It is the duty of a lawyer to defend his client. And if there is a cold-blooded murderer in the dock? Should a lawyer make every effort to save him from punishment? Henri Robert saved Jeanne Weber from the guillotine twice. At least two children have died thanks to the art of this brilliant lawyer.
Dr. Cyan's suspicion
On April 5, 1905, a frightened woman knocked on the door of the Bretonneau hospital in Paris: “Save my son! I beg you! The woman was from Gout d'Or, a dismal, poor neighborhood of Paris where children died like flies. Yet the death of every child is a tragedy for the mother.
Dr. Sian began to examine the child. “Swelling of the mucous throat,” the doctor mentally diagnosed, “what are these strange marks on the neck? Was the boy … strangled? " He turned to his mother standing next to him: “Your son is not in danger. But I would like to know how it happened? " And the woman began to tell.
On that day, Charlez Weber came to visit her relative Jeanne Weber (several Weber families who are related to each other live in the area), she took her son with her. After dinner Jeanne asked Charlez to go to the market. However, going out into the street, Charlez found that she had forgotten her wallet in the apartment. She came back and saw that her Maurice turned blue and gasped.
The further the doctor listened, the more anxiety seized him. It turned out that in less than 4 weeks in the Weber families four children died of suffocation! With a break of a week, Pierre Weber's daughters Georgette (1.5 years) and Suzanne (3 years) died, then the 7-month-old daughter of Leon Weber died. And every time there was a relative, Jeanne.
- Tell me, didn't you find it suspicious? the doctor asked the crying woman.
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- You know, monsieur, there really were suspicions, but Jeanne's son died fourth. A mother couldn't kill her child!
However, the doctor looked at a series of deaths in the Weber clan in a completely different way and wrote a letter to the police commissariat.
Assassin of Gout d'Or
The inspector who was entrusted with the case did not doubt Jeanne Weber's guilt: every time death came when the child remained in her care, and she killed her son to avert suspicion. It turned out that in 1902 the children of her friends Lucy Alexander and Marcel Poitau had died in her arms.
However, this was all circumstantial evidence, so the inspector insisted on the exhumation, for which an experienced forensic physician Henri Tuanau was invited. The expert did not live up to the inspector's hopes: having examined the bodies, he stated that there were no signs of violent death. The case fell apart right before our eyes.
Yet the police decided to take the case to court. By this time, all the Parisian newspapers wrote only about the upcoming trial of the "murderer from Gout d'Or". The audience thirsted for the blood of the infanticide. The police hoped that, under pressure from public opinion, the jury would issue a guilty verdict.
But Jeanne suddenly found a defender. The eminent Parisian lawyer Henri Robert undertook to defend her for free. Very often, lawyers take up high-profile cases not for the sake of earning money, but in order to strengthen their professional reputation.
The triumph of a lawyer
The trial was a triumph for Henri Robert. Relying on the conclusion of Henri Tuanau and the numerous procedural violations committed by the investigator, he successfully ruined the case. An unfortunate, unjustly defamed victim of police brutality appeared before the jury. The lawyer did the impossible: he not only achieved an acquittal, but also managed to whitewash the murderer in the eyes of the public - the jubilant crowd carried Jeanne out of the courtroom in her arms. The dangerous murderer through the efforts of a lawyer was acquitted and was released.
The Weber clan did not accept Jeanne back. Her husband also refused her. And for almost a year, Jeanne disappeared from the field of view of the justice authorities.
Death comes to Wildier
In April 1907, in the town of Vildier, a 9-year-old son died from the widower Louis Bavuzet. The doctor considered death to be natural. However, Bavuze's daughter Germaine came to the police: “My brother was killed by her stepmother, Madame Moulineau. I'm sure . The police ridiculed the girl and kicked her out: the recently widowed Louis got along with a woman whom her daughter took with hostility - a common thing.
However, the girl did not calm down on this. In the absence of her stepmother, she rummaged through her belongings and found a stack of newspaper clippings dedicated to the Jeanne Weber trial. From the photographs posted in the newspapers, Madame Moulineaux looked at her.
The peasant girl was illiterate, but she had a practical sense. She did not turn to the police, where she had already been ridiculed once, but went to the gendarmerie - a structure separate from the police, which, among other things, also oversees the police. There she laid out the clippings she found in front of Inspector Ofan. Dumbfounded, he sent police officers Wildier an order to open an investigation into the death of 9-year-old Auguste Bavuzet. The headlines appeared in the newspapers: "New Crime of the Infanticide of Gutd'Or!"
Vanity that kills
Henri Robert, having learned that his illustrious client was again under investigation, hastily set off for a town forgotten by God. Now he was on his way to save his reputation. Henri Tuanau rode with him, also worried about his reputation.
Upon arrival in Wildier, the duo developed a stormy activity. The lawyer wrote to all instances, including the presidential office, revealed violations of investigative procedures by the police, published articles about an unfortunate woman who became a victim of a police provocation. Henri Tuanau demanded the exhumation of the corpse and, upon completion of the examination, stated that Auguste Bavuzet had died of typhoid fever.
The joint blow of two recognized luminaries - the legal profession and forensic medicine - was strong. The Ministry of Justice considered that the case of Auguste Bavuzet had no judicial prospects, and in order to avoid a loud scandal in court, they decided to terminate the investigation. Jeanne Weber was free again and went to look for new victims.
Marked by blood
On May 8, 1908, the Bouchery couple stayed in Commercy at Monsieur Poirot's hotel. The head of the family went about his business, warning that he would be back late, while Madame Bouchery played with the innkeeper's son, 10-year-old Marcel, all day. When night fell on Commercy, she asked the innkeeper to let Marcel stay in her room - she is so afraid of the dark! Poirot agreed.
At about 10 o'clock in the evening, the guests heard children screaming from Madame Bouchery's room and broke down the locked doors. A boy was lying on the bed in the room, his face and chest were covered in blood. Nearby lay the guest's wife, her hands and shirt were also covered in blood - the unfortunate Marcel, in his dying convulsions, bit his tongue and “marked with blood” his killer.
Doctor Guichard, who arrived a few minutes later, immediately realized that the boy was dead. "Please accept my condolences," he told his heartbroken father, "and call the police."
Provincial inspector shows the class
Inspector Rolene knew in detail the story of the "infanticide of Gout d'Or" and decided not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessors. Each step was recorded and recorded. The photos taken at the crime scene made up a whole photo album. Rolene summoned a professor of forensic medicine from Nancy, who performed an exemplary autopsy.
When Henri Robert arrived in Commerce once again to save Jeanne Weber and his reputation, Rolen was already waiting for him with evidence, interrogation protocols of witnesses, medical experts' reports and dozens of photographs. After reviewing the materials, Henri Robert realized that this time the provincial investigator had bypassed the cunning Parisian lawyer, and decided not to get involved in a frankly failed case.
Jeanne Weber's last murder
This time, doctors saved Jeanne from death. She was declared insane and sent to a prison-type psychiatric hospital. She spent 10 years behind bars, until in 1918 she committed suicide by strangling herself.
This is almost impossible to do, if only because when the self-strangled person loses consciousness, his hands are unclenched. However, Jeanne Weber strangled herself so hard that she broke the cartilage of her larynx, thereby deceiving nature.
Klim PODKOVA