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Nicolas CLAUX
A.K.A.: "The
Vampire of Paris" - "Nico"
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Necrophilia
- Cannibalism - Claim to be a practicing satanist
Number of victims: 1 +
Date of murder:
October 4,
1994
Date
of arrest:November 15,
1994
Date of birth:
March 22,
1972
Victim profile: Thierry Bissonnier,
34
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Paris, France
Status:
Sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 1997
In custody, Claux confessed to one
murder, claiming to be a practicing satanist. A search of his apartement
turned up unidentified skeletal remains, blood bags stolen from a
hospital's blood bank, funeral jars filled with human ashes, and
hundreds of hardcore S/M videotapes.
Described by
court psychatrists as being a "nearly psychotic sadist", Nico
shocked investigators when he described how he enjoyed eating strips of
muscles from the corpse lying on the slab of the St. Joseph hospital
mortuary. He also described how he enjoyed prowling Parisian cemetaries,
digging up fresh graves, and drinking human blood mixed with human ashes
and powder protein.
Due to the lack
of evidence connecting him to the other crimes, Nico was only charged
with one count of premeditated murder and six counts of grave robberies.
During his trial, psychatrists confirmed that he couldn't be held
entirely responsible for his crimes. In may 1997, he unrepentant
necrophilic cannibal was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 12
years of prison. He will be eligible for parole in late 2000.
Vampire of Paris: The story of Nico Claux
By David Lohr
Lurking in Graveyards
On Nov. 15, 1994, officers of the Parisian "Brigade
Criminelle" arrested 22-year-old Nicolas Claux outside the world famous
cabaret Moulin Rouge on suspicion of the murder of Thierry Bissonnier,
34.
Bissonnier's October 4 killing was one of a string of homosexual
murders, seven of which occurred in October alone. The murder squad's
preliminary investigator, Gilbert Thiel, believed that a single killer
was responsible and was eager to get Claux back to headquarters for
questioning. Claux says that Thiel, veteran of several high-profile
cases, was not prepared for the web of murder, cannibalism, and sadistic
acts that he had woven in his short lifetime.
The following account includes several narrations by
Mr. Claux to provide a better window on a killer's life and crimes. Some
of Claux's commentaries, delivered in writing, have been edited,
polished, and arranged for a more narrative flow.
Claux: "Following my arrest I was taken back to the
Parisian Crime Department for questioning. Unbeknownst to me, crime
scene investigators were already in the process of exercising a search
warrant on my apartment at 9 Rue Coustou. Inside they found a .22-caliber
handgun under my bed, which they immediately sent off for ballistics
tests. While they were probably not surprised to have found the pistol,
they were almost certainly not prepared for the grisly scene that
welcomed them.
"Throughout my apartment, bone
fragments and human teeth were scattered about like loose change;
vertebras and leg bones hung from the ceiling like morbid mobiles, and
hundreds of videocassettes, mostly slasher and hardcore S&M flicks,
filled my shelves. One can only imagine what went through the minds of
the investigators as they looked around my living quarters.
On one wall
hung a bullet-riddled target, while across the room sat a TV set with
jars of human ashes resting on top of it. Several bondage magazines were
piled in a far corner, and nearby my backpack was found, which contained
handcuffs, surgical instruments and duct tape. In addition to my tastes
and choice of décor, investigators also discovered several stolen blood
bags inside of my refrigerator."
Why?
It did not take long for the ballistic test results
to come back, and when confronted with the evidence that the tests were
positive, Nico confessed to Bissonnier's murder. Claux claimed that
while investigators were happy to have solved a brutal crime, they were
understandably concerned with all of the human bones scattered
throughout his apartment, and the blood bags, which filled his
refrigerator.
Claux: "With little hesitation on my part, I informed
them that I had been robbing the graves of several Parisian gothic
graveyards and mutilating the mummified remains. When asked the reason
why I was storing stolen blood bags inside my refrigerator, I simply
answered that I drank the blood on a regular basis. Working as a
mortuary assistant for 10 months, I had been using my position as a
means to fulfill a lifelong fantasy of mine revolving around cannibalism.
When left alone to stitch the bodies after the autopsies, I would cut
strips of meat from the ribs and eat them. On some occasions, I would
bring pieces of flesh back to my place, where I would cook and eat those
pieces as well."
