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Roger
GIRERD
Classification: Mass murderer
Characteristics:
Parricide
Number of victims: 10
Date of murders: May 20, 1965
Date of birth: 1931
Victims profile:
Jeannette Girerd, 34, his wife / Angèle Girerd, 58,
his mother / Robert Girerd, 23, his brother / Bernard
Girerd, 7, his son / Daniel Girerd, 2, his son /
Eliane Girerd, 10, his daughter / Joceline Girerd, 8,
his daughter / Pierre Girerd, 6 months, his son / Yves
Girerd, 4, his son / Sylviane Girerd, 16 months, his
niece
Method of murder:
Stabbing with knife - Shooting
Location: Charvieu-Chavagneux,
Rhône Alpes, France
Status:
Committed suicide by shooting himself the same day
Roger Girerd was a French mass murderer who killed 10 members
of his family at a farm in Charvieu-Chavagneux on May 20, 1965, before
committing suicide.
The crime was reported to be the deadliest mass murder by a single
person in French history at that time, even though 14 people were
killed by a drunk man in Rouen on June 10, 1945.
Life
Girerd was said to have worked at a foundry from
morning to evening, while his mother also urged him to do the hardest
labour on the farm. Due to being overworked he had been in a mental
institution in Grenoble for a few months in 1959. In the months prior
to the murders he showed signs of fatigue and uttered fears of a
coming nuclear war, being especially worried about the fate of his
children.
Murders
According to reports, the 34-year-old stabbed his wife, Jeannette, his
six children, aged 6 months to 10 years, as well as a 16 months-old
niece, during the night from May 19 to May 20. The bodies of
Jeannette, four of his children, and his niece were found the next day
lying in the kitchen, covered with sheets, while the two remaining
children were discovered on the first floor. At approximately 8:30
a.m. a witness heard two shots from the farm, and it was suspected
that Girerd then killed his 58-year-old mother and his 23-year-old
brother in an annex. Two more shots were heard at about 10 a.m., when
Girerd killed his dog and himself.
In a suicide note, Girerd stated he was sick of
living in poverty and watching his family living in need, writing:
I have enough. I have to do something. I don't
want my children to have to live the way I have to. I want everyone
to live in peace. ... I am leaving money for the funeral and to pay
my debts
