The Papin sisters have gone down in history for their vicious crime, but why did they do it? This is a story of abuse, murder and, possibly, a very unnatural relationship…
Cléménce Derré was living in Le Mans in France when she met a young man called Gustave Papin. They soon started courting, and she quickly became pregnant. Gustave did what was expected of him and married Cléménce in October 1901; their first daughter, Emilia (I also read Amelia), was born five months later. Before their marriage, Cléménce had an affair with her boss, and Gustave was convinced it had been rekindled. He wanted to move and found a job in a different town, but Cléménce refused, stating that she would rather commit suicide than leave Le Mans. This left Gustave trapped in Le Mans in an unhappy marriage. Alcohol became his crutch.
Cléménce gave birth to their second daughter, Christine, on 8th March 1905 but was deemed an unfit mother. There were reports of Cléménce having mental health issues; she was emotionally unstable and selfish. Christine was given to her paternal uncle and aunt, and she lived with them quite happily for seven years. Christine’s sister, Léa, was born on 15th September 1911 and placed with her maternal uncle.
In 1912, Gustave was accused of raping Emilia, who was only 9 or 10 years old. Emilia went to Cléménce to tell her what had happened, and instead of protecting her child, Cléménce accepted Gustave’s explanation that Emilia had seduced him. It wasn’t his fault (what the actual fuck). As a result, their daughter was sent to Bon Pasteur Catholic Orphanage. It wasn’t long until Christine and Léa joined her, and their mother insisted they remained in the orphanage until they were of the employable age of fifteen. The Catholic orphanage left an impression on Emilia; she decided to become a nun, entered a convent, and appears to have lived quite happily there.
Christine was also taken with the idea of joining a convent, but Cléménce denied her this, insisting she went out and worked. Christine was thoroughly trained in household duties thanks to her time at the orphanage, which allowed her to become a live-in maid. She was often praised for her hard work and excellent cooking skills, as well as it being acknowledged that she was intelligent. Christine managed to find Léa work with her as a housekeeper; Léa was considerably quieter, more obedient, and not as smart as her sister, but they worked well together. They worked for various families in Le Man, but Cléménce kept insisting they looked for better-paid positions (Cléménce is starting to get on my tits a bit).
In 1926, Christine and Léa were taken on as live-in maids for the Lancelin family at 6 Rue Bruyére. The family consisted of retired solicitor Monsieur René, Madame Léonie and their youngest daughter Genevieve; there was an older daughter who lived elsewhere with her husband. The sisters did an excellent job of keeping the house spick and span with absolute dedication to the job, even though Madame Léonie often ignored them, believing them to be ‘under’ her (it’s important to note that some accounts said she treated the sisters well and they looked up to her as a mother figure). Sadly, a few years into their employment, Madame Léonie developed mental health issues, including depression. Her illness affected how she behaved and viewed the Papin sisters; despite their standards not changing, Madame Léonie became convinced they were doing a terrible job. She would shout and scream at them, and occasionally, the altercations would turn to violence, with Madame Léonie slamming their heads against walls.
On Thursday, 2nd February 1933, Monsieur Lancelin was supposed to meet his family for dinner at a friend’s house. When he arrived home and found everything in darkness, he assumed they had already left to attend the dinner, so he went straight to meet them. Once he arrived at his friend’s house and found his family absent, Monsieur Lancelin realised something was wrong. At around 7 p.m., he and his son-in-law returned to the Lancelin house to find it still in darkness (except for the Papin sisters’ room) and locked from the inside. This was very suspicious, and, beginning to worry, the pair went to the local police station to look for assistance. The police came back to the house with them and entered over the garden wall and through the back door. A horrific sight awaited them.
Earlier that day, Madame Léonie and Genevieve had been shopping together and returned in the afternoon to find all the lights off in the house. When Madame Léonie questioned the Papin sisters, Christine explained that an iron had short-circuited the electrics (one version I read said that Christine had urinated on the electrical socket, but I’m not sure that’s accurate). Instead of accepting this story, Madame Léonie raged and viciously attacked the sisters.
Christine retaliated and ran at Genevieve, ripping into her face until she gouged her eyes out. She ordered Léa to do the same to Madame Léonie. While Léa attacked her employer, Christine ran downstairs to grab a knife and a hammer to continue the brutal attack. It is believed that the attack took place over at least two hours.
The police officer had found the unrecognisable corpses on the first-floor landing. Genevieve’s body was lying face down with her right arm extended and her hand covered in blood and hair. Her gluteus had deep wounds, and her calves were severely cut and slashed. Madame Léonie was lying on her back, legs apart and a shoe missing from her left foot. The right side of her face and skull had been completely caved in. Her mouth could not be recognised, and there were fragments of bone and teeth scattered around. Her eyeball was found a few feet away. Nearby was a kitchen knife covered in blood and a heavy pewter pot.
In a state of absolute shock (unsurprisingly!), a police officer walked up the stairs, worried that the Papin sisters had suffered the same fate as the mother and daughter. When he reached their room, he found it locked, and they refused to acknowledge his knocking on the door and calls to them. A locksmith was called to gain access to the room. Christine and Léa were in bed together, naked. A hammer covered in blood and hair lay on a nearby chair. As soon as they were questioned, they confessed to the murders but claimed ‘it was her or us.’
