Monomanie sans delire : an examination of "the irresistible criminal impulse theory" / by A. Wood Renton.

Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Monomanie sans delire : an examination of "the irresistible criminal impulse theory" / by A. Wood Renton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Leger was entrapped1 into an admission of the murder and mutilation, though he stoutly and to the last denied the violation, of the girl Debully. Leger’s account was that, having seen the child playing among the vines, he was seized with a sudden and irresistible impulse to kill her. Swiftly and stealthily he descended the slopes of Montmiraut, and sprang like a tiger upon his prey. The poor child had no time to cry, and no power to resist. There was no one to hear or succour. Twisting a handkerchief round her neck, and lifting her on his back, the savage fled to his den, and there, dropping his almost lifeless burden, com- pleted (according to the medical evidence) the horrid work of violation and murder. He then mutilated his victim’s body, and feasted upon her legs and arms. After a long trial, Leger was convicted, condemned, and executed. The Examen medical des pvoces criminels contains an elaborate disquisition upon Leger’s state of mind; for to M. Georget this measure of praise is due, that, fearless of consequences and comments, he not only records his conclusions, but studiously and exhaustively sets forth the premises upon which they rest. 1 I use this word advisedly. M. Georget says, p. 151: “ Plusieurs interrogatoires sont sans resultat. Mais au moment ou il fut confronte avec la cadavre,” etc. etc. Not so the Journal des De'bats : “ Enfin a un dernier interrogatoire, un homme de l’art qui assistoit—tfitoit le pouls a linger pendant que M. le juge ^instruction le pressoit. de questions. Plus l’interrogatoire, qui dcja avoit ete tres-etendu, se prolongeoit, plus le battement du pouls s’affoiblissoit progressivement. Entin abattu, et d’une voix moins assuree que dans les premiers momens, Leger, a cette question du juge—‘Etes-vous l’auteurdu crime?’ laisse echapper le premier aveu de sa culpability : Eh bien ! oui, dit il, c’est moi ! ”