"I, PIERRE RIVlÈRE,
HAVING SLAUGHTERED MY MOTHER, SISTER AND BROTHER..."
The court!
Please be seated.
3 JUNE 1835
My God, how dreadful!
They're all dead!
That's Victoire Brion. She was separated from her husband.
Yes, I know. They'd appeared before me.
Today, 3 June 1835, at 1:00 p.m.,
I, François-Edouard Baudouin, magistrate in Aunay,
assisted by Louis-Léandre Langlinet, clerk...
About noon or so, from my doorway,
I saw Victoire Rivière,
my granddaughter.
Her brother had her by the hair.
She was trying to get away.
My grandson was holding a sickle over her.
I went toward them and yelled.
"What're you doing?"
Immediately he hit his sister's head again and again.
She fell dead at his feet.
It took less than a minute.
Then he ran out the gate to the road to town.
I looked in the house.
I saw the bodies of his mother and sister...
My God...
how dreadful!
A woman identified to us
as Victoire Rivière, née Brion, sprawled on her back.
DOCTORS' REPORT
A large pool of blood had spread around the head.
The neck's right side and throat were sufficiently hacked
as to separate the cervical vertebrae from the torso.
The woman was pregnant.
At the request of the authorities
we did an autopsy.
An incision was made, and the uterus opened.
We found a female foetus of about 61/2 months.
We here ended our research as the cause of death was obvious.
Since the head was almost severed from the torso,
death was instantaneous.
A young girl, about 18,
sprawled on her back,
stockings but no shoes.
On the right of the neck were two deep, broad incisions.
The lower one opened not only the skin and muscles
but the carotid artery as well.
The second cervical vertebra was totally severed.
Below the first incision were several others.
A child of 7 or 8, said to be Jules Rivière,
lying face down, still covered by his clothes.
The head lay in a vast pool of blood.
We made no other examination. Cause of death was obvious.
The cerebellum and brain were totally hacked to bits.
5 JUNE 1835
Mr Prosecutor, this is Dr Morin and our tax collector.
This way!
We shall visit the scene of the crime and then the family.
Dr Morin and I made the initial investigation.
It seems the murder was committed
by a member of the family named Pierre Rivière.
This is Father Suriray, our parish priest.
This is the family.
As Crown Prosecutor for the court at Vire,
we were informed of murder committed in the village of Aunay.
We went at once with the police lieutenant
to Faucterie where we learned the following about Rivière.
CROWN PROSECUTOR'S REPORT
Without being sworn as witnesses,
his father, grandmother and one of his sisters
supplied the following information.
Since childhood, Pierre Rivière was an affliction for his family.
Tell the truth! We know he was a difficult boy!
He never showed any filial love for his parents.
He hated his mother.
At times he approached her with movements of repulsion or frenzy.
He hated women!
Besides, Rivière displayed a hard disposition
in all he did, much to the despair of his family.
As a child he was seen
to enjoy crushing baby birds between two rocks,
or chasing other children and threatening to kill them.
How did he react toward you?
His physical examination reveals
several remarkable traits.
His head is constantly bowed,
and his sidelong glance
seems to fear meeting the eyes of others,
as if afraid of betraying his secret thoughts.
"Solitary", "wild" and "cruel"
describe Rivière from a moral point of view.
He is an uncommon individual,
a savage who escapes the rules of society and congeniality.
Thus he once asked his father
if it be possible for man
to dwell in the forests
and live off roots and herbs.
Pierre!
Hey, Pierre!
Pierre!
Watch out for the police!
In spite of the search for Rivière,
the hand of justice has not yet seized upon him.
7 JUNE 1835, THE CALVADOS PILOT
He is probably hiding in the woods near Aunay,
but necessity will force him out, and he will be arrested at once.
As of today, the young Rivière of Aunay has not been arrested.
17 JUNE 1835, THE CALVADOS PILOT
Many local people think he has taken his own life
and that his body will be found in a pond.
Age, 20. Height, 5 feet.
Dark hair and eyebrows,
narrow forehead, average nose,
a full, oval face,
a sidelong glance,
head bowed 23 JUNE 1835
and a jerky walk,
wearing a blue cotton smock, a cap and half-boots.
The Crown Prosecutor requests the police to activate their search.
Today, 2 July 1835, at 5:00 a.m.,
I, the undersigned Sergeant Le Courtois of Langannerie do declare
that on a road in Langannerie,
we encountered a suspicious individual.
He was carrying bits of wood made into a bow
and arrows tipped with pins.
We then lodged him in a safe place
that he might be delivered to those authorised.
In his possession were two knives, a penknife,
a stick of sulfphur and some twine.
"On July 9 in the year 1835,
FIRST QUESTIONING
"in the chamber of criminal inquiry for the court of first instance of Vire,
"before us, Exupère Legrain, examining magistrate,
"and Théodore Lebouleux, court clerk,
"in accordance with the arrest warrant issued June 18, 1835
"against Pierre Rivière,
"did appear the said Rivière for interrogation
"that proceeded orally as hereafter recorded.
"'State your name, age, profession and domicile.'
"Reply, 'P ierre Rivière,
"'20 years old, farmer,
"'born at Courvaudon
"'and living at Aunay." '
For what motive did you kill your mother,
your sister Victoire and brother Jules?
God ordered me to justify His providence.
They were united.
What do you mean by "united"?
They'd agreed to persecute Father.
You say God ordered the three murders of which you're accused.
You know God never asks for a crime.
God told Moses to slay the adorers of the golden calf,
sparing not friends, fathers nor sons.
Who taught you those things?
I read them in Deuteronomy.
"Moses blessed the tribe of Levi and said,
"'Y our grace and plenitude were given to the man you chose
"'who said to his father and mother, "I know you not,"
"'and to his brother, " I know not who thou art."