Now, one of the issues after the attack was the crime scene itself. It had been disturbed. Both victims had been left with their underwear pulled down and their skirts pulled up. Out of decency, their dresses had been pulled down to protect their modesty before any photos were taken. It’s unclear if any other part of the crime scene had been tampered with.
Both sisters insisted the attack had been self-defence, and both claimed they were solely responsible. Much to their distress, they were placed in separate prisons while awaiting trial, which especially traumatised Christine. Christine begged to be allowed to see Léa, and eventually, prison officials gave in and let the sisters see each other. Reports said that upon seeing her sister, Christine unbuttoned her blouse, threw herself against Léa and shouted, ‘Please, say yes!’ (I shall talk more about this later).
In July 1933, Christine appeared to have an episode and even tried to gouge out her own eyes, resulting in her being placed in a straight jacket. Christine later explained that it was the same episode she had the day she murdered Madame Léonie and Genevieve and that she had no accurate recollection of the incidents.
The trial started on the 29th of September 1933. Christine and Léa both showed signs of mental illness, and their lawyer pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on behalf of the sisters. The court appointed three doctors to examine the sisters, each declaring them psychologically able and perfectly sane to stand trial. However, the family's medical history showed a pattern of mental illness; an uncle had committed suicide, and a cousin was living in an asylum (and I’m pretty sure that Cléménce had some severe issues). After much debate between medical staff, the sisters were diagnosed with Shared Paranoid Disorder. Shared Paranoid Disorder, also known as Shared Psychotic Disorder or Folie a Deux, is an unusual mental health illness. It’s characterised by a delusion being shared between two or more people in a close relationship. There is usually a dominant person who has psychosis who can influence a secondary person, and this would make sense in reference to the Papin sisters, as Christine was very much the dominant sister.
It took jurors 40 minutes to find Christine and Léa Papin guilty of murder. Léa was given a smaller sentence of 10 years as Christine was considered the driving force behind the attack. Christine was initially sentenced to death by guillotine but later changed to life imprisonment.
Without the company of her sister, Christine soon deteriorated mentally and physically. Despite writing desperate letters to prison officials pleading to be allowed to see Léa, she was denied. She descended into a deep depression and often refused to eat. Eventually, she was placed in a mental institute, where she died of cachexia (literally wasting away due to not eating) on 18th May 1937. I cannot understand why Christine hadn’t been placed in an institute beforehand as she clearly suffered with her mental health, but then again, institutes weren’t known for their caring ways then so was prison the better option?
Léa served eight years of her sentence, being released early for good behaviour in 1941. She moved to Nantes with Cléménce, where she worked as a hotel maid under a pseudonym. There are reports that she died in 1982, but Claude Ventura, who was producing a film about the sisters (In Search of the Papin Sisters/ En Quête des Soeurs Papin), believed he found Léa in a hospice in 2000. The woman was partially paralysed and mute due to a previous stroke. She died in 2001.
Christine and Léa are buried together in the Cimenterie Boutellerie in Nantes.
I wonder what caused these two sisters to commit such a vicious crime. I read many sources when researching this case, and a few mentioned an incestuous relationship between Christine and Léa. Although there seems to be no proof, it’s an interesting theory. It may have started as some comfort while at the orphanage. Her father had abused their older sister; had Christine and Léa also been abused? Had they been brought up thinking incest was a normality? When this crime happened, homophobia was rife and even reprimanded by law. If you added incest, there would be awful consequences. Is it possible that Madame Léonie had walked in and seen the sisters being intimate together and that’s why they gouged her eyes out?
Some people believed they were the victims of a bourgeois world and part of a bigger class struggle. They had worked hard and been dedicated to the Lancelins for years; had they been exploited over the years and finally had enough? Some articles in the press heavily suggested that the murders were an act of rebellion against the system, but a representative for the family vehemently denied this. In front of the jury, he responded to the press claims:’ The Papin sisters were fed just as good as their masters were. The servants earned over 150 francs per month, and they, therefore, have no excuse. I ask you to be unforgiving; they deserve no mercy, and since the hatred they had in their heart for their mistress inspired them in the crimes they committed to revert the refinements of torture and cruelty that are only found in savages, as they conducted themselves like wild beasts they should be treated like savages and wild beasts. One must be eliminated as the law allows you to eliminate her, and the other must be put out of harm’s way forever.’
And, of course, it could have been entirely down to mental illness. Neither sister had a particularly stable, loving environment growing up; had they created their own world between each other as a way to protect themselves from what was essentially a cruel world?
And that is the story of the Papin sisters. I think this is a case I could muse about for hours, and I don’t think we will ever know the actual reason behind the attacks. As always, please let me know what you think in the comments, take care of yourselves, and I will see you next time.
Hi! I spend a lot of time writing for the website, and I basically exist on caffeine and anxiety - if anybody would like to encourage this habit, please feel free to buy me a coffee!
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