Upon hearing his confessions, Claux claimed
investigators asked, "WHY? Why did you kill? Why did you eat flesh and
drink blood? And why did you dig up corpses?" As simple as those
questions may seem, the answers were not readily found. Perhaps some
clues exist in Nico's past.
Early Obsessions
Nicolas Claux was born on March 22, 1972 in the
African nation of Cameroon. Nico's father was a French citizen who
worked in a bank and was often sent with his family to foreign countries
for long periods of time. While Nico was too young to remember his early
years in Cameroon, he does recall the family moving to London around the
age of five, and then off to the southern most part of Paris when he was
seven, where they remained until he was 12.
Claux: "My childhood was basically normal, except
that I was very withdrawn and only had a few friends. I was a lonely
child, lacking brothers and sisters to play with, so I spent most of my
time alone in my room.
"While my parents were very kind and gave me
everything that I needed, I never really felt a strong bond between us.
They never hugged me or kissed me, they just let me be on my own most of
the time. Eventually I grew emotionally cold. I had difficulties feeling
empathy for other people, just indifference most of the time.
"This is the time when I also developed a fascination
for death and the occult. I would spend hours reading books on vampires
and werewolves. A photo of the statue of the Sumerian demon Pazuzu
especially fascinated me. I found it in a book my parents had bought in
England. For me, it symbolized something extremely ancient and powerful
-- something that I respected. A few years later, I saw the same statue
used in the movie Exorcist, and my interest in the occult grew stronger."
Fascination with Death
When Nico was 10, his grandfather died as a result of
a cerebral embolism. The two had been arguing at the time and Nico
always felt that his family blamed him for the untimely death. This was
a very critical moment in his life; one that he claims made him become
literally obsessed with physical death. From then on he says that he was
fascinated with burial rites, wakes, and the atmosphere of morgues.
At the age of 12, Nico and his parents moved to
Lisbon, Portugal, where they remained for four years. While the setting
may have changed, Nico's obsessions remained the same. None of his
fellow classmates shared his interests and he was once again without
friends. His feelings of loneliness became more intense, and he began to
feel an utter hatred for everyone around him.
Claux: "When I was 16, we moved back to Paris, where
I lived alone with my father. As far back as I can remember I have been
obsessed by graveyards. Before long I knew every single cemetery in
Paris like the back of my hand. Between 1990 and 1993, I spent the
majority of my free time in graveyards. As a botanist studies plants and
flowers, I would examine rusty locks and evaluate the weight of cement
lids. My favorite things were mausoleums. The most impressive ones can
be found at Pere-Lachaise, Montmartre, or Passy cemeteries. I would peek
through their windows to see the inside. Some were decorated with
furniture, paintings, or statues. It was not long before I began working
on a plan to get a much closer view."
Eventually Nico crafted his own lock-picking tools,
his favorite being an L-shaped key. If a lock on one of the mausoleums
was too rusty to pick, he would use a crowbar, or enter through a window.
Once inside, he says he "felt like an emperor reigning in Hell." The
place would become his kingdom. Often times he said he would enter a
mausoleum during the day, only to resurface at night, when the gates
were closed, and he could continue his activities without fear of being
discovered.
Exploring His Kingdom
Nico Claux said that over time, simply lurking in
graveyards and breaking into mausoleums was not enough to satisfy his
desires. His fantasies became sadistic blueprints — tools for fulfilling
his new cravings. Whether this change began at this point or years
earlier is a matter of speculation, but it is clear that he believed
that he had stepped up to an entirely new level.
Within this chapter, the subsequent narrations
have been translatedfrom one of many statements that Nico said
that he eventually gave to Parisian authorities while in custody.
"I woke up one day feeling this sinister urge to dig
up a corpse and mutilate it. I gathered a small crowbar, a pair of
pliers, a screwdriver, black candles and a pair of surgical gloves in a
backpack. Then I took the subway until the Trocadero station. It was
nearly noon. The gates of the Passy Cemetery were wide open, but nobody
was inside. The undertakers were out for lunch.
"Passy is a small Gothic graveyard with plenty of
huge mausoleums, which were built during the 19th century. It is located
right between two large avenues, so it is impossible to climb inside at
night. But anyway, nobody could ever imagine that there was someone
robbing graves at noon.
