GRISLY DISCOVERY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 61, 13 March 1944, Page 3

GRISLY DISCOVERY

Charred Remains Of Women

In Paris House

ANOTHER LANDRU CASE?

Rec! I"p.m.

LONDON, March 12,

A mystery reminiscent of the Landru case has been discovered in Paris, says the German radio. The police found the charred remains of at least 25 women in the cellar of an uninhabited house —No. 21, Rue le Seur, near the Arc de Triomphe. The owner of the house, Dr. Piot, who had been living elsewhere, was not home when the police called to see him. Neighbours complained of an inexplicable smell from the house in the Rue le Seur, after which the gas company sent experts to investigate. They found severed heads, arms and legs in the cellar. The police have so far found the remnants of clothing belonging to 25 women. They have also found 13 human limbs in a hole dug in the back yard.

Henri Landru "The French Bluebeard," murdered 10 women to whom he had promised marriage, and also the son of one, and burned the bodies in a kitchen stove. He was executed in 1921 after a sensational trial.