Eugene Weidmann - encyclopedia article about Eugene Weidmann.

Eugène Weidmann (February 5, 1908–June 17, 1939) was the last person to be publicly executed in France.

Weidmann was born in Frankfurt am Main to the family of an export businessman, and went to school there. He was sent to live with his grandparents at the outbreak of World War I; during this time he started stealing. Later in his twenties he served five years in jail for robbery.

During his time in jail Weidmann met three men who would later become his partners in crime: Roger Million, Blanc and Fritz Frommer. After their release from jail, they decided to work together to kidnap rich tourists visiting France and steal their money. They rented a villa in Saint Cloud, near Paris, for this purpose.

Their first kidnap attempt ended in failure because their victim struggled too hard, forcing them to let him go. Their second attempt of a New York dancer visiting France, Jean de Koven, was more successful, and Weidmann killed and buried her in the villa's garden in July 1937. The group then sent Million's mistress, Collette Tricot, to cash in Koven's traveller's cheques.

On September 1st of the same year, Weidmann hired a chauffeur named Joseph Couffy to drive him to the French Riviera where he shot him in the back of the head and stole his car. On October 17, 1937, Million and Weidmann arranged a meeting with a young theatrical producer named Roger LeBlond, promising to invest money in one of his shows. Instead, Weidmann shot him in the back of his head and took his wallet.

Weidmann next shot Raymond Lesobre, a real estate agent who was showing him around a house, in the back of the head and stole his car and wallet. On September 3, 1937, with Million, he lured Janine Keller, a private nurse who would be his fifth and final victim, into a cave with a job offer. There he killed her and stole her belongings.

The police eventually tracked Weidmann to the villa from a business card left at Lesobre's office and, after a shootout, arrested him. He then confessed to all his murders. Weidmann, Million, Blanc and Tricot were tried in March 1939, with Weidmann and Million receiving the death sentence while Blanc received a jail sentence of 20 months and Tricot was acquitted. Million's sentence was later changed to life imprisonment.

On June 17, 1939, Weidmann was beheaded by the guillotine in Versailles, outside the prison Saint-Pierre. The "hysterical behaviour" by spectators was so scandalous that French President Albert Lebrun immediately banned all future public executions. A video of the execution was filmed from a private apartment adjacent to the prison.

Executions by guillotine in France continued in private until September 10, 1977, when Hamida Djandoubi was the last person to be executed.

February 5 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

..... Click the link for more information.

19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1870s 1880s 1890s - 1900s - 1910s 1920s 1930s
1905 1906 1907 - 1908 - 1909 1910 1911

Year 1908 (MCMVIII
..... Click the link for more information.

June 17 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

..... Click the link for more information.

19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1900s 1910s 1920s - 1930s - 1940s 1950s 1960s
1936 1937 1938 - 1939 - 1940 1941 1942

Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX
..... Click the link for more information.

Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences.
..... Click the link for more information.

Motto
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem
"La Marseillaise"

..... Click the link for more information.

Frankfurt am Main
The skyline of Frankfurt
Coat of arms Location

..... Click the link for more information.

Clockwise from top: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks, and German Albatros D.
..... Click the link for more information.

Tourism is travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists
..... Click the link for more information.

Saint Cloud or St. Cloud may refer to:

Saint Cloud, also known as Clodoald, a son of the Frankish king Chlodomer
Saint-Cloud, a town in France
Château de Saint-Cloud, a royal chateau in France
The Saint Cloud, a rock band from Allentown, Pennsylvania

..... Click the link for more information.

Ville de Paris

City flag City coat of arms

Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur
(Latin: "Tossed by the waves, she does not sink")

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro.
..... Click the link for more information.

State of New York

Flag of New York Seal
Nickname(s): The Empire State
Motto(s): Excelsior!

Official language(s) None

Capital Albany
Largest city New York City

..... Click the link for more information.

A traveler's cheque (also travellers cheque, traveler's check, or travelers check) is a preprinted, fixed-amount cheque designed to allow the person signing it to make an unconditional payment to someone else as a result of having paid the issuer (usually a
..... Click the link for more information.

A chauffeur is one who drives an automobile as a job. While the term may refer to anybody who drives for a living, it usually implies a driver of a luxury sedan, especially a limousine; those who drive non-luxury cars are simply called "drivers" (as in bus drivers).
..... Click the link for more information.

French Riviera (French: Côte d'Azur, Occitan: Còsta Azzura) is part of France's southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, reaching from Cassis to Menton, at the border with Italy.
..... Click the link for more information.

A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process.
..... Click the link for more information.

A real estate broker is a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy.
..... Click the link for more information.

guillotine is a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which a heavy blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the victim's head from his body.
..... Click the link for more information.

This article is about the city of Versailles. For the Château de Versailles, see Palace of Versailles. For other uses, see Versailles (disambiguation).

..... Click the link for more information.

Saint-Pierre means Saint Peter in French.

Surname

Saint-Pierre is the surname of:

Richard Saint-Pierre, who not only was one of the first translators of, but is also thought to be, among conspirators, the actual discoverer of the Gospel of Thomas

..... Click the link for more information.

France

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
France

Constitution
Fifth Republic
Government of France
President

..... Click the link for more information.

Albert Lebrun (August 29, 1871 – March 6, 1950) was a French politician, President of France from 1932 to 1940, and as such was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the center-right Democratic Republican Alliance (ARD).
..... Click the link for more information.

Hamida Djandoubi (Arabic: حميدة جندوبي) (c. 1949–10 September, 1977) was the last person to be guillotined in France, at Baumettes Prison in Marseille.
..... Click the link for more information.

Eugen Weidmann (redirected from Eugene Weidmann)

Events

Events

Surname

Eugen Weidmann
(redirected from Eugene Weidmann)