"I had this special grave in mind. It was a small
mausoleum, the burial site of a family of Russian immigrants from the
1917 revolution. I had already pried open the iron door a few days
before, and I had closed it afterwards so it would seem that nobody had
ever touched it. All I had to do was kick it open ... At this point, my
mind was in total chaos. I had flashes of death in my head. I took a
deep breath, and I climbed down the steps leading to the crypt.
"It was a rather small one, with damp walls, buried
deep inside the cemetery ground. There was no other source of light than
the candles I had brought. To begin, for more than an hour, I removed
one of the heavy coffins from its stone casing. It was especially hard
not to let the coffin fall all of sudden to the ground, but somehow I
managed to slowly lay it down without making too much noise. However,
one edge of the coffin scratched my lower leg when it touched the ground.
But that didn't stop me at all.
"I examined the casket for a while. It was solid oak
and sealed with big screws. It looked like brand new, so I expected to
find a recently deceased corpse. First, I unscrewed the coffin, which
took me less than 10 minutes. Then I pried it open with the crowbar.
Once opened, a horrible stench of putrefaction came out of the box. It
smelled like Thanatyl, the product embalmers use on a corpse in order to
delay the process of decay.
"Then I saw the body inside. It was a half rotten old
woman, shrouded in a white sheet, covered with brown stains. Her face
seemed to be smeared with oil, but it was simply the death fluids oozing
from her skin. The stench was so intense that I nearly fainted. I tried
to lift one side of the sheet, but it was glued to her petrified skin.
The teeth were protruding from the mouth, but her eyes were gone. I
stared into the empty eye sockets, and all of a sudden something broke
into my mind. I felt like I was falling into a whirlwind.
"That's when I picked up a screwdriver. The corpse
inside the coffin started to move slightly, like if it had guessed what
would happen next. So I began to stab the belly, the rib area and the
shoulders. I stabbed her at least 50 times. I really can't remember. All
I can remember is that when I woke up my forearms were covered with
corpse slime."
After violating his first grave, Nico said that he
spent the much of his free time searching the cemetery for new graves to
desecrate. This is a pattern he said would continue up until the time of
his arrest.
A New Career
At 20, Nico joined the military, where he was trained
as a gunsmith, cleaning and repaired weapons. But he soon found this
lifestyle boring. His only satisfaction came from fantasizing about
murder. After serving just a year, Nico moved on and said that he began
to consider a career as a mortician.
Claux: "In 1993, the one and only local school for
embalming declined my application, so I began working at Saint Vincent-de-Paul
Hospital in Paris, a hospital for children. This was the only way I
could really do what I wanted for a living and I also found out that it
was the best way to be in contact with corpses. I was given the job of a
morgue attendant and my first contact with a corpse there was when I
assisted the autopsy of a 10-year-old girl. The other attendant showed
me how to stitch up her belly, and that was the first time I ever got to
touch a fresh corpse. I was amazed by how red and clean her organs were."
Nico did not stay at Saint Vincent-de-Paul for long,
and in December 1993, he took a position as a morgue attendant and
stretcher-bearer at Saint Joseph Hospital, which is also in Paris. His
duties involved helping with autopsies, cleaning up the morgue slabs,
and prepping the bodies for wakes. A small chapel was located up the
stairs where bereaved relatives could later view the bodies of their
loved ones.
Fantasy Becomes Reality
Claux: "Most of the autopsies were done by us, the
morgue attendants. We would do the Y-shaped incision, cut the ribs at
the joints, and open the skull with an electric saw. The pathologist
only dissected the organs and put them in a box.
"I would be left alone with the body after the
autopsy to do the stitches, which were my specialty. This is when I
began eating strips of muscles from the bodies. I always checked out
their medical files first. I talked with a butcher once who told me that
meat is better three or four days after death. This was something I had
always dreamed of doing, and it was the opportunity to do it on a
regular basis.
"Sometimes I brought select meats home with me to be
cooked, but my preference was to eat them raw. It tasted like tartar
steak, or carpaccio. The big muscles of the thighs and back were good,
but there was no good meat in the breasts, only fats. People often ask
me what went through my mind the first time I indulged my cannibalistic
fantasy. Well, to be honest, I said to myself: 'Wow! Now I'm a cannibal.
Cool!'"
Nico's other job at Saint Joseph Hospital involved
working in the digestive surgery unit. One of his duties involved
delivering the blood bags from the hospital's blood bank to the surgery
room. He claimed that it did not take long for him to notice that it was
not unusual for bags to be left over and eventually he devised a scheme
in which he would rip the sticker off of the unused bag, making it
appear to have been opened, and then hide it in his locker.
