ANTOINE

See also:

• FRANCOIS (1558-1614)

FRANCOIS

See also:

• ANTOINE FRANCOIS DESRUES (1744 – 1777)

DESRUES (1744 – 1777)  , French poisoner, was born at Chartres in 1744, of humble parents . He went to Paris to seek his fortune, and started in business as a grocer . He was known as a man of great piety and devotion, and his business was reputed to be a flourishing one, but when, in 1773, he gave up his shop, his finances, owing to personal extravagance, were in a deplorable condition . Nevertheless he entered into negotiations with a Madame de la Mothe for the purchase from her of a country estate, and, when the time came for the payment of the purchase money, invited her to stay with him in Paris pending the transfer . While she. was still his guest, he poisoned first her and then her son, a youth of sixteen . Then, having forged a receipt for the purchase money, he endeavoured to obtain possession of the property . But by this time the disappearance of Madame de la Mothe and her son had aroused suspicion . Desrues was arrested, the bodies of his victims were discovered, and the crime was brought home to him . He was tried, found guilty and condemned to be torn asunder alive and burned . The sentence was carried out (1797), Desrues repeating hypocritical protestations of his innocence to the last . The whole affair created a great sensation at the time, and as late as 1828 a dramatic version of it was performed in Paris .