The Mother Turning Serial Killer: Why Did She Kill Children? — Jeanne Weber
Jeanne Weber, Paris’ violent serial killer, killed almost a dozen children. To this day, nobody knows why. Why did she kill? And what do her murders have to do with filicide?
The Life of Jeanne Weber
October 7, 1874 in Kérity, France. It was a normal Wednesday in the small village, which today belongs to Paimpol, at the Côtes d’Armor.
The north-western French landscape may seem like a dream come true with the far Atlantic Ocean expanding into the distance.
But that year, 1874, Jeanne Marie Moulinet was born and she would grow up to become the killer of at least 10 children.
Young Jeanne grew up in poverty. Her mother was a housewife who took care of the five children, whose father was out earning a living as a fisher.
Jeanne’s education was poor; she wasn’t able to attend school and was therefore illiterate.
There’s not an accurate description available about when Jeanne left her home to go to Paris.
Some sources claim she was 14 when she left home, others claim she was already 17.
In any way, she left for Paris at a young age, where she had several jobs, especially as a babysitter.
Jeanne later married Jean Weber, changing her last name from Moulinet to Weber.
Jeanne had a positive reputation as a good-tempered and kind woman in the Parisian society.
She and her husband later lived in the Goutte d’Or neighborhood in Paris and had three children together.
However, two of their children, Marcel Jean and Juliette, died as infants.
After the loss of her two children, Jeanne began drinking alcohol, just like her husband, who was an alcoholic.
Over the years, her life changed drastically to the point where she would receive her notorious nickname as “the ogress of the Goutte d’Or.”
1905: The First Official Murders
On March 2, 1905, Jeanne took care of her sister-in-law Blanche’s children. However, that day would end fatal and trigger a chain of violent events.
The 18-month-old Georgette apparently started to feel sick and eventually died in Jeanne’s care.
Strange, however, were the bruises on the little child’s neck. Still, a doctor said the child died due to a respiratory disease.
Only days later, Blanche trusted Jeanne enough to let her take care of the other children again. She didn’t expect anything bad to happen.
But that day, two-year-old Suzanne died. The cause of death was the same as Georgette’s, concluded by the same doctor.
Still unsuspicious of having caused the deaths, Jeanne took care of her last niece, Germaine, who also died in her care after already showing ill symptoms before. Once again, the cause of death was of respiratory nature.
If that wasn’t enough in that short time, Jeanne’s last and only child, Marcel Charles, died within the time his cousins died. Marcel apparently died due to respiratory malfunction as well.
In all four deaths, the children had bruises on their necks, which were overseen by the doctor who concluded the cause of deaths.
The next death in the hands of Jeanne followed only a month after Georgette died.
On April 5, Jeanne looked after Maurice, her nephew of another sister-in-law. The mother and another sister-in-law were meanwhile shopping in town.
When they returned to pick up Maurice, they found a shocking image. Jeanne lured over the child and strangulated him. He died hours later in a hospital.
The First Arrest
She got arrested and accused of having killed eight children, including the named above.
There is no explicit detail about who these other children were, but presumably they were also such in Jeanne’s care.
Despite this, Jeanne was acquitted and free again. She left Paris and moved to Chambon.
That was a mistake, because only a year after being acquitted, another child died in her care.
Jeanne was active as a babysitter under a wrong name in 1907, and took care of nine-year-old Auguste Bavouzet from Villedieu, who had two more sisters. One morning, Auguste was found dead with the typical bruises on the neck.
When the oldest daughter of the Bavouzet family found out who Jeanne was, officials arrested her again.
However, after an autopsy concluded that Auguste died because of typhoid, Jeanne was acquitted once more.
It’s assumed that the real cause of death was covered up.
Jeanne went on to work at a children’s home whose owners believed in her innocence.
But only a week after being employed, she was caught strangling a child, again. Jeanne was dismissed, not catching the attention of anyone.
At that time, she moved back to Paris and earned her money with prostitution.
Some time later, an incident happened that would lead to her final charge.
The Final Charge
She was found strangling the child of an innkeeper. The child died, and became Jeanne’s last victim.
Jeanne was brought to an asylum where she was held for trial for the murders. Doctors declared her insane.
The official number of Jeanne’s murders is said to be 10, although she could have killed many more children.
She would continue to live in the asylum until she died by suicide in either 1910 or 1918.
But why did she kill so many children?
To blame her killing spree on her “insanity” would be careless. And it certainly is impossible to find the why out, especially since it’s generally hard to understand the why of a murder.
In 1900, more than 30% of serial killers were female. That number significantly decreased over the last century to the present point.
According to 2015 research, victims of female serial killers aren’t as unfamiliar to their killers, as is often the case in murders by male serial killers.
Psychology Today also writes that women who become serial killers often seek revenge or kill for profit.
As stated above, Jeanne killed at least one of her own children, but also the children of those she was familiar with.
There’s a name for such killing: filicide. The case is filicide when a parent kills their own child.
Understanding Filicide: Why does it happen?
- Neglect and maltreatment of children
- Abuse in any form (physical, mental, sexual)
- Fear that the child has to suffer from being alive
- Unwanted births
- Goal is not to kill the child out of reasons stated above, but to make others suffer or threaten them
Filicide is certainly a problem, although not as widespread as other forms of murder. Yet, as it accounts for any murder, one filicide is one too much.
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