French Freezer Horror
French nobleman arrested for multiple murders after wife discovers bodies in basement.
Nantes, France — The youngest son of an aristocratic family was arrested in his country house in Brittany on Monday morning for the suspected murders of seven women after his wife found their decapitated bodies in the basement. Gilles Barbebleue, 48, sole heir to the largest family fortune in Brittany, was taken into custody after police arrived at his country mansion around 7:30 am on Monday.
Authorities are still withholding details, but according to a statement from his wife, Didon Barbebleue (née Roturier), 26, Gilles had kept the beheaded corpses of seven women in a walk-in freezer where she encountered them before notifying the police. According to AFP, Didon explained that she had gone into the basement to open the freezer after being explicitly forbidden from doing so.
No official identification of the bodies has been provided yet, but a source within the police has stated that the seven victims might be Gilles Barbebleue’s wives, local women who were reported missing shortly after their weddings over the last twenty-five years. Although foul play had been suspected at the time, Gilles had never faced trial.
As the only surviving member of the Barbebleue line, Gilles Barbebleue owns many properties both in Nantes and in various parts of the Brittany region. He met Didon, who at the time lived adjacent to one of his estates, during a country trip. Despite the urges of her low-income family, she initially rejected his advances. “His blue beard was just too terrible to behold,” she told AFP in an interview on Monday evening. When she eventually agreed to be his spouse, he entrusted her with the keys to all the rooms in his mansion, on the condition that she never look into the freezer room in the basement. After he embarked on a business trip last week, however, Didon immediately defied his wishes and subsequently discovered the grisly secret.
The seven previous marriages Gilles Barbebleue had before marrying Didon each mysteriously concluded with the disappearance of his wife. While the families of his spouses had previously attempted to take Gilles to court, the prosecution never found sufficient evidence to build a case. With the discovery of seven well-preserved bodies and the possibility of DNA-identification, this development might finally close the case.
With thanks to Ellis Wiggins
