Georges Gauchet

Identity

Georges Gauchet was a French aristocrat described as a “playboy” of Paris. He was 25 years old at the time of his execution.

Timeline

• November 19, 1930 — Georges Gauchet, identified as the murderer of the jeweller Dannenhoffer in Paris, was associated with the killing of the jeweller.
• December 26, 1931 — Georges Gauchet was executed by guillotine in Paris.

The offence

Georges Gauchet became a drug addict after squandering a large fortune. His family cut him off, and he was reduced to poverty. Police believed he met a beautiful woman who induced him to take drugs and helped him squander his money.

Police said he was under the influence of drugs when he tried to rob a jeweler’s shop. He attacked the jeweler with a hammer and then killed him with a revolver.

The jeweller was Dannenhoffer, and Gauchet was identified as the murderer of the jeweller Dannenhoffer in Paris.

Investigation

Police said a woman induced Gauchet to take drugs and helped him squander his money.

Police said Gauchet was under the influence of drugs when he tried to rob a jeweler’s shop.

Trial

Georges Gauchet was sentenced to die. When he was sentenced to die, he said:

“The verdict is just,”
“Guillotine me as soon as possible”.

Sentencing

Frech legal code provided that the guillotine be set up outside the prison so the public may witness the execution. He was given the customary cigar and glass of rum before he was taken from the prison.

He refused to apply for executive clemency. Before the execution, he said:

“I deserve to die,”

Outcome

Georges Gauchet died on the guillotine outside Sante Prison in Paris. The execution occurred on December 26, 1931, before a large crowd gathered in the fog.

His head dropped into the guillotine basket as the chimes of a nearby church struck 7. The execution was described as the first of that class of execution since the Revolution and the first member of high French society guillotined since the French Revolution. It was also described as the second execution in Paris that year.

Aftermath

A crowd included men and women in evening dress from cabarets, messenger boys, and laborers who paused for a few minutes on their way to work. Another description stated that the crowd included night club habitues in evening dress, messenger boys, street sweepers, workmen and tramps gathered in the grey morning light to see what was said to be the first guillotining of a French aristocrat since the Revolution.

The Widow was described as raising its black arms outside the Prison de la Sante in Paris, with police cordons blocking off the street 200 yards on either side of the Widow. The street was watched by men including “Gaping butchers’ boys” who peered over policemen’s shoulders to see the tiny figure descend from a horse-drawn van.

Georges Gauchet was described as executed on December 26, 1931.