Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1899-01-01
FRENCH "JACK THE RIPPER" GULL
LOTINED YESTERDAY.
HE HAD A MANIA FOR MURDER
SHEPHERDS AND SHEPHERDESSES
HIS CHIEF VICTIMS.
Cut Their Thronts With n Knife and
Afterwards MutiInted the Bodies
With II Razor-Fcigncd
Insanity to the
Very End.

|
| French Jack the Ripper" was guillotfned
AT Rourghon- Bresse, capital Of the depart
| ment Of the Ain, this morning He pro-
| tested his innocence and simulated in
sanity to the last. Vacher. VINO was %
| years of age. was condemned At the Oc-
| tober assizes at Ain.
| The crimes of Joseph Vdcher have sur
| passed in number and atrOciiy those OF
the WhitcchapeI murderer known as
| Jack the Ripper" His homicidal mauit
first broke out in 1891. He claimed after
| his arrest that, rs every action has an
| object, and as his motive was neither
| theft nor vengeance. his responsibility
was established. PsychOlogic1llv. physi-
| clans have regarded the case as interest,"
| ing.
The victims Of Vacher were shepherds
| and shephesdesSes, and particularly young
| girls lie first cut the th.oats of his vic
! TINS with Il knife and after mu,ilated
; them with & razor. He was arrested last
| year after the police had searched for him
| for long time in vain
| In defense of Nacher. it was pointed out
| that, when a youth, he WAS bitten by
mad dog. and that the village he-DaIist
| give him some medicine. after drinking
which he became irritable and brutal.
whereas he had previously been quiet and
! inoffensive. 1t also appears from these
liTsb, LLOIil ll.dN lI!t. !At !4.i's
developed a passion for human blood. Re
ferring 10 his crimes. Vacher is quoted as
saying:
Ny victims never suffered. for when I
throttled them with one hand I simply
| took their lives with a sharp instrument
in the ether.
Il am an anarchist and I am opposed
to society, no matter what the form OF
government may be.
Vacher was notoriously vain and fancied
himself 4 hero. He refused q speak
| about his crimes, except on two conditions:
One that the full story Of his murders be
published in the leading F-encn papers,
and the other that he should oe tried
separately for each crime in the district
where it was committed.
The exact number of Eacher's victims
will never be known. but it is said that
twenty-three aSsassina tons had been
| 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 victims. He nonchalantly told the
story of some fresh tragedy from time to
time TO the examining magistrate as the
details came back to his mind. and in each
case the investigation has furnished full
corroboration of Nacher's narrative. The
bodies in each case Were found III the
places he indicated-in lonely thickets or
in unused wells. He seems TO have killed
| merely for the sake of killing.
Born near Lyons. Vacher served his mill
tary term in Il regiment of zouaves. and
showed himself TO be Il good soldier. so
much so that he was made Il non-commis-
stoned officer. although there were CONF
plants against him OF being brutally severe
TO recruits.
1t was shortly after Nacher left the SER
vice that he became i'll. owing TO disap-
pointment in a love affair. and attempted
To blow out his brains with a revolver. The
bullet was never extracted from his skull
and according TO one report, the wound
produced fits of insanity and caused him to
be confined for time in an asylum for the
insane. Since that time and until his ar
lest. Eacher appears to have wandered
through the country districts of France
committing murders. He was undetected
and unsuspected until. by mere accident,
he was caught almost redhanded near
Lyons at the beginning of October
In every case Vacher seems to have been
victims; as he cut and sashed them horri-
bly, and often dismembered them
one of the remarkable features of this
extraordinary case was the clever manner
III which Nacher succeeded in shifting sus-
he murdered q shepherd boy cn Il country
road few miles from Lyons hacked the
body almost to pieces and then continued
on his way. The murder was discovered
within a few minutes after and search for
the murderer was promptly instituted \
gendarme mounted on a bicycle overlook
Nacher and called upon him to produce his
identification papers. Whereupon Eacher
quietly handed over TO the officer his dis
charge as non commissioned officer from
a regiment of 2ouayeS.
Why that is my old regiment" oX-
claimed the gendarme. II am hunting for
a man who has Just cut boys throat
Have you seen any suspicious characterSp''
On yes, answered the murderer se-
rerely. Il saw a man running across tho
fields to the north. about a mile back from
here"
Thank YOU" cried the sendarme. TN
be after him.
The gendarme then hurried off after tho
imaginary murderer and the real criIurit
quietly stole away from the scene of his
crime.
The most prominent victim OF Vacher was
the Marquis dc Vile PLANE, who Wa
killed while walking in his park in the
southwestern part Of France not far from
the Spanish frontier. NaCher Creut u!p be-
hind him, felleti him with heavy stick
ard then cut his throat The murderer car
ried off the coat of the marquis and his
pocketbook containing some banknotes He
then sought refuge IN Spain.
The boaStirg of the murderer led to tn.
detection OF number pf his crimes after
his arrest. For instance. he killed a hoy
IL years Of age. named Bully. near Lyons
in June 1857. The crime would never have
Nacher. as the lad was q notorious poacher
and chicken thief, and his disappearance
created no stir at all.
On October 30 of the present year Nach- /
er was sentenced 10 death. since which
time he has continued feigning insanity