The record-union., 1899-01-01
France Puts to Death a Criminal
Noted for Heinous Deeds.
Joseph vaeher 6uIIIotIned at the Capital Of
the Department Of Ain.
The Crime Of the Man Executed
Surpassed In Number and
Atrocity Those Of the White
chapel Murderer Known as
sack the Ripper" His Homi-
cidal Career Dating Back to
1894.

cida1 Career Dating Back to
1894.
PARIS, Dec. 31.-Joseph Vacher, the
French Jack the Ripper was guillo-
tined at Bourghon-Bresse capital Of
the Department of the Ain, this morn
ing. He protested his innocence and
simulated insanity to the last.
Vacher, who was % years of age, was
condemned at the October assizes.
Early in life he is known to have bru-
tally murdered four boys, six women
and girls and an old widow. Most of
the victims We're tending herds, when
Vacher came behind them and cut their
throats.
The crimes of vacher really sur
passed in number and atrocity those OF
Jack the Ripper" His homicidal
mania first broke out in 1894. In de-
Tense of Vacher it was pointed out that
when youth he was bitten by a mad
dog, and that the village herbalist gave
him some medicine, after drinking
which he became irritable and brutal
whereas he had previously been quiet
and inoffensive. 1t also appears, from
he had a passion for human blood
Referring to his crimes, Vacher is
quoted as saying:
My victims never suffered, for while
I throttled them with one hand 1 sim
ply took their lives with sharp instru-
ment in the other. I am an anarchist.
and I am opposed to society. no matter
what the form Of government may be-
Vacher was VIGOROUSLY vain, and
fancied himself a hero He refused to
speak about his crimes except on two
conditions: One that the full story of
his murders be published in the leading
French papers, and the other that he
should be tried separately for each
crime in the district where it was COM
mitted.
The exact number of Vacher's vic
Tins will never be known, but, it is
said, twenty-three assassinations 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 nom
chalantly told the details to the exam
lining magistrate as they came back to
his mind, and in each case the investi-
cation furnished full confederation OF
Vacher's narrative. The bodies wer1
all found in the places he indicated-in
thickets or in unused wells He seems
to have killed merely for the sake of
killing.
Born near Lyons, Vacher served his
military term in a regiment of Zouaves,
and showed himself to be a good SOL
dier-so much so that he was made a
non commissioned officer, although
there were complaints against him of
his being. brutally severe to recruits
One recruit, a member of a we'll
known French family, told how vacher
once abused him so terribly on the drill
grounds that he lost his temper and
sprang at Vacher. Happily for the re-
cruit he was seized by his companions
before he succeeded in striking Vacher;
otherwise the young man would most
likely have been sentenced to death by
a court martial
Shortly after Vacher left the service
he became Ill, owing to disappointment
in love affair, and attempted to blow
out his brains with revolver The bull
let 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 asy-
lum for the insane.
Since then and until his arrest Vacher
appears to have wandered through the
country districts of France committing
murders He was undetected and UNI
suspected until, by mere accident, he
was caught almost red-handed near
Lyons at the beginning of October.
In every case Vacher seems to have
been seized with a frenzy after attack.
ing his victims, as he cut and slashed
them horribly and often dismembered
them.
One day Vacher told the magistrate
that he considered himself to be a
scourge sent by Providence to affiict
humanity.
vacher killed one of his victims. he
claimed. because he wore a clean shirt
which the murderer coveted, and he
admitted that he sometimes murdered
people because he needed money and
food.
One remarkable feature of this ex-
traordinary case was the clever man.
ner In which vacher shifted suspicion
from himself. About two years ago
he murdered shepherd boy on a coun-
Try TOdu d lew IilleS 1IOHt l<y ohS,
hacked the body almost to pieces and
then continued on his way. The muir
der was discovered within a few min
utes after and search for the murderer
was promptly instituted A gendarme
mounted on a bicycle overlook Vacher
and called upon him to produce his
identification papers, whereuDon Vach-
er quietly handed over to the officer
his discharge as non-commissioned
officer from a regiment of Zouaves.
..Why. that is my old regiment" ex-
claimed the gendarme. 81 am hunting
for a man who has just cut a boy 9
throat. Have you seen any suspicious
characters?"
aOh. yes answered the murderer;
IT saw a man running across the fields
to the north about mile back from
here
"Thank YOU" cried the gendarme,
rI'll 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 WAGNER
was the Marquis de Villeplaine. who
vas killed while walking in his park IN