Unknown Gender History: Juliette Brucy, Serial Husband-Killer

Juliette Brucy, née Tourneau (39 in 1927), born at Loiret; Erroneous spellings in the German press: Bruzi; Brusy.

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FULL TEXT (translated from German): Paris, 24.—At Aïnay-sous-Bois, a small town in the Seine, arrested 39-year-old Juliette Claire Bruzi a few days ago on suspicion of poisoning her late husband. In the course of the investigation, it turned out that Mrs. Bruzi was married four times and her husbands have died under obscure circumstances. She has already admitted a murder. It is beyond doubt, on the basis of the grounds of suspicion, that her earlier spouses are divorced from their lives by her hands. Moreover, there is a more reasonable suspicion that she also killed the five children of her first marriage by poisoning them, thus leaving a total of nine lives on her conscience.

[“Four Spouses and the Five Children Poisoned.” New Grazer Tagblatt (Graz, Austria), Nov. 25, 1927, p. 2]

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HEADLINE: The widow of Mr. Brucy who died a month ago is arrested in Aulnay-sous-Bois; To get rid of her husband, this woman had imagined, by her own admission, the staging of a gas poisoning of which she herself would have almost been the victim.

FULL TEXT: Among all your criminal wives who preceded her, it seems that Juliette Brucy, who was arrested yesterday in Aulnay-sous-Bois, deserves special mention for the Machiavellianism of which she used and who, she believed, was to ensure impunity.

Our readers have perhaps not yet forgotten the “news item” that we reported in our issue of October 21. The day before, in the small villa they lived in, 24 avenue de Mun, in Aulnay-sous-Bois, the Brucy spouses were found to be inanimate. At least, the husband, Maurice, forty-three years old, a laborer at the slaughterhouses of La Villette, had already ceased to live. He was lying on the floor. His wife, née Juliette Thoreau, thirty-nine, was lying motionless on the bed, but her heart had not stopped falling and her breathing seemed regular. Soon, indeed, she was reopening them. But, as she was questioned about the circumstances in which her husband had died, she tirelessly replied that she did not realize what had happened. one attributed this silence to the unknown physiological disorders of which she had been a victim; food poisoning, gas poisoning? This last version was the first adopted by Commissioner Tillet, who made the first observations. Indeed, the smell of gas floated in the house as soon as the door had been opened. Mab, nice detail, the taps of all the appliances were carefully closed.

~ An enigmatic death ~

To elude this mystery, they began by having the body of Mr. Brucy autopsied. Doctor Dorrôme, forensic doctor at the Pontoise prosecutor's office, who was in charge of it, noted undeniable traces of carbon monoxide. But where did this intoxication come from? It was still the same riddle.

It was also in vain that at the Pontoise hospital, where she had been transported, Ms. Brucy was asked for questions by investigators, judges, police officers, and doctor. To all of them she opposed the same stubborn ignorance that she had shown on the first day.

Tired of war, they waited. Mme Brucy left Pontoise and returned to Aulnay-sous-Bois. This return, an apparently unimportant event, was to precipitate the progress of the investigation. Indeed, when the neighbors of the widow Brucy saw this one reappear among them, they could not contain their indignation. Annoying rumors had been circulating about this woman for a long time. Already married three times when she married M. Brucy, she had divorced her first husband, the second had hanged himself and the third had died under circumstances as strange as the fourth, this brave M. Brucy, of whom all the people liked to praise the affable character, the qualities of work. He too was a widower when, a few months ago, he had married Juliette Thoreau. He brought to the little villa in Auinay-sous-Bois the two children from his first marriage, Madeleine, six, and Emile, five. The poor little ones had found a true stepmother in their father's wife. To avoid painful scenes, Mr. Brucy had even resigned himself, a few days before his death, to placing the two children in boarding school.