"'T here, Lord, are those who kept Thy laws
"'and offer Thee incense to appease Thy wrath." '
You've read the Bible often?
I often read Deuteronomy and Numbers.
You have learned grim lessons from a book you haven't understood.
Father's persecution put God's providence in doubt.
When did you conceive of your hideous plan of June 3rd?
Two weeks before.
Why and for what purpose?
Father was persecuted, and God came to me.
Explain what you saw.
God and His angels appeared to me in a field
and told me to justify His providence.
Long before the period you speak of,
you'd already shown hate for your mother,
brothers and sisters, even for your father.
I couldn't love my mother because of what she did,
yet I wished her no harm.
God's commandments forbade it.
How can you now believe He has commandments to the contrary?
I was roused by God,
as were the Levites although the same commandments exist.
You excuse your crimes impiously and absurdly
by saying God told you to commit them.
Actually, born with a mean disposition,
you wanted to bathe in the blood of a mother
you'd always hated,
especially since she planned a legal separation from your father.
God ordered me to do what I did.
The priest told my father to pray, and God would help him out of his trouble.
If he wasn't helped,
people would've doubted God's justice or existence.
Isn't it true you've at times shown hate toward your father?
It's not true.
How did you plan to use the so-called bow and arrows
found on you upon your arrest?
They were for killing birds.
And the sulphur?
To light a fire in the woods.
You wanted to live there...
I wanted to live in the woods alone.
If that was your intention, why didn't you do so,
prior to slaying your family?
It wasn't my intention prior to my act.
My act consecrated me for God, and I wished to be a hermit.
Until now you've tried to impose upon justice!
You've paid no homage to truth!
Yesterday you seemed better disposed...
According to this man you spoke to.
So tell us frankly today.
What pushed you to kill your mother, sister and brother?
I no longer wish to maintain this method nor role.
I'll tell the truth.
I did it to rid my father of his troubles.
I wanted to free him from an evil wife who always plagued him
and was ruining him,
who drove him to such despair that he at times considered suicide.
I slew my sister Victoire
because she sided with Mother.
I slew my brother
because he loved Mother and my sister.
Details and explanation
I, Pierre Rivière, having slaughtered my mother, sister and brother,
and wishing to relate the motives that led me to this act,
have described my parents' lives since their wedding.
I witnessed the majority of the facts
told at the end of their history.
As for the beginning, it was told me by my father.
I then shall tell how I decided to commit this crime,
what I felt and what my intention was.
I shall also describe my own life
and what occurred within me after the act
and where I have been
since the crime until my arrest,
and also the resolutions I made.
This work will be coarsely styled as I cannot write well.
But so long as I am heard, that is all I ask.
I have written as best I can.
My father was the second of three sons,
born to Jean Rivière and Marianne Cordel.
He was reared honestly and religiously.
My elder uncle was called to do his military service.
Be brave, Son.
In those days, all young men had to go.
After the first quota was filled,
numbers were drawn, and the rest were taken.
But those who wed before the second call were exempt.
My father was on the list of 1813.
In spite of his good number,
they feared he would be called.
Thus he decided to wed.
Through François Lecomte, he proposed to Victoire Brion.
Their ages and wealth were similar.
They were engaged, and he courted her six months.
Then he was told it was time to marry.
Her parents no longer agreed.
My father pointed out that they should have retracted themselves earlier.
My mother applauded him
and cried at her parents' opposition.
Seeing her tears, my father thought,
"She truly loves me!"
At last her parents decided
to sign the marriage contract before a notary public.
"Ajoint estate of goods and chattels will exist for both...
"If there are children,
then he will only enjoy his own property, and children the other half.
"The wife's parents will establish a dowry
"of all property she may inherit from them."
After a civil and religious ceremony,
my mother changed her mind and annulled the wedding feast.
They slept apart on their wedding night.
After his full military release,
he stopped at Courvaudon and slept with her for the first time.
After the wedding, my mother lived with her parents,
and my father worked their fields.
In early 1815, my mother gave birth to me.
She was quite ill.
My father tended to her.
He did not go to bed for six weeks.
The illness put pus in my mother's breasts.
Can't you let your ma tend to you?
She's too dumb!
I can't hold it any more!
I'll get one of your towels.
Not one of mine!
One of hers!
My father worked at Courvaudon
and during his entire marriage, only slept with her when he was there
to harvest, cut wood or make cider.
The next year, my mother was again pregnant.
Her parents sent her to my father.
He was glad and moved all her furniture with her.
She gave birth to Victoire.
Her illness was serious and lasted three months.
My father and paternal grandmother spent their nights caring for her.
Her mother came,
and my mother said only she could help her.
They begrudge me all I eat!
Don't listen to them!
They laugh at my pains!
The misers would let me die!
When she began feeling better, she decided to return home.
My father tried to dissuade her.
She demanded her furniture. He had to move them at night
so as not to be seen.
If you won't live here, want me to move in with your folks?
What'd they do with you?
What am I to do?
Hire yourself out as a farm hand. Bring me your wages each year
so I can spend them!
I got enough work at home without hiring myself out!
At that time I dwelt with my father at Faucterie.
I was three or four years old.
My mother and her mother came for me
and found us in a field tedding hay.
Don't take him!
Hit him!
I want my child back!
I'll bring him tomorrow.
My child!
He took my child away from me!
Father kept his promise and took me to Courvaudon.
Perplexed by it all, he didn't go there again.
At times Mother showed less dislike for him,
but she was not truly friendly.
She humiliated him and my uncle
when they went to plough or make cider for them.
Come have a drink!
No! They haven't finished yet!
Lazy! You're not done yet!
When I hear all her goading, I'd like to slap her!
You'll never come back here!
Did you ever fall on your head?
No, Doctor.
Perhaps during childhood?
I don't recall. It seems I'd have been told of it.
You were never struck here?
Not that I recall.
Any nosebleeds?
Sporadically or at regular periods?
You were never bled?
Never.
No skin diseases?
I dwelt at Courvaudon for my first six years.
In 1820, Mother gave birth to a girl, Aimée,
and in 1822, to a boy named Prosper.
Here is how Mother lived with her parents.
She argued with her mother daily.
Father told her to respect her mother,
but in vain.
I witnessed all these disputes
and felt no great warmth for Mother.
I loved my grandparents much more.
Especially my grandfather.
By trade he was a carpenter,
but worked only in his shop by then.
What a clapper!
A "crossbow"!
My sister Victoire lived with Father a while.
Grandmother had had a daughter who died at Victoire's age.
Victoire replaced her somewhat,
but Mother took her from Grandma.
At 10, I went to live with my father
and have remained with him since then.
In 1824, Mother gave birth to a boy named Jean.
At that time, my maternal grandfather was an invalid.
He had some money he wished to give my father.
Father said it was more fitting he give it to his wife and daughter.
He died in 1826.
The next year, Mother gave birth to Jules.
Aimée and Prosper came to live with Father,
and the next year, Jean came, too.
But Victoire and Jules always stayed with my mother.
At that time, I worked with Father
and saw my mother and grandmother arguing as always.
I barely knew Rivière before his crime.
15 JULY 1835
I'd heard him described as an obstinate hot-head.
His father's remonstrance couldn't dissuade him
from whatever he was intent on doing.
The young man had no comrades.
From what I've heard,
he never went to the tavern but three times.
MICHEL HARSON, 43, OWNER, MAYOR OF AUNAY COMMUNE
I've no personal knowledge of his parents' quarrels.
At the time of the crime, they lived apart.
Mr Rivière is a very gentle man,
and witnesses to the quarrels say his wife was always wrong.
Of course, I've heard rumours
that he chased a child with a scythe.
But it was also said it was just a prank.
No one would've remembered it
except for the murders.
JEAN-LOUIS SURIRAY, 53, PRIEST OF AUNAY
It seems several of his neighbours
saw him, at different periods, commit acts
that might indicate a deranged mind.
I can give you a list of such witnesses.
But the accused always seemed quite gentle to me.
He was thought to be an idiot in his village and parish.
But I don't believe this.
On the contrary, I've always recognised him
as having a talent for science.
He had a stupendous memory.
My father took every step to keep peace and calm with Mother.
He killed and cured her pig.
He bought cows and sold them when necessary.
He accounted for every coin.
But in all his marketing,
my mother found fault with him.
When he bought, he paid too much.
When he sold, he sold too cheaply.
I now approach the last years of their marriage, in 1832.
Going to Aunay?
I bought Victoire a frock.
Aimée needs one too.
Not now.
Not now!
But you don't mind spending on others!
My mother accused him of debauchery and adultery
with a village woman
who had a few roods of land he was paid to work for her.
Mother hadn't taken Sacraments in years,
but Father was friends with her local priest,
so she went to confession, dressed as a beggar woman.
She wants to live under your roof!
Good! A man should live with his wife.
But... She said nothing else?
Don't worry! I know you well enough!
She wants her children.
I'm willing.
But her ma's sick, maybe dying.
Best wait till she's well or get someone to tend to her.
My maternal grandmother died.
My father paid for her funeral.
You're alone now. Nothing holds you here.
You can come live with me.
Pierre and I'll never be able to both farm this place
and work your fields.
Couldn't you rent it out?
Father had enough furniture and suggested she sell hers.
She said she'd never sell them.
So Father said, "We won't sell them."
He wanted to sell our things!
One of his ma's ideas!
He'd sell if he wanted!
If he could!
Other folk wouldn't be so nice to you!
He found an answer, so stay as you were!
Father put the land up for rent.
His cousin Pierre Lecomte came.
My mother consented,
and before her, the price was agreed on.
He rented the pasture and arable land and my mother's house
for 250 francs per year and 50 francs of wine.
A 9-year lease was made,
stating the farmer would fertilise the land
and be allowed one cutting of wood two years before the lease expired.
Mother could stay till St Michael's,
when the farmer arrived.
After two weeks, she disagreed
and said the rent was too low and refused to move.
It was harvest time.
She still wished to break the lease.
SUMMER 1833
My father refused to reap her grain.
So she hired men to do it for her.
She had the trees pruned in August and defied the farmer.
He thought my parents were in agreement.
On St Michael's, he registered the lease and showed it to my father.
Seeing this, he decided to move her out.
The attic key?
Thief!
Bite him!
We went back in the afternoon.
Everyone came to their doors.
Mother yelled at Father.
Give me back my grain!
You ought to be put away!
He's killing me!
My God! He's killing me!
Aren't you ashamed?
You should load and leave with your husband!
You killed me!
So stay out of it! You know she lies!
She doesn't!
Give her some advice!
Everyday I tell her to go with him!
My father had no time for noisy arguing.
The wheat was ripe for harvest.
He listed the trees Mother had cut,
and the farmer moved in.
He reaped his wheat. Father reaped his.
When the work ended, he went to empty the house.
At the last moment,
he asked the farmer if he'd accept a reimbursement,
Judging that better than making Mother move.
He said, "Let my children kiss me!
"Let her stay as long as she wishes."
There's the land I planted, the wine I gave,
the registration fee, a total of 119 francs.
Plus giving up the market!
That makes 238 francs.
Father did not have this money
and had to borrow some from Hébert, our neighbour.
