60 min listen
THE KILLING OF LITTLE SHEPHERDS-Douglas Starr
THE KILLING OF LITTLE SHEPHERDS-Douglas Starr
ratings:
Length:
63 minutes
Released:
Jan 27, 2011
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
A True Crime Story and The Birth of Forensic Science.
Starr eloquently juxtaposes the crimes of French serial killer Joseph Vacher and the achievements of famed criminologist Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne during France's belle époque. From 1894 to 1897, Vacher is thought to have raped, killed, and mutilated at least 25 people, though he would confess to only 11 murders. Lacassagne, who headed the department of legal medicine at the university in Lyon, was a pioneer in crime scene analysis, body decomposition, and early profiling, and investigated suspicious deaths, all in an era when rural autopsies were often performed on the victim's dinner table. Lacassagne's contributions to the burgeoning field of forensic science, as well as the persistence of investigating magistrate Émile Fourquet, who connected crimes while crisscrossing the French countryside, eventually brought Vacher to justice. Vacher claimed insanity, which then (as now) was a vexed legal issue. Lacassagne proved the "systematic nature" of the crimes. Starr, codirector of Boston University's Center for Science and Medical Journalism, creates tension worthy of a thriller; in Lacassagne, he portrays a man determined to understand the "how" behind some of humanity's most depraved and perhaps take us one step closer to the "why." THE KILLING OF LITTLE SHEPHERDS-A True Crime Story and The Birth of Forensic Science-Douglas Starr. www.douglasstarr.com
Starr eloquently juxtaposes the crimes of French serial killer Joseph Vacher and the achievements of famed criminologist Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne during France's belle époque. From 1894 to 1897, Vacher is thought to have raped, killed, and mutilated at least 25 people, though he would confess to only 11 murders. Lacassagne, who headed the department of legal medicine at the university in Lyon, was a pioneer in crime scene analysis, body decomposition, and early profiling, and investigated suspicious deaths, all in an era when rural autopsies were often performed on the victim's dinner table. Lacassagne's contributions to the burgeoning field of forensic science, as well as the persistence of investigating magistrate Émile Fourquet, who connected crimes while crisscrossing the French countryside, eventually brought Vacher to justice. Vacher claimed insanity, which then (as now) was a vexed legal issue. Lacassagne proved the "systematic nature" of the crimes. Starr, codirector of Boston University's Center for Science and Medical Journalism, creates tension worthy of a thriller; in Lacassagne, he portrays a man determined to understand the "how" behind some of humanity's most depraved and perhaps take us one step closer to the "why." THE KILLING OF LITTLE SHEPHERDS-A True Crime Story and The Birth of Forensic Science-Douglas Starr. www.douglasstarr.com
Released:
Jan 27, 2011
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
# 11-Through The Valley of the Shadow: The Search for the Abbotsford Killer: For half a year, the man who came to be known as the Abbotsford killer terrorized the valley community. On Friday, Oct. 13, 1995, two teenage girls - Tanya Smith, 16, and Misty Cockerill, 15 - were attacked by Terry Driver in the heart of the city.... by True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers