveal the secrets of the human condition.
With high drama and stunning detail, Douglas Starr recounts the infamous crime and punishment of Vacher, interweaving the story of how Lacassagne and his colleagues developed forensics as we know it. We see one of the earliest uses of criminal profiling, as Fourquet painstakingly collects eyewitness accounts, leading to Vacher's arrest. And we see the twists and turns of the celebrated trial: to disprove Vacher's defense by reason of insanity, Fourquet recruits Lacassagne, who had revolutionized criminal science: refining the use of blood spatter evidence, systematizing the autopsy and doing ground-breaking research in psychology. Lacassagne's forensic investigation ranks among the greatest of all time, and its denouement is gripping.
An important contribution to the history of medicine and criminal justice, impressively researched and thrillingly told.
eBook - ePub
The Killer of Little Shepherds
The Case of the French Ripper and the Birth of Forensic Science
- 320 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Killer of Little Shepherds
The Case of the French Ripper and the Birth of Forensic Science
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Information
Topic
HistoireSubtopic
Histoire du mondeTable of contents
- Cover
- Half-title page
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Author's Note
- Part One: Crime
- 1. The Beast
- 2. The Professor
- 3. First Kill
- 4. The Institute of Legal Medicine
- 5. The Vagabond
- 6. Identity
- 7. The Oak Woods
- 8. The Body Speaks
- 9. The Crime in Benonces
- 10. Never Without a Trace
- 11. In Plain Sight
- 12. Born Criminal
- 13. Lourdes
- Part Two: Punishment
- 14. The Investigating Magistrate
- 15. The Interview
- 16. Professor Lacassagne
- 17. A Crime Without Motive?
- 18. Turning Point
- 19. The Trial
- 20. Judgment
- 21. A Question of Sanity
- Part Three: Aftermath
- 22. The Mystery of a Murderer's Brain
- 23. Postscript
- Epilogue: The Violent Brain
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Illustrations Credits
- Photos
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Yes, you can access The Killer of Little Shepherds by Douglas Starr in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Histoire & Histoire du monde. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.