His mother had a pension of 90 francs.
They redeemed part of it
and had the amount he owed.
Thus my paternal grandmother paid for Mother's property.
SEPTEMBER 1833
Mother then made debts for him to pay.
She and my sister usually bought and paid for their clothes
from Mrs Aod. Now they stopped paying.
Your wife owes me 12 francs for threshing her corn.
Here to loot us again?
So that's it? Then get paid as best you can!
But he worked at Courvaudon when she said she'd live with him.
Ma asked if you'll come cut the barley.
Me? Work for someone who tries to ruin me?
If you desert us, she'll make a heap of debts.
She'll borrow, and we'll buy on credit.
Why won't she come live with me?
And live under your rules?
You said you weren't against it!
She don't want a mother-in-law!
She wants her own home and her own things!
29 francs!
Good, but I can't pay now.
Credit?
Who are you?
Rivière's girl.
Go ahead.
Mind if I work for her?
No, but don't expect me to pay you!
JULY 1834
At this time my brother Jean had brain fever.
It lasted only 2 weeks.
They finally sent for his mother, and she came to see him.
He was more companionable than me or Prosper.
Father loved him deeply.
Mother brought two letters,
one from Mrs Aod and one from the debt collector.
Lord, how much will You make me suffer?
My son, you'll soon be rid of the world!
You'll be in heaven!
Be quiet!
I won't abandon him!
You used to say, " Let me do it!
"I'm stronger!"
I'm gonna run away!
Where to, my Son?
Aimée'll stand by you!
I wish I was in my grave!
Why's my life so full of misery?
Why does the Lord make me suffer so?
Why did He leave me here on Earth so long?
After all you did, our boy's dead!
They could open his skull and see your spite!
Go away!
- How much? - 28 cents.
Mother's creditors asked Father to pay.
Realising he might be ruined,
he went for the furniture,
and we took the cow and grain they had.
You're rearing and ready, but I don't feel like it!
Let's make a pact. Pay my debts for me,
plus what you took from me, plus a pension to live on.
How?
Borrow from the bank, like others do!
Mother saw Judge Foucaut
to get a separation,
but he summoned Father for a talk.
Here's my proposal.
"It is hereby agreed
"by husband and wife
"that the wife shall dwell with the husband,
"that she shall have a separate home with her own possessions,
"and also that the husband's mother shall be forbidden entry to said dwelling
"unless so allowed by the wife.
"If the mother-in-law ignores the order,
"the wife may return to Courvaudon."
Father readied the house quickly.
Once ready, we went to get Mother
with Quévillon and Mr Grellay's servant.
SEPTEMBER 1834
We found very few possessions,
not even a kettle,
and the grain had been sold.
Pay my debts before I move!
Some are paid. I'll pay the rest!
Jules, you're the dearest to me of all!
Put some sense into her!
You must go with your man!
Go if you want to!
Not me! That man took all we had!
If you'd made me go there sooner,
my son'd still be alive!
My father was absent the day a letter arrived
that pained my grandmother deeply.
"Debts Contracted in 1833."
It's Victoire's handwriting.
"40 francs to a haberdasher in Hamars,
"30 francs to Goffé,
"10 to Victor Bourse,
"10 to a cobbler,
"10 for Mass,
"17 to Sophie Rivière,
"27 to Marianne Lecomte,
"3 to Rose Leminée,
"40 to Charles Lebas,
"8 to Mr Riche,
"48 to Sophie Lecoc
"and 70 to Pierre Bretoure.
"For any debt unpaid within eight days, a petition will be filed."
Why does she want to ruin me?
I've worked so hard for my children!
I'll have to sell some land.
One field won't be enough. I'll have to sell another.
I must say that Goffé and Lecomte,
Marianne's brother
and a mason in Hamars
from whom my mother took counsel were all bachelors
who cared little about purity.
Stop it!
Leave me alone!
What're you doing to her?
Never you mind!
It's what all men do to their wives!
Stop it! She don't want to!
Why does the Lord make me suffer so?
Why did He leave me here on Earth so long?
I've gone to such pains!
Such pains to take care of them all!
To raise them as best I could!
And this is my reward!
I'll beat myself into the ground!
Why does God let me suffer so long?
If there was a pond, I'd drown myself!
Come to bed, Grandma!
I gave my pension to buy back her things
and now I'm all alone!
Come to bed!
Why didn't you tell me about them?
The letter and your debts?
What've I done to you?
Some say he beats her like an ox!
He's not such a good man!
They forced her here
to make her suffer!
They should've left her alone!
He ought to work his land and not bother her!
After all, she loves her farm, same as he loves his!
You want me to sell more of my land?
OCTOBER 1834
Come quick! Your wife's leaving!
Let them go!
Put up a public notice about them!
Wait!
Don't worry! I'm going but I'll be back tonight!
No one'll ever take him from me!
I'll always keep him!
She'd only do him harm!
I'm through with it all!
I'll jump in the well!
Where does she go all day?
She'll ruin you!
Put up a notice!
- She won't! - You let her do as she wants!
You're always crying over her!
Not much longer! It'll soon be over!
You're making threats now! So I'll make some, too!
PIERRE FORTIN, 50, CARPENTER I knew him as a boy.
He had a bent for learning... to read and write.
But at 10 or 12, he began to seem bizarre.
He seemed to be an idiot.
He was obstinate
and wouldn't answer when called.
He always bowed his head and looked sideways.
His father couldn't do a thing with him.
Was he bizarre... Cruel?
Not to my knowledge.
He'd hated his mother a long time?
I never heard that before the crime.
But his father once said
that if he had his son's temper, his wife would have to worry.
The priest said you know of certain of the accused's acts
indicating a deranged mind.
