NECROPHILIA

Confessions of Sergeant Francois Bertrand


This post contains one of two of the most famous documented cases of necrophilia.

"When I was 7 or 8 years old, my parents noticed that I was inclined to a special maladjustment that drove me to go for walks in the darker spots of woods, where I stayed for entire days in absolute sadness.

On the 23rd or 25th of February 1847, a strange kind of fury seized me and made me do the things for which I was arrested. Here is how it happened. One day, I went for a walk in the country with one of my friends when we came by a cemetery; we entered it, to satisfy our curiousity. Someone had been buried the day before; the undertaker, surprised by rain, had not finished covering the grave and had left his tools on the ground. When I saw this, I was overcome with gloomy thoughts. I suffered from a violent headache; my heart got carried away and I couldn't control myself anymore. I gave my friend the excuse that I had to go back to town immediately and when I got rid of him, I went back to the graveyard. I picked up a shovel and I started to dig the grave. When I finally removed the corpse from its tomb, I started to hit it with the shovel, driven by a rage I cannot explain. But a worker suddenly appeared at the cemetery's gate. I stood up, but then I saw no one. The man had gone to alert the authorities. I climbed out of the grave, and after re-covering the corpse with dirt, I jumped over the graveyard's wall...

Four months had passed since this happened. In the meantime, I stayed quiet; we had come back to Paris, and I believed that my madness had disappeared completely when my friends invited me to come and visit the Pere-Lachaise cemetery.

I enjoyed the dark alleys of this graveyard quite a bit, and I decided to come back for a walk during the night. I entered into the cemetery at 9 PM by climbing the wall. I strolled around for half an hour, my mind filled with black thoughts, then I started to dig a grave with my bare hands; I tore the body into pieces, then I left. It happened in June.

Then came the February 1848 cases. At this period, the regiment started to go on the road, and we only came back in Paris in June. We were camping near a village in the suburbs of Amiens, so I only came back to Paris on the 17th of July. After a few days of rest, the sickness came back, more violent than ever. We were staying in the Ivry Camp; at night, the guards were posted very near and their instructions were very severe, but nothing could stop me. I climbed out of the camp every night, to go to the Montparnasse Cemetery, where I satisfied my lust.

The first victim of my fury was a young girl whose limbs I scattered after having mutilated her. This desecration took place on July 25, 1848 Ever since then, I only came back twice to that cemetery. The first time, at midnight, under a bright moon, I saw a guard walking down an alley, a pistol in his hand. I was perched on a tree, near the surrounding wall, ready to climb down into the graveyard; he walked by me, but did not see me. When he was far enough from me, I left without even trying to do a thing. The second time, I dug up the remains of an old woman and a child; I treated them the same way as my other victims. I cannot remember when this happened. The other cases happened in a cemetery where only suicide victims and people who died in hospitals are buried. The first individual that I dug up in this place was a drowned corpse that I disemboweled. It was on July 30. You must notice that I seldom mutilated men. I did not take pleasure from it, whereas I had a great time mutilating the corpses of women. I do not know why.

By November 6, 1848, I dug up and mutilated four bodies, two men and two women. The women were at least 60 years old. I cannot remember the exact dates of these exhumations, but they happened every two weeks.

On November 6, at 10 p.m., someone shot at me while I was climbing the graveyard's wall. I was not hit. This fact did not discourage me. I laid on the wet ground and slept for at least 2 hours in the winter cold. I then entered the graveyard, where I dug up the body of a drowned woman. I disemboweled her...

At first, I committed these excesses only after drinking a pint of wine, but I never did this again under the influence of alcohol. Simple annoyance was enough to drive me to such extremes.

You could believe that I was also prone to assault living persons, but on the contrary, I was extremely kind to everybody. I wouldn't hurt a child. So I am sure that I have no enemies. All the non-commissioned officers appreciated my frankness and my cheerfulness."


1 more

"I dug up the body of the little girl you found at my home the day after her burial. September the 12th 1901, after midnight, I opened the coffin closed by 2 dowels, then, after I removed the body, I closed it and I covered it up again with earth, like it was before. When I came back home, I laid the corpse on loose straw, where you found it. Then I indulged myself in disgraceful practices on her. Each time I slept next to her, I assuaged my lust. I always have done it all alone, and my father doesn't know that I do such things. To get into the cemetery, I climbed the North wall and I did the same when I had to leave. Some time ago, I heard that a young woman I had noticed earlier was seriously ill. I was pleased to hear that, and I promised myself to have sex with her corpse. I had to wait patiently for several days, each day and night I fantasized over her and this always gave me a erection. When she died, I planned to dig up her body the night following her burial. I went to the graveyard at 8 o'clock in the evening. I took my time to dig the body up. When she was exposed, I kissed and fondled her. I noticed that there was no hair on her pubic area, and her breasts were small. I satisfied my urges on this corpse, then I decided to bring it in my home. I did not think about the dangers I could face while doing this. It was nearly midnight when I left the graveyard, carrying the body under my left arm and pressing her against my face with my right arm. On my way home, I kissed my burden and told her, 'I bring you back home, you will be fine, I will not hurt you.' Quite luckily, I met no one. Back home, I laid down next to the corpse, telling her, 'I love you, sweety.' I slept well. When I woke up in the morning, I satisfied my lust once more, and before I left, I told her, 'I'm going to work, I will come back soon. If you want something to eat, just ask.' She did not answer, so I guessed that she was not hungry. I even told her, 'If you're thirsty, I'll bring you a drink.' During the day at work, I often fantasized on this young girl. At noon, I came back to see her, and asked her if she was yearning for me. In the morning, I went to meet her again. Until my arrest, I spent all my nights with her, and every night, I satisfied my lust on her. In the meantime, no other girls died. If another girl had died, I would have also brought it home, I would have laid it next to the other one, and I would have fondled them both. But I did not forget the severed head, and sometimes I kissed her too." (Note: The severed head referred to here was most likely the head of a 13 year old girl that Victor kept in his possession. His favorite term for it was, 'my little bride.')