Joseph Vacher wreaked havoc across France in the late 1800s, killing as many as 50 people during a horrific three-year murder spree that haunted the nation.

His sadistic nature and gruesome crimes earned him the nickname the French Jack the Ripper and, over a century later, he is still one of the most notorious serial killers of all time.

During his trial, his defense claimed that being bitten by a ‘mad dog’ as a child was to blame for his twisted killings.

It has also been said that a gunshot wound to the head during a failed suicide attempted left him disfigured, and that the brutal backlash that he faced over his looks was what pushed him to kill. 

Either way, Joseph’s chilling story is one that is still talked about today, more than 100 years on.

Joseph grew up in a small town in the south-east of France called Beaufort. his father was an illiterate farmer, and he was the second youngest of 16 children. 

According to the New York Times, after he was bitten by a wild dog as a child, he was taken to the ‘village herbalist’ who gave his medicine.

It was said by his lawyers during his trial that he was previously ‘quiet’ child, but he started having nasty outbursts after that.

Joseph Vacher wreaked havoc across France in the late 1800s, killing as many as 50 people during a horrific three-year murder spree that haunted the nation

Joseph Vacher wreaked havoc across France in the late 1800s, killing as many as 50 people during a horrific three-year murder spree that haunted the nation

He once shot at a group of boys who had been heckling him with his dad’s rifle, and attempted to strangle his own brother when he noticed he was slacking off. 

At age 15, his family sent him to a strict boarding school but he was expelled after only two years because he was allegedly caught torturing animals.

Joseph went on to join the Army in 1890, but his service was cut short after he attempted to murder a woman named Louise Barrand because she had continuously rejected his advances.

He broke into her home and shot her three times, before he turned the gun on himself, putting two bullets in his head.

The injury resulted in one side of his face becoming paralyzed and deformed him severely. 

He later said during his trial that the way people mocked him because of his looks following the incident made him hate ‘society’ as a whole. 

After the ordeal, he was discharged from the Army and sent to a mental institution, where it was said he often attacked staff and destroyed furniture. 

However, following his trial for Louise’s attempted murder – he was found not guilty by reason of insanity – he was transferred to a state-run hospital, where he stayed for three months before he was released and pronounced ‘completely cured.’

His sadistic nature and gruesome crimes earned him the nickname the French Jack the Ripper, and over a century later, he is still one of the most notorious serial killers of all time

His sadistic nature and gruesome crimes earned him the nickname the French Jack the Ripper, and over a century later, he is still one of the most notorious serial killers of all time

It was then that he went on a sadistic murder spree that lasted from 1894 until 1897.

The exact number of his victims is unknown, but it’s believed that he killed up to 50 people – at least 11 have been confirmed.

Many of his victims were young boys or farmers and he usually killed them by stabbing them repeatedly. Some of them were also raped.

In 1897, Joseph was finally caught after her tried to attack a woman – when her husband and neighbors heard her screams, they rushed to help her and knocked Joseph out.

They locked him in a shed and got the police, who arrested him for attempted rape.

Soon, his years of crimes began to unravel, and he ultimately confessed to committing 11 murders. 

During his trial, his defense tried to claim insanity, but he was ultimately pronounced sane after a lengthy investigation by a team of doctors appointed by the court.

He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death in 1898, and was ultimately executed by guillotine later that year. 

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