About three years ago, one of my daughters saw
Pierre Rivière in our loft,
talking aloud and acting strangely and kissing the ground.
When he saw her, he fled.
Stop!
That's enough!
You'll hurt the horse!
What a trial that boy is!
His father told him to water the horse.
PIERRE, 54, DAY LABOURER
He got on
and galloped off across the field!
His father had to run and catch him!
Later he took the horse again!
And his father needed it!
But he rode away all the same!
Once he wanted to do like the cows
and get his tail up.
He found him in the barn, naked!
He said his shirt was wet.
I saw him do absurd things and silly things.
MARGUERITE COLLEVILLE, 52, FARMER,
WIFE OF LOUIS HÉBERT
Once he was in their garden with a stick,
swatting off young cabbage heads!
As he did it, he was shouting...
"Right! Left! Right! Left!"
He did it several times.
Recently, with his grandmother, he was hauling manure.
He tried to lead the horse up onto the pile!
Don't do that!
You're crazy!
You'll kill the horse!
I said he'll do it, and he will!
Do it! I said to!
I once sat down next to him,
and he jerked away, as if frightened.
I said, "What's wrong?"
"Satan! Satan!"
He said Satan was in the hearth!
He had reacted that way to other women.
And he fled!
About the same time, his parents were away,
and he was alone with Mrs Quesnel.
His brother had a pet jay he loved very much.
Next day it was dead,
and Mrs Quesnel accused him of killing it.
He affirmed he had not.
With several children, he buried the jay.
Over its grave he put a sign,
"Here lies Charly Jay, property of Prosper Rivière."
I've forgotten the other words.
He was 18 years old!
I see nothing more to say.
I might add that the village thought him to be an idiot.
Grandma!
What're you doing?
VICTOR MARIE 26, SERVANT OF CHARLES GRELLAY
A year ago, he put the master's son in the horse's feeding trough and said
the horse would eat him.
The boy was terrified. He avoids the Rivière farm.
And animals?
He was cruel to them, too.
He'd catch frogs and skin them alive.
He'd crucify live birds
against trees far from the houses.
I often saw him laugh like an imbecile.
MICHEL NATIVEL, 38, TOW MAKER
For hours!
He was mean to children, too!
He'd set them on the edge of the well
and scare them, saying, "I'll push you in!"
Once he chased a cat with a farm hook.
We yelled at him, and he laughed at us!
He'd crucify frogs and birds!
He'd nail them on boards!
My mother continued doing evil.
SPRING 1835
She mocked my father
and told everyone he starved and beat her.
She began to visit lawyers to get advice for a separation.
She saw a mason in Hamars and Mr Blain.
She also said she was pregnant.
Soon all Aunay knew about it.
I can't believe it!
She must wear something on her stomach!
I've got to see!
She knows I value my honour.
She thinks in such a situation I'll say, "How can it be?"
"He won't control himself! He'll beat me,
"and I'll get a separation!"
So I have to look!
Don't look!
She's got to explain what's in her!
When he's born, don't buy clothes for him!
People'll come. Father'll ask for the bonnet. You'll say,
"I had no money to buy one! " Everyone'll laugh!
He'll do this!
"You've shamed me again!
"But you know how to find money for your other things!"
Be quiet!
No clothes! Let him go naked!
It's awful being pregnant.
But the judge'll give us a separation!
My mother obtained a summons for a conciliation.
The process server gave it to my father.
Everyone was sad to see such an irreproachable man
so cruelly persecuted by a woman.
When he sang the holy water anthem, over 50 people cried.
You prepared a certificate against your wife.
The Mayor of Courvaudon did as he saw fit.
It is easy to influence local authorities!
Rivière, your wife complains of your tyranny and brutality.
What have you to say?
That's her version.
Father Suriray says in the certificate...
Never mind your certificate!
And what do you say, madam?
You have a complaint against him?
He plundered me of all my possessions! Sentence him!
I cannot refuse your complaint, but the costs could be expensive.
See how weak she is! Be gentle with her!
He let my child die!
I want my home back
and all my husband took from me!
My furniture, my money,
my cows and my barrels!
She'll get them.
Where'll my children go?
With whom they wish.
She's pregnant. Who gets the baby?
Your wife is more apt!
Could you nurse it?
You look like a galley slave!
I've not eaten with Mother nor Victoire since she began separation action.
Jules did not try to spend time with Father
nor me nor Prosper.
He did not come to ride the horse as before.
SUNDAY, 31 MAY 1835
Sorry to be a bit late.
You're quite welcome.
And your girl?
She's gone.
It's the carpenter from Courvaudon.
It's the carpenter.
Hello, folks!
You brought the tools my wife loaned you?
What tools?
Her father's.
She said you wouldn't bring them back.
She gave them to me for helping with her grain!
We'll see what she says!
You said you loaned him the tools and he wouldn't return them.
I said I gave them to him!
I can do as I please!
You're giving him everything!
So what? The tools were mine!
With all the men she sees, his life isn't safe!
What is this?
You run up debts that I slave to pay and you give him everything!
They were my father's! I gave them to him!
Never abandon your father.
He'll never let you be sent away.
Can I have some room?
Rivière's mad at me!
I'll sing you a song!
A short one!
Lisa, will you let me store my grain?
I've worked to raise it with great pain
Open wide! Let me bring it in!
It will fill your empty bin!
Undo the latch! Hear my call!
With you I would store it all!
Lisa opened her hatch to the handsome miller
Who proudly with his crop did fill her
Barrels till they had overflown
Nine months later, the grain had grown!
My father was too discouraged to work.
He would lay down to rest, and when he awoke,
he would go in the wrong direction.
He was overwhelmed and downcast.
Many people said, "If he falls sick, it'll kill him."
