Evening star., 1898-12-31
Noted French Murderer Executed at
Bourg- -on-BresSe.
RIVAL OF JACK THE RIPPER
Estimated That He Killed Twenty
three in Cold Blood.
CASE PUZZLED PHYSICIANS

| PARIS. December 31.-Joseph Nacher. the
French Jack the Ripper" was gu!lotined
at BoUrg-on- Bresse, capital OF the depart
| ment of Ain. this morning. He protested
| his innocence and simulated insanity to tho
| last. Nacier. who was twenty-nine years
| of age, WAS condemned at the October as
| sizes at Ain. Early IN life ne is known 10
| have hrutaily mlrdered four boys, six wo-
men and girls ana an old widow Most ~
| the victims were tending herds when Nach-
er came behind them and cut their throats.
The crimes Of Joseph Nacher have sur
passed in number ana auoclty those Of the
W hitechape murderer known Jack the
Ripper. his homICldai mania first broke
| out in 1894. lie claimed after his arrest
that as every action mas object and as
ms motive was Leitner theft nor ven
Seance, his irrespons4 4bility was established.
Physlcloglcally physicians have regarded
the case as interesting. II shown that
Nacher had been confined in an asylum FOR
the insane, and that while doing military
duty love affair caused HIM TO attempt
his seif-destruction by shooting.
The victims OF Nacher were shepherds
and shepherdesses and his rage was par
| ticularly directed against young girls. He
first cut the threats of his victims with a
knife and afterward mutilated them with
a razor He was arrested last year after
the police had searched for him for a long
time in vain
Talks of His Crimes.
Referring to his crimes Vacher is quoted
as saying: My victims never suffered, for
while l throttled them with one hand, L
simply took their lives with a sharp in
strument in the other.
Il am an anarchist and l am opposed 10
society, no matter what the form Of gov
ernment may be-"
The exact number of Vacher's victims
will never be known, but it is said that
bee
brought home to him in October last, and
the number was added to as time wore on.
In fact. it is doubtful whether the murderer
himself knew the real number of his vic
Tins He seemed to have killed merely for
the sake of killing
A Brutal Soldier.
Born near Lyons, Vacher served his mill
tary term in a regiment of zouaves and
showed himself to be a good soldier, 50
much so that he was made non-commis-
stoned officer. although there were COM
plants against him of being brutally Sc
we're to recruits.
1t was shortly after Vacher left the serv-
ice that he became ILL., owing TO dfsappoint-
ment in a love affair, and attempted TO
blow out his brains with revolver. The
bullet was never extracted from his skull,
and, according to one report, the wound
produced recurrent fits of insanity and
caused him to be confined for a time in an
Since that time and until his arrest
Vacher appears TO have wandered through
the country districts of France, committing
murders. He was undetected and unsus-
pected until, by mere accident, he was
caught almost red-handed near Lyons, at
the beginning of October.
Vacher killed of his victims, he
claimed, because he wore a clean shirt,
which the murderer coveted, and he admit
ted that he sometimes murdered people be-
cause he needed money and food.
Skilled i'm Evadine Suspicion.
About two years ago he murdered a
shepherd boy on a country road few miles
from Lyons, hacked the body almost into
pieces and then continued on his way.
The murder was discovered within a few
minutes after, and search for the murderer
was promptly Instituted. A gendarme,
mounted on bicycle, overlook Vacher and
called upon him to produce his identifca-
ton papers, whereupon Nacher quietly
handed over to the police officer his dis
charge as non-commissioned officer from
a regiment of Zouaves.
Why, that is my old regiment eXclaim-
ed the gendarme. Il am hunting for man
who has just cut boys throat. Have
you any suspicious character9"
''Oh, yes" answered the murderer. serene-
ly, Il saw a man running across the fields
TO the north, about a mile back from here"
Thank you," cried the gendarlne. III
be after him."
The gendarme then hurried off after the
imaginary murderer and the real culprit
quietly stole away from the scene of his
crime
The most prominent victim Of Vacher was
the Marquis de Nilleplain, who was killed
while walking in his park IN the southwest
ern part of France not far from the Span
ish frontier. Nacher crept up behind him,
feled him with heavy stick and then cut
his throat. The murderer carried or the
coat of the marquis and his pocket book.
containing some bank notes. He then
sought refuge in Spain.