Serial Killers of 19th Century Paris
Summary
This episode explores three notorious 19th-century Parisian murder cases: Pierre-François Lacenaire’s 1834 double homicide, Jean-Baptiste Troppmann’s 1869 massacre of the Kink family, and Henri Pranzini’s 1887 triple murder of a courtesan. The narrator examines how these crimes shaped early criminology, media sensationalism, and public fascination with "monster" killers. It highlights the contrast between Lacenaire’s intellectual self-mythologizing, Troppmann’s cold-blooded greed, and Pranzini’s role as a scapegoat for xenophobic fears. The discussion also covers the cultural legacy of thes…
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