End of the Résumé of My Father's Troubles
To go to and from church, he never used the normal path.
Head up, he talked alone, as if to the trees.
GENEVlÈVE RIVlÈRE, WIDOW OF JEAN QUESNEL, HOUSEWIFE
At times he would yell frighteningly.
If asked what he was doing,
he'd say he was talking to Satan or fairies.
His family tried to hide his oddness.
He seemed afraid of cats and chickens
and even of women!
When I came, he'd often rush away!
Geneviève!
What?
I'm gonna see Satan!
That was two weeks before the crime.
For two years Rivière worked in the loft with a knife and some tools,
making curious things from wood.
He called this implement a "caliben".
One day he and some children buried it in a field.
Two or three months later, they dug it up.
I saw him rolling on the ground, laughing.
PIERRE ARMAND QUEVILLON, 24, FARMER
When I asked him why,
he laughed!
But I haven't known him long!
3 JUNE 1835
It was about three weeks ago,
I saw something in his eyes like madness.
The workman had refused to climb 'cause of the rain.
Rivière climbed up.
I never thought he could do it.
He tied the rope higher than it had to be.
Coming down, he jumped from 10 or 12 feet.
That day I realised he was insane.
I loved my father. His misfortunes moved me deeply.
All my thoughts were about them.
So I conceived my horrid plan.
I thought of it for a month.
I saw Father as being attacked by mad dogs or barbarians I had to fight.
I would ignore the law and win glory
and immortality by dying for my father.
I felt I was like La Rochejaquelein
who died for the King in his 21 st year.
He told his men, "If I advance, follow me!
"If I retreat, kill me! If I die, avenge me!"
I read that in shipwrecks when the sailors lacked food,
they sacrificed one man to save the rest.
I thought I would sacrifice myself for my father.
Everything led me to this act, even the mystery of Redemption.
After my dark decision, I began to execute my plan.
I wanted to write the story of my parents,
stating the crime first and ending with my reasons.
Then I would commit my act, mail my writings and then kill myself.
But Aimée tried to see my text. Afraid she had, I burnt it.
I knew I could only write of their lives in secret,
giving my reasons later.
I rose to write at night,
but almost always fell asleep and wrote little.
So I gave it up,
thinking that after the crime I would be hanged,
could make a statement then,
saying I'd died for Father and that women will never triumph.
There was Jael versus Sirara, Judith versus Holofernes,
Charlotte Corday versus Marat.
Today women are in command in the Age of Enlightenment.
Our nation of liberty obeys women.
The civilised Romans gave a man the right to slay his wife.
The Hurons, Hottentots and Algonquins were equally civilised.
They never debased force.
The strongest always made their laws.
I thought it would glorify me to oppose my judges
and the entire world.
I thought of Bonaparte in 1815.
He killed thousands to satisfy his whims.
It was unfair to let live a woman who upset my father so.
I thought I would be world-famous. My death would glorify me.
The future would adopt my ideas and vindicate me.
I thought I must appear before my judges after my crime,
dressed in my Sunday best
and ready to go to Vire after it was over.
On Sunday, May 24, I went to Gabin Laforge, our regular smithy in Aunay.
The next Saturday, Father and Grandma went to town.
All dressed up?
I'm going to town.
I planned to do it the next day when my father had company
who could prevent him from doing himself harm.
With all the men she sees, his life's not safe!
Never abandon your father!
He'll never let you be sent away!
I had a chance
but was retained by my cowardice.
... who proudly with his crop did fill her
Barrels till they had overflown
Nine months later, the grain had grown!
I would hide and take my Sunday clothes and do it during the week.
Not on Monday. I had to plough with Quévillon.
Next day, it was Father's turn.
What do you want?
Sing us a hymn!
Why?
To teach us the tune.
What for?
I'd like to learn it!
The next morning I pretended to vomit.
I told my grandmother I couldn't plough.
My father went instead.
But Jules had just left for school.
I would have to wait too long.
I decided my apparel was unimportant
and I could explain without a proper suit.
Pierre's come back!
Where you going?
Your father don't pay you enough?
If you wanna go elsewhere, say so!
Say so instead of sneaking away!
And you got no money!
What're you scheming?
To abandon your father?
He used to say he'd sacrifice all to make you a priest!
Or to teach you a trade!
He doesn't have too many hands to help him!
He can be glad to have you!
If you quit him, it'll help your mother against him!
She'll tell the judge,
"His own children don't wanna stay with him!"
Don't get worked up for so little!
Why'd you wanna leave?
It's nothing!
Never mind!
Want me to put the soup on?
There's something wrong!
You can explain to your father.
I'll explain.
The manuscript you have been preparing
since your interrogation on the 9th
contains only the truth?
Yes.
19 JULY 1835, SECOND QUESTIONING OF PIERRE RIVlÈRE
It seems you enjoyed scaring little children.
It happened often,
but I meant them no harm.
It happened very often.
Therefore, you enjoyed seeing their fear and hearing their cries?
It amused me a bit.
But I meant them no harm!
The inquiry proves certain facts that show you have ferocious instincts.
You often crucified frogs and young birds.
What feeling made you do such things?
Pleasure.
A very deep pleasure,
because it has been shown you almost always had nails in your pockets
in order to provide you when possible with your desired pleasure.
You spent hours contemplating your victims
and laughing at their pain?
It did amuse me.
Perhaps I did laugh, but I felt no great pleasure.
Didn't you once threaten to cut off with a scythe
the legs of your brother Jean, today deceased?
I never intended to harm him.
I don't recall the circumstances,
but if it's true, it was only a joke.
You have always been extremely obstinate.
A few days before the crime, why did you try
to drive your cart and horse onto the top of the manure heap
for no reason, when it was obvious you would injure or kill your horse?