At the end of his shift, he said that he would
transfer the bag to his backpack, take it home, and begin cooling it in
his fridge. Once the desired temperature was reached, he would mix the
blood with powder proteins, or human ashes, and then drink it. Since
there was no plasma within the bags, the blood was extremely thin, which
was why he chose to thicken it up.
Fatal Twist
On the morning of Oct. 4, 1994, Nicolas Claux said
that he decided it was time to turn another one of his fantasies into
reality. This fantasy was a special one to Nico, one that would, in his
mind, put him on a far greater level than petty grave robbing and corpse
mutilations. He had been waiting for just the right time, and he was
finally ready to cross the line, an irreversible step that can change a
man forever.
Nico spent his morning searching for a victim, any
victim -- nothing mattered, not age, race, or sex, he said. He was
looking for death, nothing more, and nothing less. By the early
afternoon, Nico decided to try his luck on Minitel (an early version of
the Internet) and soon began chatting with a man named Thierry about
bondage and S&M. After a while the two decided to get together and the
man gave Nico the address to his home. Little did Thierry know, sex was
the last thing on Nico Claux's mind.
Claux: "Back then it was a common practice in the gay
community to meet on Minitel. They would establish contact through this
means since it was quick and easy for them. I found out that it was an
easy way for me to kill them without any witnesses, plus I had the
guarantee of remaining anonymous, since there was no possibility of
tracing back the discussions on Minitel.
"So I agreed on meeting Thierry around noon. With me
I carried a single shot 22-caliber handgun, which I hid under my jacket.
When I arrived at his place, a one-room apartment under the roof of an
old building, I knocked on the door and gave him the fake first name
that I had given him on Minitel. He opened the door, I stepped inside,
quickly turned around while he was closing the door and pulled out the
gun.
"I looked at his face just as he turned his head
towards me and saw the gun pointed at his eye. After a few awkward
moments passed, I pulled the trigger. He instantly fell face down
without a word. It was really eerie. It all happened like in slow motion.
Then I watched him bleed on the carpet. Soon I decided to see what the
apartment was like and wandered around a bit.
"When I returned to where he was lying I observed
that he was still moving and making horrible breathing noises on the
floor, like if he was breathing through a straw. I reloaded the gun and
shot again, this time striking him in the back of the head. I reloaded
and fired a few more times, but he was still alive and making noise. I
was surprised that he was still holding on, I had expected the first
shot to kill him.
"After a few minutes, I went into his kitchen and
found some cookies to eat and then sat in a corner of the room and
watched him as I ate. When I was finished, I decided to get out of there
quickly, so I shot him one last time in the back. I also lifted a huge
plant container and smashed it on his head, crushing it some. I then
wiped down my fingerprints; picked up his checkbook; a credit card and a
wallet (with ID papers); his driving license; an alarm clock, and an
answering machine, and finally left the scene."
Investigation
Thierry Bissonnier's body remained on the floor of
his apartment for three days, until his parents, distraught at not being
able to get in touch with him, went to his apartment and discovered the
grisly scene. Reports on the life Thierry led are rather sketchy. Claux
claims that ittle was said in the press following the discovery of
Bissonier's body, and during Claux's subsequent trial a "black out" was
placed on the press, meaning that no members of the media or public were
allowed inside the courtroom.
Claux believes that the family of the victim did not
want the life of their relative to be exposed in public, and that there
was elements in that case that were too "sensitive" for the general
public. Regardless, it is known that the 34-year-old victim was a
restaurateur and part-time classical musician, involved in a steady
relationship with an older man.
One of the first investigators to arrive at the scene
was Brigade Criminelle Investigator Gilbert Thiel. As shocking as the
murder appeared, it was nothing new to Thiel. The victim was one of many
homosexuals murdered every year in Paris, and that month alone there had
already been seven others in almost identical circumstances. According
to Agence France-Presse, homosexual murders represent about a
third of all murders in the Paris. The victims usually have the same
profile and similar habits, including a liberal view on sexuality, which
incorporates risks as a part of the ultimate pleasure. During the early
1990s, the majority of these encounters started with messages on Minitel.
According to Thierry Bissonnier's autopsy report, the
first bullet had entered the eyeball and stopped just short of the brain.