Indifferent to this hostility, the widow Brucy continued to display a serene face. But, a few days ago, we saw his attitude change. An investigator had returned to La Toir, Inspector Crusol, from the first mobile brigade. On several occasions he came to speak at length with the widow. And. Yesterday, as he had come once more from, urging her with questions, Juliette Brucy, as if she was freeing herself from a burden, released this confession: “Well! yes, it was I who killed Brucy!” And, as if she had found relief in the pose, she added:

~ The vigil in the cellar ~

-- That is what I had imagined on October 18, in the evening, when we had gone to bed, I waited until he had fallen asleep. It was long. Finally, when I was sure he was in a deep sleep, I thought I went wide open the taps of the gas stove in the kitchen, those of the lighting devices. Then I went down to the cellar. How long did I stay there? I cannot say exactly. When I got back up, I went to take a quick look around the bedroom. My husband was lying on the bed vomiting. It had to be fini. . . I went back down to my shelter. I lived there for thirty hours during which I fed on some provisions that I had brought with me. I had no doubt that those around us, and mainly my parents who live near us, would soon be worried. Finally, on Thursday, in the morning, I went upstairs. I went to half-open the windows behind the closed shutters and waited for the air to freshen up a little. When I heard people approaching the villa, I threw my husband's body on the parquet floor, closed the windows side by side, lay down on the bed, waited. You know what followed.

Inspector Crusol didn't want to know so much. He hastened to inform the Pontoise prosecutor's office. A few hours later, under an arrest warrant, he brought Juliette Brucy before Judge Jodelet.

To the magistrate, the criminal repeated her confession, then, as M. Jodelet asked her the motive to which she had obeyed, she gave him this answer.

I couldn't get along with my mother-in-law anymore. Every day, there were discussions between us for the slightest pretext and, every time I mentioned it to my husband. this one proved me wrong. In the end I came to hate him and, as much to get rid of my husband as to avenge myself on his mother, I resolved to put him to death. . .

The magistrate, who could not yet question the widow Brucy on the merits, contented himself with recording this declaration. But he will certainly not be satisfied with it. The investigation has not already established that before their marriage, while they lived in Paris, rue Rouvet. Juliette Thoreau had tried to poison Maurice Brucy? At that time, however, Mrs. Brucy mother was not living with them. To explain Juliette Thoreau's crime, would it not be necessary to seek the benefit of whom Mr. Brucy took out, in 1924, life insurance? The investigation that follows will certainly focus on this question.

[“We arrested in Aulnay-sous-Bois the widow of Mr. Brucy who died a month ago; To get rid of her husband, this woman had imagined, by her own admission, the staging of a gas poisoning of which she herself would have almost been the victim.” Le Petit Parisien (Paris, France), Nov. 19, 1927, p. 1]

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EXCERPT (translated from German):

~ Madame Brusy, the spouse and child murderer. ~

39-year-old landlady Claire Brusy married a wealthy widower in 1912, who brought five children into the marriage. Brought eight years later. Madame Brusy filed for divorce against her husband, quite curiously, at that time all five children had already died, and it happened that a very short time after the trial the man was found dead under mysterious circumstances. The woman married again, but the wedding was not long over when the second husband was found hanged one day.

The police interrogated Madame Brusy. The woman stated that she had had repeated quarrels with the second man and thus a violent appearance on the day the body was found. She wants to have run away excitedly and her husband was supposedly already dead when she returned. The authorities could not do anything about the woman.

Madame Brusy married a third time and a few days ago the third man was found dead in the gas-filled apartment. Now the woman was arrested. At first, she stated that she had traveled. After hours of interrogation, she got involved in contradictions and finally confessed to having poisoned her third husband while he was sleeping by the incoming gas. The Paris authorities are now working to prove to the arrested Madame Claire Brusy that she has no doubt committed the murders of her first two spouses and five children, since each of the spouses had left her a fortune.

[“Two women as murderers of their husbands. Two sensational crime cases in Paris and Athens. - Female Landrus. - Murdered from addiction to profit and from religious madness.” Illustrated Kronen-Zeitung (Vienna, Austria), November 25, 1927. P. 6]

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FULL TEXT (Translated from German): A terrible chain of crimes was recently discovered in the town of Aunay sous Bois.

The maid of the Bruch couple had come to their employer's bedroom in the morning, and the smell of coal gas filled the room. Herr Bruch crouched lifelessly on the floor, his wife Juliette lay in bed.

The girl made a noise. Help was soon on hand and efforts were made to help the unconscious. Frau Juliette quickly recovered from her faint, but the man could not be saved. That seemed puzzling. The gas tap had been open all night and the poison had killed the strong man. How was it possible that it did so little to the delicate woman?

The woman was questioned. Finally, she confessed to having poisoned the man with coal gas. She herself had hidden in the basement for the night and had only come into the room just before she was discovered.