I was certain he could climb it
and thus do the job faster.
About two years ago it seems you cruelly killed a jay
belonging to your brother Prosper. The poor boy was very fond of it.
I had nothing to do with its death.
I used to feed it.
You were 18 at the time.
Why then did you do something only children do?
With some little children and the pomp of a real funeral,
you buried the jay and wrote its epitaph?
True. It was amusing.
What was the epitaph?
"Here lies Prosper's jay, Charly,
"a native of the Big Yos, died..."
On the other side I wrote,
"Once he was among the living.
"A human, to him, his care was giving.
"Hope said that one day, in his language,
everyone would pay him homage.
"And he's dead!"
Didn't you once tell your father
you were going to do like the cattle
and lift your tail?
I said that
but then I ran away for a drink.
It was very hot. It was a joke.
But after a long search,
your father found you in the barn completely naked?
It wasn't the same day.
My clothes had been soaked by a rainstorm.
My parents were away, and the house was locked,
so I undressed in the barn.
Why did you choose "caliben" to designate the implement in your text,
an instrument for killing birds?
I imagined the word.
I wanted a word that meant no other object.
Why did you and the children bury it?
I buried it alone.
When I unburied it, I told the children,
and they followed me.
Why did you bury it?
I had worked on it a long time
and didn't want to destroy it.
I buried it to save it.
Do you know this object?
It's the weapon of my crime.
What!
It doesn't make you shed a tear?
I am resigned to my death.
To explain my character,
I shall summarise my own life and thoughts up until today.
Incest horrified me and kept me away from female relatives.
When I came too near them,
I made signs to atone for the evil I thought I'd had.
This grieved Father and Grandma.
I was said to abhor other women,
but feared most for Grandma and my sister.
Asked about the signs I made, I eluded the question,
saying it was to repel Satan.
That lasted a year and then faded away.
I clearly saw how people looked at me.
Most of them ridiculed me.
Above all, when I encountered young girls,
I could find no words to say.
Seeing I couldn't conquer this, I scorned those who scorned me.
I tried to spite Margrie's girl who'd forced a kiss upon me,
by writing a song to dishonour her.
I decided to invent new implements.
For killing birds, I made one never seen before.
I called it a "caliben".
I worked on it Sundays and evenings.
As it was not the success I expected,
I buried it in a field
and then unburied it. It is still at home.
I also tried to make a butter churn
that ran by itself,
and a car that ran alone, using only my imagination.
I associated with children of 9 or 10 more than those of my age.
I made them crossbows.
I was caught with one. Though I said it was to make me seem crazy,
it was not truly made for that.
I crucified frogs and birds.
I used a second torture to make them perish.
I pinned them to trees with three nails in the belly.
I called it "empallifying".
I often walked alone through markets and meetings
to listen to masters and servants talking.
I wanted to educate myself.
I thought if I'd had money,
I would buy books and Father Gautier's full course
on reading, writing, arithmetic,
geometry, geography, history, music,
French, Latin and Italian
for a total of 60 francs.
I felt I was better than others.
I was ashamed to say it until now,
but I wanted to rise above my station.
AUTUMN 1835
CALVADOS ASSIZES, 11 NOVEMBER 1835
Look at it!
Stained with the blood of your mother, sister and brother!
I'm anxious to die.
Why did you strike your brother?
You hated the innocent boy?
He loved Mother,
and I wanted Father to hate me,
so he'd not regret losing me.
You love your father so?
I'd gladly die for his happiness.
I'll sum up.
DR BOUCHARD
Pierre Rivière is not deranged, for two reasons.
First, after studying his physical state,
I found no cause for upset to his brain functions.
Second, his mental state cannot be classified
in any accepted category.
He is not a monomaniac.
He does not rave about one sole topic.
He is not a maniac in a typically agitated state,
not an idiot, for he wrote a sensible statement.
And it is easy to see he is not demented!
Thus Pierre Rivière is not insane.
I'll sum up.
DR VASTEL
Since early childhood, Pierre Rivière has been mentally alienated.
Its cause lies in the Rivière family itself,
where madness is hereditary.
It is fully shown in the calm with which he killed
and then spoke of it immediately after.
His written statement
in no way excludes any alienation prior to the homicides.
His return to healthier thoughts
may not be long-lived.
If he is not guilty, he is at least dangerous.
Society has the right to demand
not the miserable man's punishment,
for without moral liberty there is no guilt,
but his seclusion through administrative action
as the only means of assurance
against any ulterior acts by this insane man.
MEMBERS OF THE JURY
GUILLAUME DUROSEY, MEDICAL DOCTOR
He witnessed his parents' disputes at a very early age.
He soon made up his mind.
JACQUES GILLOT, LAND OWNER
His mother didn't find favour with him.
He even refused to live with her.
He felt nothing but hate for her.
CONSTANT DUPONT, ATTORNEY
But still, it was not enough. He wanted to dispense justice.
FRANÇOIS EUGUEHARD, MEDICAL DOCTOR
Thanks to his bloodthirsty instinct, he found the instrument.
AUGUSTE LONDE, WINE MERCHANT
You know in what terrible circumstances
LOUIS LE THOREL, MERCHANT
he ended the life of she who had given him life.
THÉODORE GOSSELIN, LAWYER
No, Pierre Rivière is no more a monster than a martyr!
He is a sick, unhappy, incomplete soul!
He is not fully aware of his acts.
PIERRE LEFEVRE DUFRESNE, LAND OWNER
Therefore, he cannot be held fully responsible for them.