The following rounds crushed against the skull, except one, which
slightly penetrated the brain. The final shot entered through
Bissonnier's back and pierced his heart, causing almost immediate death.
Only two questions remained for investigators: who and why?
Captured
Nico Claux might have gotten away with Thierry
Bissonnier's murder had he not made a very crucial mistake. In mid-October,
Claux attempted to forge one of Bissonnier's bank checks to buy a VCR.
When asked for identification, Claux presented the shop clerk with
Bissonnier's driver's license, which he had attempted to forge by
inserting his own picture. But the scam was quickly noticed when the
clerk compared the signatures. Nico Claux took off before the police
arrived. Thus the search began.
Claux: "On Nov. 15, 1994, I was arrested in front of
the Moulin Rouge cabaret following an altercation with a woman. The
police had recognized me from the photograph on Bissonnier's forged
driving license and while under custody I confessed to the murder when I
was shown the ballistic evidence. Further investigation showed I had
been robbing the graves of several Parisian gothic graveyards, stealing
the bones, and mutilating the mummified remains. When asked the reason
why I was storing stolen blood bags inside my refrigerator, I simply
answered that I drank it on a regular basis. I also confessed to being
on a very special diet and went on to describe my mortuary job and the
cannibalism.
"The murder investigation itself was centered on the
motive, and whether or not there was premeditation. Why did I begin to
kill? At first, I claimed that the motive was robbery. But the coldly
calculated modus operandi I used, as well as the unnecessary overkill,
and the careful removal of fingerprints, proved that something far more
sinister was involved, thus indicating a clearly senseless, yet
premeditated, murder. With the victim being homosexual, investigators at
first wondered if there was a sexual component to the case. But there
was none. It simply turned out that I was just looking for death. I was
soon sent to Fleury-Merogis, a jail south of Paris. Fleury is a remand
center, a place where convicts are locked up before their trial. The
problem is that you can wait up to three or four years in France before
going to court. Then you have to wait one more year until they find you
a room in a prison."
Diminished Responsibility
For the next two years, Claux says a court-ordered
team of specialized psychiatrists and psychologists examined him. Dozens
of tests were made, which in the end, he says, revealed a borderline
psychotic personality disorder. In addition, Claux says that the experts
also diagnosed him as suffering from necrophilia and sexual sadism.
However, they did not detect any psychic or neuropsychic disorders,
which could have interfered with his discernment or control of his
actions.
Claux: "At one point, Thiel asked for a
reconstruction of the murder. I was led to the victim's apartment, where
I showed my version of the events. I said that I accidentally fired the
first shot, and continued shooting until the victim died. I stuck to
this version until the trial.
"The first motive I gave him was robbery, but when I
realized that I could benefit from a diminished responsibility plea, I
told him that I had an argument with a homosexual in a section of Père
Lachaise Cemetery on the morning before the murder, over the fact that
it was my territory, and not theirs. So, according to that version, I
decided to contact a gay on the Minitel to "scare" him and get my
revenge."
Claux claims that explanation pleased the
psychiatrists, and they granted him diminished responsibility under Rule
242 alinéa B of the penal code. However, the documents in the case do
not confirm this. In December, 1996 Gilbert Thiel closed the preliminary
investigation when he decided that there was enough evidence for a trial.
It is interesting to note that in the middle of the
preliminary investigation, which lasted nearly two years, Thiel was
promoted to the Anti-Terrorist Squad, following the 1995 series of
attacks in Paris by Islamic terrorists. While he was no longer required
to work on the case, Thiel chose to stay on, and all remaining
interrogations took place in his office, the Anti-Terrorist Squad
headquarters, at 36, Quai des Orfèvres. Perhaps it was because he
believed that Claux was responsible for other similar murders and did
not want to lose the opportunity to gather additional evidence.
The Prosecution
Nico Claux's trial began on May 9, 1997, at the Cour
d'Assises de Paris. The nine-member jury had already been chosen by
presiding Judge W. Waechter. Claux's defense lawyer, Irène Terrel,
entered a plea of not guilty. The prosecution's opening move was to
shock the jury with grisly photographs of the crime scene and of Claux's
apartment.
Claux: "The purpose of the photos was to make a
parallel between the murder, and the environment where I lived -- the
old 'Does fiction influence reality' debate?"
