A French mother-of-two was described as a ‘narcissistic pervert’ and a ‘psychopath’ tonight before being sent to prison for 22 years for poisoning four wealthy lovers.
Patricia Dagorn – who has also been dubbed the ‘Black Widow’ in her home country – murdered two of the men as she tried to extort their fortunes.
The 55-year-old was already in a cell in the Mediterranean city of Nice where she was serving five years for theft, fraud and sequestration.
That conviction related to an attack on 87-year-old Robert Mazereau, who had agreed to let Dagorn live with him in exchange for regular sex.
Patricia Dagorn (pictured on Monday)– who has also been dubbed the ‘Black Widow’ in her home country – murdered two of the men as she tried to extort their fortunes
Chief prosecutor Annie Brunet-Fuster had today called for Dagorn (shown in a court sketch from Tuesday) to be sent to prison for 30 years, and described her as a ‘narcissistic pervert’ and a ‘psychopath’.
Enquiries by detectives uncovered notes Dagorn was keeping of up to 20 men, including their bank account details and health records. Pictured: Files for the case
After seducing Mazereau and plying him with alcohol, Dagorn secretly administered large quantities of medicine to him, including Valium and methadone.
Now, following a four-day trial at the Alpes-Maritimes Assizes, Dagorn has been convicted in relation to the deaths of Michel Kneffel, 64, whose body was found in a hotel in Nice in July 2011, and Francesco Filippone, 85, who died nearby in the same year.
Chief prosecutor Annie Brunet-Fuster had today called for Dagorn to be sent to prison for 30 years, and described her as a ‘narcissistic pervert’ and a ‘psychopath’.
Judges instead sent Dagorn down for 22 years after she was found guilty of four charges of premeditated poisoning, the administering of substances likely to cause death to vulnerable people, and thefts from four men between 2011 and 2012.
Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre had said that Dagorn was ‘a great manipulator and seductress’ who faked ’empathy towards these men, establishing a confiding relationship, taking money, and ending by arranging their disappearance.’
Daghorn is now regularly referred to as ‘The Black Widow’ by the French media, following testaments by her victims.
One of the men who accused her of trying to poison him was 91-year-old widower Robert Vaux.
One of the men who accused her of trying to poison him was 91-year-old widower Robert Vaux (pictured)
‘She was like a ray of sunshine in winter. When you are with a younger woman you know it won’t last but you don’t deny yourself the moment unless you’re a masochist,’ Vaux, a former sailor, told reporters at the courthouse on Monday.
Vaux, comfortably retired but lonely since the death of his wife, brought Dagorn to live with him in early 2012 in the coastal town of Frejus.
When he was at his lowest ebb, Dagorn wrote to his solicitor, asking to be written into his will, according to Vaux.
Enquiries by detectives uncovered notes Dagorn was keeping of up to 20 men, including their bank account details and health records.
Filippone’s decomposing body was found in a bath at a villa in the town of Mouans-Sartoux, near Cannes, in February 2011.
President of the court, judge Benoit Delaunay (centre), prepares prior to the start of the trial of Patricia Dagorn on Monday
The 55-year-old was already in a cell in the Mediterranean city of Nice (pictured) where she was serving five years for theft, fraud and sequestration
Dagorn had cashed a cheque worth £18,000 signed by Filippone at around the same time.
Dagorn had denied any wrong doing in court, saying she had never harmed Kneffel or Filippone, with defence barrister Cedric Huissoud saying ‘she is eager to explain herself in court’.
Dagorn mainly targeted selected octogenarians through dating agencies and small adds in newspapers, asking them after a few dates if she could be named in their wills.
In some cases, according to prosecution documents, she stole private papers, and also accused some of her victims of raping her.
Dagorn, who is French, has a degree in law, and split up with her husband, Luc Caron, in the early 2000s, after he too was sent to prison for a series of offences. Dagorn remains estranged from Caron, and their two grown-up sons.