Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Lonely Hearts Serial Killer


Listen Later

Henri Landru, known as ‘Bluebeard’ to the French public, was executed by guillotine on 25th February, 1922, having murdered at least ten women he dated during the First World War.


He continued to protest his innocence throughout his sensational trial - despite having drawn a detailed doodle of the oven he had used to burn his victims’ bodies.


In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick Landru’s disturbing methodology; uncover why France’s top defense attorney was attracted to the case; and explain what it all had to do with Rudyard Kipling… 


Further Reading:

  • ‘The Story Of Henri Landru, France's Charming Bluebeard Serial Killer’ (All That’s Interesting, 2017): https://allthatsinteresting.com/henri-landru
  • ‘Hidden for 100 years, the untold story of serial killer who preyed on lonely war widows’ (Mail Online, 2019): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6511793/Hidden-100-years-untold-story-serial-killer-preyed-lonely-war-widows.html
  • ‘Bluebeard's 10 Honeymoons’ (Anglo Allied Pictures, 1960): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrfmrucyKGo

  • For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors

    We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors


    The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

    Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.

    Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. 


    #20s #Person #Crime #War #Macabre #France


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Today In History with The RetrospectorsBy The Retrospectors

    • 4.5
    • 4.5
    • 4.5
    • 4.5
    • 4.5

    4.5

    103 ratings


    More shows like Today In History with The Retrospectors

    View all
    The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman

    The Allusionist

    3,017 Listeners

    More or Less by BBC Radio 4

    More or Less

    881 Listeners

    Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 by BBC Radio 4

    Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

    236 Listeners

    The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

    The Infinite Monkey Cage

    1,965 Listeners

    Answer Me This! by Helen and Olly

    Answer Me This!

    827 Listeners

    No Such Thing As A Fish by No Such Thing As A Fish

    No Such Thing As A Fish

    4,871 Listeners

    Comedy of the Week by BBC Radio 4

    Comedy of the Week

    487 Listeners

    Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

    Curious Cases

    829 Listeners

    The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann by The Week Unwrapped

    The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann

    76 Listeners

    Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

    Evil Genius with Russell Kane

    373 Listeners

    The Modern Mann by Olly Mann

    The Modern Mann

    148 Listeners

    You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

    You're Dead to Me

    3,162 Listeners

    Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries

    Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

    5,171 Listeners

    We Can Be Weirdos by Global

    We Can Be Weirdos

    193 Listeners

    Lunchbox Envy by Lunchbox Envy

    Lunchbox Envy

    52 Listeners