The prosecution charged that Nico had voluntarily
killed Bissonnier, and they felt that he had acknowledged that it was
premeditated. Following this, they presented the jury with a list of
crimes Claux had committed during the act; theft of a check book; credit
card; wallet; driving license; alarm clock, and an answering machine.
Prosecutors implied that the items were stolen prior to the murder. The
prosecution then pointed out the use of the forged license, and the
forged check, which included the falsifying of Bissonnier's signature.
While all of the above was damning in its own right, the case took a
sudden turn when the prosecution attempted to establish that
Bissonnier's murder was in fact one in a series, which had taken place
in Paris during 1994.
Judgment
Claux: "The prosecution called me a 'death addict'
and a 'real-life vampire'. Their theory was that I was a copycat of
serial killer Rémy R. ('Le tueur du Minitel Rose'). The main testimony
in their 'serial murders' theory came from two of the leading
investigators on my case. One of them, Inspector Garcin, testified that
even though there was no solid evidence against me, I fitted the
psychological profile of a serial murderer. His other claim was that
witnesses in bars where other murder victims hung out had previously
spotted me there."
Regardless of the prosecution's "serial killer theory,"
there was simply not enough physical evidence to back it up. Thereafter,
the arguments revolved around the murder of Thierry Bissonier. Claux
says that several of the experts who had interviewed him over the years
took the stand and a long debate began as a variety of diagnoses were
presented.
Claux: "Psychosis was established, mostly because of
acts of cannibalism that I was accused of having practiced in the morgue
where I worked, and acts of mutilation of dead bodies that I had done
during grave robberies. Those acts alone were, according to
psychiatrists, proof of a total loss of reality. This was completed by
the results of the Rorschach tests, which showed an 'inner void' typical
of schizophrenia. For them, I could benefit from Rule 242, concerning
diminished responsibility, because my medical condition reduced my
capacity to control my impulses."
Jurors deliberated for just three hours. Nicolas
Claux was found guilty of premeditated murder, armed robbery, fraudulent
use of a bank check, falsification of his drivers license photo, and an
attempt to defraud the retailer of the video camera. He was then
sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Contrary to Claux's version of events, he was never
convicted of grave robbery or the theft of bags containing blood.
Nico in Prison
Nico Claux's early prison years were spent in Fleury-Merogis,
just south of Paris, where he remained for four years and two months
until February 1999, when he was transferred to Maison Centrale Poissy,
about 15 miles northwest of Paris. In all, there are six "Maison
Centrales" in France, each holding at least 200 inmates. Considered
maximum security, Poissy has a reputation among inmates as being the
place where they lock up serial killers and terrorists. During his stay
there, Claux says that he shared his block with at least six serial
killers.
Claux: "For two years I studied computer programming
at the state's expense, but in reality, I spent more time in the gym,
paint room and recreation yard than I did in the class rooms. I had
started painting in 1997, and soon learned that I had a natural talent.
I was also part of the prison's video team, where I learned filming and
editing with DV camcorders. We would film concerts, football games, and
boxing fights."
When asked by Angry Thoreauan Magazine (yes,
there really is a publication by that name) about the emotional
experience of eating human flesh, Nico stated that, "It feels like
touching the face of God. It makes you feel like you don't belong to the
human race anymore."
In an interview with the Great Falls (Mont.)
Tribune , Clancy McKenzie, a professor of psychology at Capital
University in Washington, D.C., stated that cannibalism is a psychotic
behavior, which is almost always related to a previous trauma, often in
infancy. McKenzie maintained that during the second half-year of life,
when children are weaned from the breast, they fantasize about devouring
their mother. In later years, some sort of trauma, especially if
suffered at a critical young age, may trigger the regression to this
stage of development. When such individuals are eventually arrested, and
on rare occasions eventually returned to society, with all its "emotional
expression," it makes them all the more likely to repeat the problem
behavior. "I shudder when they let people out of institutions and send
them back home," McKenzie said.
Dr. Park Dietz, a national expert on criminal
psychosis who testified at the Jeffrey Dahmer trial, has a different
theory. He said that one should not look too closely at early childhood,
as millions of people who suffer childhood trauma never become psychotic
criminals. "Another motivation could be a desire to take a life of crime
to an ultimate level. Cannibalism is beyond the pale -- the last
frontier of being a bad boy," Dietz said.
