psychomorbis:

Marcel André Henri Félix Petiot nicknamed “Docteur Satan” (January 17, 1897 – May 25, 1946) was a French doctor who was convicted of multiple murders after the discovery of the remains of twenty six people in his home in Paris after World War II. He is suspected of killing more than sixty victims during his life. On 11 March 1944, Petiot’s neighbors in Rue Le Sueur complained to police of a foul stench in the area and of large amounts of smoke billowing from a chimney of the house. Fearing a chimney fire, the police summoned firemen, who entered the house and found a roaring fire in a coal stove in the basement. In the fire, and scattered in the basement, were human remains. Petiot went on trial on March 19, 1946, facing 135 criminal charges. He admitted to killing just nineteen of the twenty-seven victims found in his house, and claimed that they were Germans and collaborators - part of a total of 63 “enemies” killed. His lawyer attempted to portray Petiot as a resistance hero, but the judges and jurors were unimpressed. Petiot was convicted of 26 counts of murder, and sentenced to death. On 25 May, 1946, Petiot was beheaded, after a stay of a few days due to a problem in the release mechanism of the guillotine. Before being beheaded, Dr. launched at the meeting, as last words “Gentlemen, I have one last piece of advice: Look away. This will not be pretty to see.”