When the crime became known, people remembered that so much of the life of the beautiful Frau Juliette, who is now thirty-nine years old, was thirsty to be right. The police looked a little bit at the suspects' past, and the deeper they dug, the stranger things they came up with. Frau Juliette had been married four times.

She had married her first husband in 1912. The husband was a wealthy widower, eighteen years older than Juliette, and he brought five minor children into the marriage. The connection turned out to be quite unfortunate, the young woman did not look after the children at all.

In 1920, the couple filed for divorce. In the course of the trial, the husband died suddenly and the wife would have become a universal heir - if it hadn't been for the five children. A puzzling epidemic suddenly broke out in the Bruch house; all five children died in the course of half a year. Now Julliette received her husband's entire fortune.

~ The mysterious suicide. ~

Shortly afterwards, Juliette entered into a new marriage. She married a wealthy businessman. After a very short marriage, one morning the husband, who had never expressed suicidal intentions, was found hanged in the bedroom. Juliette explained that she slept soundly all night and only saw the man dangling from the window cross to her horror that morning. This second man also left a great fortune.

~ The third husband went insane. ~

In 1924 Juliette married for the third time. Soon after the tranquility there was quarrel and quarrel between the spouses. The man complained to his friends that his wife was undermining his health. But nothing more than this suggestion came from him. After six months of marriage, he began to show signs of madness. At the request of his wife, he was taken to a mental hospital, where he is still sitting.

Ms. Juliette denies that she is to blame for the fate that befell her first three husbands. But since she has been assigned to the murder of her fourth husband, it hardly seems credible that she should be the victim of a series of tragic accidents.

[“A female bluebeard. Four men and five children murdered." (“Ein weiblicher Blaubart. Vier Männer und fünf Kinder ermordet.”), Die Kleine Blatt (Vienna, Austria), Nov. 25, 1927, p. 6]

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GERMAN & FRENCH TEXTS

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HEADLINE: On arrête à Aulnay-sous-Bois la veuve de M. Brucy qui mourut il y a un mois; Pour se débarrasser de son mari, cette femme avait imaginé, de son propre aveu, la mise en scène d'une intoxication par le gaz dont elle-mime aurait failli être la victim.

FULL TEXT: Parmi toutes tes épouses criminelles qui la précédèrent, il semble bien que Juliette Brucy, que l'on arrêta, hier, à Aulnay-sous-Bois, mérite une mention spéciale pour lo machiavélisme dont elle usa et qui, croyait-elle, devait lui assurér l'impunité.

Nos lecteurs n'ont peut-être pas encore oublié le “fait divers” que nous relations dans notre numéro du 21 octobre dernier. La veille, dans la petite villa qu'ils habitaient, 24, avenue de Mun, à Aulnay-sous-Bois, les époux Brucy étaint découverts inanimés. Du moins, le mari, Maurice, quarante-trois ans, ouvrer chevillard aux abattoirs de la Villette, avait déjà cessé de vivre. Il gisait sur le parquet. Sa femme, née Juliette Thoreau, trente-neuf ans, était étendue immobile sur le lit, mais son cœur n'avait pas cessé de lattre et sa respiration semblait régulière. Bientôt, en effet, elle rouvrait les eux. Mais, comme on la questionnait sur les circonstances où son mari avait trouvé la mort, elle répondait inlassablement qu'elle ne se rendait pas compte de ce qui s'était passé. un attribua ce mutisme aux troubles physiologiques inconnus dont elle avait été victim; empoisonnement alimentaire, intoxication par le gaz? Cette dernière version fut la première retenue par le commissaire Tillet, qui procéda aux premières constatations. En effet, une odeur de gaz flottait dans la maison dès que la porte en eut été ouvert. Mab, détail eurieux, les robinets de tous les appareils étaient soigneusement fermés.

~ Une mort énigmatique ~

Pour éludider ce mystère, on commença par faire procéder à l'autopsie du corps de M. Brucy. Le docteur Dorrôme, médecin légiste près le parquet de Pontoise, qui en fut chargé, releva des traces indéniables d'oxyde de carbone. Mais d’où provenait cette intoxication ? C'était toujours la même énigme.

C'est en vain aussi qu'à l'hôpital de Pontoise, où elle avait été transportée, Mme Brucy était sollicitée de questions par les enquêteurs juges, policiers, médecin. A tous elle opposait la même ignorance têtue qu'elle avait montrée le premier jour.