Nico Claux Hoax?
After serving just seven years and four months of a
12-year sentence, Nicolas Claux was released from prison on March 22,
2002.
What to make of this story?
I'm having some trouble harmonizing Nico's stated
bizarre behavior with his coldly rational intellect. Immersing oneself
in the putrefying remains of a corpse and eating the flesh of a dead
person are at odds with that intellect, which would, at a minimum, be
able to appreciate the incredible threat to one's health if that
behavior really occurred. Frankly, I'm tempted to view these sensational
accounts as either hallucinations or outright fabrications.
The only thing we know for sure was that Nico Claux
robbed and killed a man in cold blood and then tried to use one of his
victim's checks to buy a video camera. In the actual documents of the
case that there is no mention of any grave robbing, necrophilia,
vampirism or cannibalism, nor does there appear to be anything in the
French media about Claux being anything but a thief and a murderer. One
would expect that the French press would have a heyday with the case had
there been any real evidence of the perversions that Nico Claux claimed.
Shortly after release from prison, Claux used his
prison training in computer programming to create a web site to promote
his drawings and painting of famous killers. His stories of grave
robbing, cannibalism, etc. got him booked on talk shows, which further
boosted his macabre celebrity status.
There is reason to believe that Claux's public image
is undergoing some serious re-engineering from the scary portrait of
Nico that his own words created in earlier chapters of this feature
story. For example, clearly stated on his web site:
"This website is my only official website. The other
unnofficial sites you might find online focus on a past that I am now a
long way away from. I have worked hard to improve myself through the
development of artistic abilities. I cannot erase the past, but my goal
is to channel the negativity that I have caused into pure creativity. I
do not endorse any other sites than this one. I do not profit from my
past, and I do not encourage other people into doing the things that I
have done. The spiritual and social prices to pay are far too high."
He says that he will not practice cannibalism again
-- which is certainly a plus.
For a period of time, Nico lived in Sweden and
England, but he returned to Paris in September, 2004 and lives with his
girlfriend in an apartment there.
Looking at his recent photos from his web site, it
appears as though he has settled into a lifestyle that is a kind of
campy Goth, filled with artwork and photography about serial killers and
the occult. The overriding theme is that he does not appear to be a
loner anymore. He has many friends, albeit unusual-looking ones, but
friends nevertheless. In reading what Claux says about his childhood
lonliness and the inability of his parents to physically demonstrate
affection, it appears as though that emotional vacuum has been filled
with a number of friends and many acquaintances made through his web
site and Internet groups.
He has decorated his body extensively with tatoos and
attends fetish, Goth and tattoo conventions.
His celebrity status as the "Vampire of Paris," while
it has its downsides as a resume item for conventional positions,
provides him opportunities for television and magazine interviews which
allows him to travel around Europe and sell his artwork.
He's clearly an intelligent man. I wonder what the
next step in his evolution will be -- after he gets bored with his
current goth lifestyle. There's no future it being an aging vampire.
CrimeLibrary.com
Full Name: Nicolas Claux, aka
"Nico", aka "Vampire of Paris".
Birthdate: March 22, 1972
Likes: Autopsys, gothic graveyards, slasher movies, stench of opened
coffins, human vertebraes, dismemberment, formaldehyde & plasma,
watching some stupid bastards legs violently shake during his death
spasms.
Dislikes: Cars, Team Sports, Technology, Overpopulation, Fat people,
uneducated people, poseurs, uniforms, "Modern Primitaves",
People who think they are cool because they have rings in their nipples,
Jerks.
Do you have a S&M fetish? I have a fetish for girls who kill.
Did you ever participate in any S&M activities? I dated a girl who
was into S/M. I nearly killed her incidently 3 days before my arrest.
For what reasons did you drink blood? Blood is my life.
Do you consider yourself a vampire? I prefer the word "Ghoul"
Can you describe the taste of human meat? Tastes pretty good. It depends
on what part you eat. The big muscles of the thighs and back are good.
There's no meat in the breasts, only fats.
What was going thru your head the first time you tasted
flesh/blood/human meats? I said to myself "Wow! Now I'm a
cannibal...Cool!"
Describe the first time you mutilated a corpse: I opened this coffin
inside a crypt in a Parisian Graveyard. I found embalmed remains inside,
oozing with death fluids. It was a woman, and she was wrapped in a white
shroud. The shroud sticked to her skin like fly paper. I stabbed her
with a screwdriver. I tried to sever her head, but I did not have the
right tools. I took polaroid snapshots.
