Episode 305: Joseph LaPage, a French-Canadian rapist and necrophile known as the French Monster, was tried and hung in 1878 for the brutal, sexually motivated murder of Josie A. Langmaid, 17, in Pembroke, New Hampshire, in 1875. LaPage was also the sole suspect in the 1874 murder of Marietta N. Ball, a girl from St. Albans, Vermont. He was arrested for that crime; however, insufficient evidence prevented a trial, but the night before his execution, LaPage confessed to Marietta’s murder. Only weeks after LaPage was hanged, two more murders perpetrated in 1867, that of Mrs. George Fountie and her 16-year-old daughter, Minnie, from Saint-Alexandre, Quebec, were also tied to LaPage. It is believed that Joseph LaPage, with a long history of violent behaviour, is one of Canada’s earliest misogynistic serial killers, predating even Jack the Ripper.

Sources:

1878: Joseph LaPage, murderer of Josie Langmaid

Joseph LaPage | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Josie Langmaid-"The Murdered Maiden Student"

The Trial of Joseph LaPage | CURIOSity Digital Collections

The East Hill Murder (Marietta Ball, Part 1)

The Suncook Town Tragedy (Marietta Ball, Part 2)

Marietta Ball | Obscure Vermont

Marietta N Ball (1854-1874)

Josephine Ann “Josie” Langmaid (1857-1875) - Find...

Josie Langmaid Monument

The Murdered Maiden Student : A Tribute to the Memory of Miss Josie A. Langmaid by Rev. S. C. Keeler on James E. Arsenault & Company

How a Clairvoyant Caught Josie Langmaid's Murderer in 1875

The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, March 16, 1878

Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, March 20, 1878

St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, March 22, 1878

Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, March 22, 1878

The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, April 09, 1878

Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, April 09, 1878

The Boston Globe 09 Apr 1878

Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, March 23, 1878

Cold North Killers: Canadian Serial Murder

SuncookTragedy

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