While the Papin Sisters’ crime shocked the world in February 1933, their treatment as servants by a rich French family made authorities see their case as the symbol of a class struggle.
The Papin sisters, Lea and Christine Papin committed one of the most horrifying murders in France’s history. Nearly a century later, the crime committed by the Papin sisters remains a mystery.
Do you find this crime interesting and want to find answers? This video will give you a better understanding of what happened on the fateful day of 1933. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Who were the Papin Sisters?
The horrific story of the murders by Lea and Christine Papin has puzzled and disturbed French people to this day. While there are a lot of debates and theories surrounding what happened and the cause of their brutal actions, it is difficult to understand what led them to kill their employers.
They ripped the eyes of the victims, making their faces unrecognizable. Their genitals were mutilated, as they were believed to be motivated by blood lust, madness, or class warfare.
Family and Early Age
They belonged to a working-class and dysfunctional family. The Papin household was not that admirable. Their parents conflicted long before their children’s birth. They were the talk of the town. And even the birth of their first daughter, Emilia, had no celebration.
They were raised by uncles, aunts, and the Catholic orphanage. Christine had always wanted to become a nun like her older sister, Emilia. However, their mother didn’t want to.
Instead, Lea and Christine became a helper for wealthy families. And so the Papin sisters, both Lea and Christine, worked together. They took stay-in jobs as maids for Rene Lancelin, a retiree who used to live in Le Mans, France.
Lancelin lived with his wife, Leonie, and their daughter Genevieve. Well, things were going well while they worked for this wealthy family. They were treated well and ate the same food as the rest of the family.
They lived in heated rooms and were paid a standard wage. Christine was perhaps the favorite, as she was usually praised for her needlework and cooking skills.
But something went wrong in their employment that led to tragic actions. It was said that there were a lot of factors that played into increasing the tension in the household.
The issue is that the sisters worked for the family for about 14 hours a day and only had one half-day off every week. It was told that Leonie Lancelin was very demanding and usually performed a “white glove test” throughout the house and reprimanded the maids if they had failings and mistakes.
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What Happened at the Crime Scene?
It was dark and raining on the day of the crime. Léonie and Geneviève went shopping. The Lancelins were supposed to have dinner at their friend’s house. However, the mother and daughter went straight home instead of going out for dinner, where René would suppose to meet them.
Léonie and Geneviève were not expected to go home by the Papin Sisters until late in the evening. The Papin sisters continued with the errands, like picking up the iron from the repair shop.
When the faulty iron was plugged in, it blew a fuse, and the power went out. Since the family was not expected to go home, the Papin sisters decided to wait until the morning and have the fuse repaired.
But unexpectedly, the mother and daughter returned home and discovered that the house was dark. According to Christine, the mother was not pleased when told that the iron was broken and the electricity was shut. Rather than understanding the simple electric failure, this caused her a violent rage.
The Papin sisters testified that they told the mistress about what happened. However, she angrily attacked the Papin sisters on the stairs’ landing. At first, the sisters were defending themselves, especially when the daughter joined in the commotion.
But the self-defense quickly went into more than just self-defense. Christine smashed a jug onto the head of the mother, that’s why Geneviève entered and fought for her mother and attacked Christine!
Christine was angry, and in response, Christine turned to Genevieve and gouged her eyes out. Lea looked at Christine and rushed down from the attic to attack the mother. She looked at Christine and told her to do the same horrendous thing. Lea then tore the eyes Leonie from her head.
Once the women were blinded and couldn’t fight anymore, the Papin sisters beat them with a pitcher and hammer. Stabbed them with a knife they got from the kitchen until the mother and daughter lay silent.
The Papin sister lifted the victims’ skirts and cut their thighs and buttocks. Authorities at the crime scene later noted that the women’s bodies were like loaves of bread. What’s worse is that the sisters basted Léonie with Genevieve’s menstruation blood.
After the Crime
So now, let us know what happened after the crime.
After hours of the crime, the Papin sisters cleaned themselves and locked every door in the house. They only lit one candle in their room, retired with their weapons, and curled up under the sheets. They waited for René to come home.
Worried, René Lancelin returned home when his daughter and wife failed to show up for dinner. They found out all doors were locked, and the house was in darkness.
He contacted the police, who immediately responded to their house. With the police’s assistance, René was able to break into their home and found his wife and daughter lifeless.
The Papin sisters were both found naked in the bed together and immediately confessed to the crime they committed. They claimed that it was all self-defense!
Following the arrest of the Papin sisters, Christine’s behavior was outrage and paranoia, which only continued to bring them behind bars. On the other hand, Léa kept silent, reserved, and somewhat frightened.
And in and beyond the courtroom, discussions of the crime were always brought to the table.
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Wrapping Up
So, what are your insights into this crime committed by the Papin sisters?
Many believed the sisters had a psychotic disorder that caused them to murder the Lancelins. It was told that they kept hearing voices and paranoia that ended up snapping the Lancelins.
Knowing their family history, it was not considered a weak defense. However, many felt that the sisters’ actions were more of a rebellion against the wealthy. Their violent actions are a backlash for the callous, detached, and cold treatment of the Lancelins.
Some even idolized the women, making them feel like they were a lesson to elitist employers. But despite all these, it’s a sin to kill. For whatever reason, killing is inhumane.
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