Joseph Vacher

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Joseph Vacher (1869 - December 31, 1898) was a French serial killer, sometimes known as The French Ripper due to comparisons to the more famous Jack the Ripper murderer of London, England in 1888.

At 19, Vacher was convicted of trying to rape a young boy. He later attempted suicide after a woman rejected his advances, but shooting himself in the head accomplished nothing more than paralysing one side of his face and putting him in a mental institution. Shortly after his release, at the age of 24, he began his murder spree.

During a four-year period beginning in 1894, Vacher murdered and mutilated 11 people - seven women and four men. The victims were stabbed repeatedly and often disembowelled. Vacher was a drifter, simply moving from town to town in the South of France, surviving by begging.

In 1898, Vacher tried to assault a woman in a field. She fought back and her screams soon alerted her husband and son who came rushing to her aid, overpowered Vacher and took him to the police. The authorities had little evidence that Vacher was responsible for the rash of murders, but their suspect soon confessed to everything.

Vacher claimed he was insane because a rabid dog bit him when he was a child. He was nonetheless judged sane and was executed by guillotine.

In 1976, French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier made a remarkable film called "Le juge et l'assassin" (The Judge and the Murderer) inspired by Vacher's story, starring Philippe Noiret and Michel Galabru.