ANNE-MARIE DE FAUDOAS, COUNCILLOR
And because his affection was new and unknown,
LOUIS LEROUX, LAND OWNER
he was called a monster,
whose ferocious instincts had to be eliminated,
LOUIS DE BECHEREL, COUNCILLOR
without considering that hesitation should have been applied
since, when taking such decisions,
JEAN-BAPTISTE JAMES, LAND OWNER
a human life is at stake!
The jury deliberated for three hours.
16 NOVEMBER 1835, COURT GAZETTE
At 1.45 in the morning,
they returned a verdict of guilty.
To the amazement of all,
the court sentenced Pierre Rivière to death for parricide.
Yet, perhaps fearing the heavy sentence
inflicted on a man who admitted
never being in full possession of his senses,
the jury met and asked that the sentence be commuted.
Pierre Rivière tried to put an end to his life.
22 NOVEMBER 1835, THE CALVADOS PILOT
Steps were taken to prevent a second suicide attempt.
He was locked in a dungeon.
We, the undersigned, Esquirol, head of medicine at Charenton,
Orfila, Dean of the Paris School of Medicine,
Marc, the King's Doctor,
DELIBERATION IN PARIS
Pariset, Secretary to the Royal Medical Academy,
ON PIERRE RIVlÈRE'S MENTAL CONDITION
Rostan, Professor of Medicine,
Mitivié, doctor at La Salpêtrière,
and Leuret, medical doctor
do not share the opinion of Dr Bouchard.
We approve of the conclusions of Dr Vastel
and unanimously state
that first, since the age of four, Pierre Rivière has
constantly shown signs of mental alienation.
Second, his alienation persists, though less intense
since the homicides he committed,
and third, the homicides were due solely to delirium.
Resolved in Paris, Dec 25th, 1835.
Rivière's prison statement is on sale in Caen
9 MARCH 1836, MEMORIAL DU CALVADOS
at Mancel's, rue St-Jean, for 75 centimes.
I killed them in her house and then
wanted the glory of being the first to tell the news in Vire.
To avoid arrest, I went through the woods.
As I walked, my courage and ideas of glory waned.
In the woods I regained my senses.
Could I be such a monster? How could I have done it?
It must be a dream!
Abyss, open beneath my feet!
Earth, swallow me!
Poor Mother and Sister! Guilty in a way, perhaps,
but were their ideas as evil as mine?
Unhappy child who ploughed with me,
leading the horse alone!
They are annihilated!
Never to appear again!
I no longer wished to express my ideas in Vire.
Shattered, I went on blindly.
I had not eaten since Wednesday.
I had only 70 centimes in my pocket.
I decided to kill myself,
afraid my father might be accused as an accomplice,
but my fear of God stopped me.
I accepted my situation. My evil act was irreparable.
I ate herbs such as cuckoo bread, sorrel and mushrooms.
I would live on herbs and roots while awaiting the future.
The berries were not ripe,
so I went to the seashore to live on crabs, mussels and oysters.
I left Friday, and travelled at night.
I arrived Tuesday afternoon.
9 JUNE
I ate some crabs but saw they were unsuitable for me.
I returned to the roots in the woods.
Marianne Beauvais, a servant at Dupont's, saw me pass,
but I didn't stop.
Watch out for the police!
Thursday, I was back in the woods.
Feeling only folly had made me commit my act,
I decided to give myself up to justice.
I intended to say I'd been absorbed
by my father's troubles
and seen angels who gave me God's order to do it,
but that I immediately repented.
13 JUNE
I asked for the police chief's address.
Seeing their indifference, I returned to the woods.
I wandered about.
Finally I took the road to Cherbourg.
I planned to swim to an island belonging to England,
though I might drown in the attempt.
Believing it impossible, I returned to the woods.
Again I ate herbs and roots and tried not to think of my misfortune.
14-18 JUNE
I recited my prayers and looked at nature.
I examined the stars.
I thought I would see Halley's Comet.
I spent several days there.
Again I decided to give myself up to justice.
21 JUNE
You did a bad thing, boy. Don't go that way!
You'll be arrested!
I thought, "That's what I want!"
I was so hungry I tied my kerchief around my stomach
so I could walk more easily.
I still thought I'd be arrested.
Sunday at Flers, I dug for broom in a ditch.
Passers-by were amazed,
but no one stopped me. Someone gave me bread and cider.
28 JUNE
I bought a watch crystal
for 20 centimes to make a fire with the sun.
It did not work, so I broke it.
I bought some tinder and sulphur,
and with some flint found by the road,
I lit a fire and cooked a redwing I caught.
Sunday, I reached Langannerie.
After eating the redwing,
I made a crossbow.
I found a nail on the road.
I sharpened it with my knife and put it on the tip of an arrow.
I spent four days in the woods, thinking,
"I'll be caught or I'll live like this, or I'll die."
2 JULY, 1835
Where are you from, friend?
Everywhere.
- Identity? - I've no papers.
- Going where? - God leads me, and I adore Him.
What's your name?
Rivière.
Come with me. I want a word.
You killed your ma?
God ordered me to do it. I obeyed Him. He protects me.
Show me what you got there!
Now that I see what a monster I am and have explained my crimes,
I await my fate.
I know the Penal Code concerning parricide
and accept it to atone for my faults.
If only I could again see the victims of my cruelty alive,
even if I had to endure the worst ordeals...
But that is useless.
I can only follow them.
I await the penalty I merit and the day that will end my resentment.
THE CALVADOS PILOT, 22 OCTOBER 1840
Rivière, condemned to death a few years ago
and then sentenced to life imprisonment,
hanged himself in Beaulieu Prison.
For some time he thought himself dead and took no care of his body.
He wanted his throat to be cut,
saying it would not hurt as he was already dead.
If it was not done, he threatened to kill everyone.
Thus he was isolated from other prisoners.
This enabled him to commit suicide.
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