Marcel Petiot was a French doctor and serial killer who gained notoriety during World War II for murdering at least 26 people, although some estimates suggest the number may have been much higher. Operating under the guise of helping Jews and others escape Nazi-occupied France, Petiot lured his victims to his Paris home by promising safe passage to South America. Once there, he killed them—often with injections of cyanide—and disposed of their bodies using quicklime and incineration. The gruesome extent of his crimes was discovered in 1944 when neighbors complained of a foul odor emanating from his home, leading to the discovery of mutilated remains. Captured after a manhunt, Petiot was tried, found guilty of 26 murders, and guillotined in 1946. His case shocked wartime France and remains one of the country’s most infamous examples of a serial killer exploiting chaos for personal gain.

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