De guerre lasse, on attendit. Mme Brucy quitta Pontoise et rentra à Aulnay-sous-Bois. Ce retour, événement en apparence sans importance, allait précipiter la marche de l'enquête. En effet, quand les voisins de la veuve Brucy virent celle-ci réapparaître au milieu d'eux, ils ne purent contenir leur indignation. Des bruits fâcheux couraient depuis longtemps sur cette femme. Mariée déjà trois fois quand elle épousa M. Brucy, elle avait divorcé d'avec son premier mari, le second s'était pendu et le troisième avait succombé dans des circonstances aussi étranges que le quatrième, ce brave M. Brucy, dont tout le monde se plaisait à louer le caractère affable, les qualités de travail. Lui aussi était veuf quand, il y a quelques mois, il avait épousé Juliette Thoreau. Il amenait dans Il petite villa d'Auinay-sous-Bois les deux enfants de son premier mariage Madeleine, six ans, et Emile, cinq ans. Les pauvres petits avaient trouvé dans la femme de leur père une véritable marâtre. Pour éviter des scènes douloureuses, M. Brucy s'était même résigné, quelques jours avant sa mort, à placer les deux petits en pension.

Indifférante, à cette hostilité, la veuve Brucy continuait à afficher un front serein. Mais, il y a quelques jours, on vit son attitude se modifier. Un enquêteur était revenu la Toir, l'inspecteur Crusol, d'e la première brigade mobile. A plusieurs reprises, il vint s'entretenir longuement avec la veuve. Et. hier, comme il venait une fois de plus de, la presser de questions, Juliette Brucy, comme si elle se libérait d'un fardeau, lâcha cet aveu: “Eh bien! oui, c'est moi qui ai fait mourir Brucy!” Et, comme si elle v eut trouvé un soulagement au posé, elle ajouta

~ La veillée dans la cave ~

– Voilà, ce que j'avais imaginé Ie 18 octobre, au soir, quand nous nous fûmes mis au lit, j'attendis qu'il se fût endormi. Ce fut long. Enfin, quand je fus certaine qu'il était plongé 'dans un sommeil profond, je me ievei j'allai ouvrir tout grand les robinets du fourneau à gaz de Ia cuisine, ceux des appareils d'èclairage. Puis je descendis à la cave. Combien de temps y restai-je? je ne puis le dire exactement. Quand je remontai, j'allai jeter un coup d'oeil rapide dans la chambre. Mon mari était étendu sur le lit au milieu de vomissements. Ce devait être flni. . . Je redescendais dans mon abri. J'y vécus trente heures pendant lesquelles je me nourris de quelques provisions que j'avais emportées. Je ne doutai pas que notre entourage, et principalement mes parents qui habitent près de nous, ne tarderaient pas à s'inquiéter. Enfin le jeudi, dans la matinée, je remontai. J'allai entre-bâiller les fenêtres derrière les volets clos et j'attendis que l'air se fût un peu renouvelé. Quand j’entendis les gens approcher de la villa, je jetai if corps de mon mari sur le parquet, je fermai les fenêtres ct, me couchant sur le lit, j'attendis. Vous savez ce qui s'ensuivit.

L'inspecteur Crusol n'en voulait pas tant connaître. Il se hâta de prévenir le parquet de Pontoise. Quelques heures plus tard, en vertu d'un mandat d'arrêt, il amenait Juliette Brucy devant M. le juge Jodelet.

Au magistrat, la criminelle répéta ses aveux, puis, comme M. Jodelet lui demandait le mobile auquel elle avait obéi, elle lui flt cette réponse:

Je ne pouvais plus m'entendre avec ma belle-mére. Tous les jours, c'étaient, entre nous, des discussions pour le moindre prétexte et, chaque fois que j'en parlais a mon mari. celui-ci me donnait tort. A la fin j'en vins à le haïr et, autant pour me débarrasser de mon mari que pour me venger dc sa mère, je résolus de le faire mourir. . .

Le magistrat, qui ne pouvait d'ailleurs pas encore interroger la veuve Brucy sur le fond, se contenta d'enregistrer cette déclaration. Mais il ne s'en contentera, certainement pas. L'enquête n'a-t-elle pas déjà établi qu'avant leur mariage, alors qu'ils vivaient Paris, rue Rouvet. Juliette Thoreau avait tenté d'empoisonner Maurice Brucy? A cette époque, cependant, Mme Brucy mère n'habitait pas auprès d'eux. Pour expliquer le crime de Juliette Thoreau, n'y aurait-il pas lieu de chercher au profit de qui M. Brucy souscrivit, en 1924, une assurance sur la vie? L'enquête qui va suivre ne manquera certainement pas de s’attacher à cette question.

[“On arrête à Aulnay-sous-Bois la veuve de M. Brucy qui mourut il y a un mois; Pour se débarrasser de son mari, cette femme avait imaginé, de son propre aveu, la mise en scène d'une intoxication par le gaz dont elle-mime aurait failli être la victim.” Le Petit Parisien (Paris, France), Nov. 19, 1927, p. 1]

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FULL TEXT: Vor kurzem ist man in dem Städtchen Aunay sous Bois einer furchtbaren Kette von Verbrechen auf die Spur gekommen.

Die Hausgehilfin des Ehepaares Bruch war morgens in das Schlafzinmer ihrer Dienstgeber gekommen, Durchdrmgender Leuchtgasgeruch erfüllte den Naum. Herr Bruch kauerte leblos auf dem Boden, seine Frau Juliette lag im Bette.

Das Mädchen schlug Lärm. Bald war Hilfe zur Stelle und man bemühte sich um die Bewusztlosen. Frau Juliette erholte sich rasch von ihrer Ohnmacht, aber der Mann war nicht wehr zu retten. Das schien rätselhaft. Der Gashahn war die ganze Nacht offen gewesen und das Gift hatte den starken Mann getötet. Wie war das möglich, daß es der zarten Frau so wenig anzuhaben vermochte?

Die Frau wurde ins Verhör genommen. Schlieszlich gestand sie, den Mann mit Leuchtgas vergiftet zu hagben. Sie selbst hatte sich die Nacht über im Keller verborgen und war erst knapp vor der Entdeckung in das Zimmer gekommen.

Als die Untat bekannt wurde, da erinnerten sich die Leute, das so manches in dem Leben der schönen Frau Juliette, die jetzt neununddreitzig Jahre alt ist, nicht stimmen dürste. Die Polizei besah sich ein wenig die Vergangenheit der Verdächtigen, und je tiefer sie bohrte, aus so merkwürdigere Dinge kam sie. Viermal war Frau Juliette verheiratet.

~ Die erste Ehe. ~

Den ersten Mann hatte sie im Jahre 1912 geehelicht. Der Gatte war ein reicher Witwer, um achtzehn Jahre älter als Juliette, und er brachte fünf minderjährige Kinder in die Ehe mit. Die Verbindung erwies sich als recht unglücklich, die junge Frau kümmerte sich um die Kinder überhaupt nicht.

Im Jahre 1920 reichten die Ehelente die ScheidungskIage ein. Noch im Verlauf des Prozesses starb der Gatte plötzlich und die Frau wäre Universalerbin geworden — wenn die fünf Kinder nicht gewesen wären. Da brach plötzlich eine rätselhafte Epidemie im Hause Bruch aus; im Verlauf von einem halben Jahre starben alle fünf Kinder. Nun erhielt Julliette das gesamte Vermögen ihres Mannes.

~ Der rätselhaste Selbstmord. ~

Kurz hernach ging Juliette eine neue Ehe ein. Sie heiratete einen wohlhabenden Kaufmann. Nach ganz kurzer Ehe fand man eines morgens den Ehemann, der bisher niemals Selbstinordabsichten geäußert hatte, im Schlafzimmer erhängt auf. Juliette erklärte, sie habe die ganze Nacht fest geschlafen und erst am Morgen zu ihrem Schrecken den Mann am Fensterkreuz baumeln gesehen. Auch dieser zweite Mann hinterließ ein großes Vermögen.

~ Der dritte Mann wird irrsinnig. ~

Im Jahre 1924 heiratete Juliette zum drittenmal. Zwischen den Ehe leuten gab es bald nach der Tranung Streit und Zank. Der Mann beklagte sich seinen Freunden gegenüber, daß seine Frau seine Gesundheit untergrabe. Mehr als diese Andeutnng aber war von ihm nicht heraus zukekommen. Nach halbjähriger Ehe stellten sich bei ihm Anzeichen von Wahnsinn ein. Er wurde auf Verlangen seiner Frau in eins Nervenheilanstalt gebracht, wo er sich noch setzt befindet.