What was your childhood like? My mom said in the courtroom that I never
cried or laughed. They thought at first that I was autistic. I don't
have brothers or sisters so I was a lonely child. I don't remember much
about my childhood. I don't like kids. They are dumb and they have no
sense of humour.
Can you describe your relationship with your family before, and after
the murders? I think they hate me. I'm indifferent to them.
What are your opinions on:
Religion: I worship the devil.
S/M: When you're engaged in a S&M relationship, your mate is more or
less willing I'm not interested in those mind games anymore. Last time I
did it, I nearly killed her. I need the real thing.
Serial Killers: Some are good. Some are bad. I like girls who kill.
There should be more of them.
Government: I live in a zionist government. Tel-aviv pulls the strings
of this country. I've heard it's the same in the U.S...Oh well.
Describe your first murder: I didn't kill anybody. I just killed some
insects. Not people. Insects.
How often did you think about killing before you actually killed? I have
murder fantasies since I was a little kid. Then I had fantasies about
eating human meat. It became an obsessional appetite. Everyday.
Did you have a reason to kill, or was it a spur of the moment situation?
I had to experiment the effectiveness of .22 caliber bullets on human
targets at point-blank range. It didn't work well. I had to crush the
guy's skull to put an end to his misery.
What do you like to read? True crime books. Forensic textbooks. The
"NecroErotik" 'zine.
Recommend any books?
"The Gresham Colour Atlas of Forensic Pathology"
A.Gresham
"Tool" Peter Sotos
"Killer Fiction" G.J. Schaefer
"Manson Family Picnic" Ricky Downey
Favorite things to draw/paint? Autopsys. Gothic Graveyards. Killers.
Feelings on Anton LaVey: I'm indifferent to Anton LaVey. I like to kill
pets, so I guess Anton LaVey would have hated me. I don't care.
Favorite Music/Musicians: I'm into black metal, death metal, and
straight edge. I like bands like Mortician, Integrity, Morbid Angel,
Emperor, Earth Crisis, Whitehouse, Grimlock...The Murder Junkies :-)
What killers stick out in your mind?
--Cannibals who eat women:
Issei Sagawa
Richard Chase
Ed Gein
--I am filled with admiration for
these 2 grave robbers/esthetes:
Sgt. Bertrand
Ely "Erszebeth"
Dervillers
Opinions on homosexuality: Queers were an easy prey when I experimented
different murder techniques on human targets. But the bad side was that
I couldn't mutilate them and eat some of their meat, because I don't
like to touch men, and they have diseases. Lesbians are okay.
Will you kill again when you are released? I never killed anybody.
What were you charged with? I was charged with 1 count of premeditated
murder and 6 counts of grave robbery.
Did you ever have sex with a corpse? Yeah. So what?
Did you talk to any of the corpses you dug up? I'm no psycho!
What are some of your hobbies: I like to paint, watch horror flicks,
work out, draw tattoo flash, write with other killers, read detective
magazines, watch documentaries on freaks or amputees.
What did you do with the corpses after you dug them up: If there were
only bones left, i brought them to my apartment and i built totems with
them. If i found decomposed or embalmed remains, i stabbed them and I
took polaroid snapshots. i stabbed them in the chest or eyes. then
blackout.
Anything else you want to add? Yeah, I have a message for people who smoke, do drugs, eat junk food,
and drink alcohol. You are slowly poisoning your blood. You draw the
vileness into your lungs. Cancer ravages your veins. You have no respect
for your own body and flesh. I saw many of you lying on the slab. You
make me feel sick. Your body is a walking trash can. Your meat disgusts
me. This is specially aimed at girls: Do some sports, quit smoking, go
on a protein diet, take care of your arterys. You will feel a lot
sexier.
Nicolas Claux
(born March 22, 1972 in Cameroon) is a French serial killer and
cannibal. He is sometimes referred to as Nico Claux or even the
Vampire of Paris. After his release from prison, he has been
doing paintings showing portraits of serial killers or crime scenes. He
is currently residing in Dublin, Ireland.
In 2006, a company in the USA
began marketing a 2007 calendar showcasing Claux's paintings. Demand was
so high, the company is considering a 2008 calendar and a line of
posters.
