Henri Désiré Landru

Henri Désiré Landru (12 April 1869 – 25 February 1922) (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʁi deziʁe lɑ̃dʁy]) was a French serial killer, nicknamed the Bluebeard of Gambais and a prolific marriage fraudster. He is confirmed to have murdered at least ten women and the teenage son of his first victim, primarily targeting lonely war widows whom he met through newspaper advertisements, seduced, defrauded of their assets, and then killed, disposing of their bodies by burning them in his stove. He committed these crimes between December 1914 and January 1919, first at a house in Vernouillet and later at an isolated villa in Gambais, near Paris. The true number of Landru's victims remains unknown, as police traced correspondence with 283 women, 72 of whom were never found. He is considered one of France's most famous and notorious murderers, whose investigation and trial became a media sensation in the aftermath of World War I. His case served as the inspiration for Charlie Chaplin's film Monsieur Verdoux.

Landru was arrested on 12 April 1919 at an apartment near Paris's Gare du Nord, which he shared with his 24-year-old mistress Fernande Segret. Police eventually concluded that Landru had met or been in romantic correspondence with 283 women during the First World War, meticulously categorized by their potential wealth; seventy-two were never traced. In December 1919, Landru's wife Marie-Catherine, 51, and his eldest son Maurice, 25, were arrested on suspicion of complicity in Landru's thefts from his victims. Both denied any knowledge of Landru's criminal activities. Marie-Catherine was released without charge in July 1920 for health reasons. Maurice was released on the same day because the authorities could not establish his guilt.

Landru's trial in November 1921 at Versailles garnered immense public attention, attracting celebrities like Colette and Maurice Chevalier. Despite maintaining his innocence and the lack of bodies, he was found guilty by a majority verdict of eleven murders on 30 November 1921, largely based on his meticulous notebooks and the circumstantial evidence. He was executed by guillotine on 25 February 1922.