Frau Juliette leugnet, an dem Verhängnis, das ihre ersten drei Männer traf, irgendeine Schuld zu haben. Aber da sie der Ermordung ihres vierten Mannes überwiesen ist, scheint es kaum glaubhaft, daß sie nur das Opfer einer Reihe von tragischen Zufällen sein sollte.

[“Ein weiblicher Blaubart. Vier Männer und fünf Kinder ermordet.” Die Kleine Blatt (Vienna, Austria), Nov. 25, 1927, p. 6]

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FULL TEXT: Paris, 24. – In Aünay-fons-Bois, einem kleinen Städtchen im Departement Seine, wurde vor einigen Tagen die 39jährige Frau Juliette Claire Bruzi verhaftet, und zwar unter dem Verdachte, ihren kürzlich verstorbenen Mann vergiftet zu haben. Im Laufe der Untersuchung stellte sich heraus, daß Frau Bruzi viermal verheiratet war und ihre Manner unter geheimnis vollen Umständen gestorben sind. Einen Mord hatsie bereits eingestanden. Nach den vorliegenden Verdachtsgründen steht es außer Zweifel, daß auch ihre früheren. Gatten durch ihre Hand aus dem Leben geschieden sind. Außerdem besteht ein mehr begründeter Verdacht, daß sie auch die fünf Kinder ihrer ersten Ehe durch Giftmordaus dem Leben schasste, insgesamt somit neun Menschen leben auf dem Gewissen hat.

[“Vier Gatten und die fünf Kinder vergiftet.” Neues Grazer Tagblatt (Graz, Austria), 25. Nov. 1927, p. 2]

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~ Madame Brusy, die Gatten-und Kindes-mörderin. ~

Die 39jährige Gutsbesitzerin Claire Brusy heiratete im Jahre1912 einen reichen Witwer, der fünf Kinder mit in die Ehe brachte. Acht Jahre später brachte. Madame Brusy die Scheidungsklage gegen ihren Galten ein, ganz seltsamerweise waren zu dieser Zeit alle fünf Kinder schon gestorben und dazu kam, gaß ganz kurze Zeit nach dem Prozeß der Mann unter geheimniwollen Umständen tot aufgefunden wurde. Die Frau verehelichte sich abermals, aber die Trauung war noch nicht lange vorüber, als der zweite Gatte eines Tages erhängt aufgefunden wurde.

Die Polizei verhörte Madame Brusy. Die Frau gab an, daß sie mit dem zweiten Mann wiederholt Streit gehabt habe und so auch einen heftigen Auftritt am Tage der Auffindung der Leiche. Erregt will sie weggelaufen sein und bei ihrer Rückkehr war ihr Gatte angeblich schon tot. Die Behörd ekonnte nichts gegen die Frau unternehmen.

Madame Brusy heiratete ein drittes Mal und vor wenigen Tagen fand man den dritten Mann tot in der mit Leuchtgas erfüllten Wohnung auf. Nun wurde die Frau verhaftet; sie gab zuerst an, verreist gewesen zu sein. Bei stundenlangen Verhören verwickelte sie sich in Widersprüche undgestand endlich, ihren dritten Mann, während er schlief, durch das ansströmende Leuchtgas vergiftet zu haben. Die Pariser Behörden arbeiten jetzt daran, der verhafteten Madame Claire Brusy auch die Morde an ihren ersten zwei Gatten und an den fünf Kindern nachzuweisen, die sie zweifellos begangen haben dürfte, da ihr jeder der Gatten ein stattliches Vermögen hinterlassen hatte.

[“Zwei Frauen als Möderinnen ihrer Gatten. Zwei sensationelle Kriminalaffären imn Paris und Athen. – Weibliche Landrus. – Aus Gewinnsucht und aus religiösem Wahnsinn gemordet.” Illustrierte Kronen-Zeitung (Vienna, Austria), 25. November 1927. p. 6]

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CHRONOLOGY

1888 (ca.) – Juliette Thoreau born at Loiret.

1912 – She had married her first husband in 1912. The husband was a rich widower, eighteen years older than Juliette, and he had five minor children.

1920 – the couple filed for divorce. While the trial was still in progress, the husband suddenly died

1920-21 – all five children died in the course of half a year.

1924 – Juliette buys life insurance on Maurice Brucy.

Oct. 18, 1927 – Maurice Brucy murdered; gas.

Oct. 21, 1927 – investigation reported.

Nov. 19, 1927 – arrested.

Nov. 29, 1928 – condemned to death.

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