Hypnotism & Murder: The Bloody Trunk of Eyraud & Bompard
09/06/23 • 83 min
4 Listeners
Amid the opulence of Belle Époque France, a trial took place that threatened to unravel the very meaning of human legal justice. Michel Eyraud and Gabrielle Bompard, two French citizens living their lives quietly in Paris were launched into the spotlight following the discovery of a decomposing corpse, the reconstruction of a destroyed wooden trunk and an international manhunt. Whilst their names eventually disappeared into obscurity, the crime they were involved in left an indelible mark of legal history, as the first case using hypnosis as defence for murder, offering the jury the unique opportunity to not only decide the fate of the convicted, but to reshape the legal definition of free will in a courtroom forever.
SOURCES
Levingston, Stephen (2014) Little Demon in the City of Light. Doubleday Publishing, London, UK.
The Daily Telegraph (1889) Paris Day By Day. The Daily Telegraph, Wed 25 Dec 1889, p5. London, UK.
The Standard (1890) The Trial of Michel Eyraud and Gabrielle Bompard. Wed 17 Dec 1890, p5. London, UK.
The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) The Extraordinary Paris Murder Trial. Thurs 18 Dec 1890, p6. London, UK.
The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) The Eyraud-Bompard Murder Trial. Fri 19 Dec 1890, p6. London, UK.
The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) The Eyraud-Bompard Murder Trial. Sat 20 Dec 1890, p5. London, UK.
The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) Eyraud-Bompard Murder Trial - Sentences. Mon 22 Dec 1890, p7. London, UK.
Corydon Hammond, D. (2013) A Review of the History of Hypnosis Through the 19th Century. American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Routledge, USA.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.
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For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com
Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories
The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories
Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9
Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast
Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories
& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/
Or you can contact us directly via email at [email protected]
or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf
The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye
Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017
Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Amid the opulence of Belle Époque France, a trial took place that threatened to unravel the very meaning of human legal justice. Michel Eyraud and Gabrielle Bompard, two French citizens living their lives quietly in Paris were launched into the spotlight following the discovery of a decomposing corpse, the reconstruction of a destroyed wooden trunk and an international manhunt. Whilst their names eventually disappeared into obscurity, the crime they were involved in left an indelible mark of legal history, as the first case using hypnosis as defence for murder, offering the jury the unique opportunity to not only decide the fate of the convicted, but to reshape the legal definition of free will in a courtroom forever.
SOURCES
Levingston, Stephen (2014) Little Demon in the City of Light. Doubleday Publishing, London, UK.
The Daily Telegraph (1889) Paris Day By Day. The Daily Telegraph, Wed 25 Dec 1889, p5. London, UK.
The Standard (1890) The Trial of Michel Eyraud and Gabrielle Bompard. Wed 17 Dec 1890, p5. London, UK.
The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) The Extraordinary Paris Murder Trial. Thurs 18 Dec 1890, p6. London, UK.
The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) The Eyraud-Bompard Murder Trial. Fri 19 Dec 1890, p6. London, UK.
The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) The Eyraud-Bompard Murder Trial. Sat 20 Dec 1890, p5. London, UK.
The Pall Mall Gazette (1890) Eyraud-Bompard Murder Trial - Sentences. Mon 22 Dec 1890, p7. London, UK.
Corydon Hammond, D. (2013) A Review of the History of Hypnosis Through the 19th Century. American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Routledge, USA.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.
-------
For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com
Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories
The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories
Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9
Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast
Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories
& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/
Or you can contact us directly via email at [email protected]
or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf
The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye
Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017
Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Previous Episode
The Assassination of Orléans: The Rise & Fall of a Medieval Detective
2 RecommendationsOn the eve of the worst winter for over a century and with France on the brink of war with the English, the 1400s in Paris were a tumultuous period. With a mentally unstable king and a collection of dukes, lords and nobles all vying for power in the background, catastrophe was only a single assassination away. Which is exactly what happened on the night of St Clements Day, 1407, when the Duke of Orleans was jumped by a gang of mysterious hooded men on his way to the palace, leaving the head of the investigation with a difficult choice to make, turn a blind eye to the crime and forgo any semblance of integrity, or uphold the law and throw the country into civil war.
SOURCES
Adams, Tracy & Rechtschaffen, Glenn (2013) Isabeau of Bavaria, Anne of France, and the History of Female Regency in France. Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Volume 8, Fall 2013.
Jager, Eric (2014) Blood Royal: A True Tale of Crime and Detection in Medieval Paris. Little Brown & Co. NY, USA.
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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.
-------
For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com
Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories
The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories
Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9
Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast
Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories
& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/
Or you can contact us directly via email at [email protected]
or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf
The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye
Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017
Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Next Episode
The Haunting of Hinton Ampner
1 RecommendationsIn an old estate situated just outside Chichester, on the South coast of England sits the HInton Ampner manor house. Rebuilt several times over its 1000 year existence, its current iteration is an innocuous brick building with little in common with the Tudor mansion that stood before and no hints to its creepy past. Once considered by the locals to be haunted, it was the site of an old gothic style haunting, a hundred years before they were all the rage of Victorian readers. Suggested by many to be the influence for Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, the haunting of Hinton Ampner was a ghost story that took place long before its time.
SOURCES
Doubleday, Herbert Arthur (1901) A History of Hampshire & The Isle of Wight, Vol I. Victoria County History, London, UK.
Page, William (1908) A History of the County of Hampshire, Vol III. Victoria County History, London, UK.
Price, Harry (1945) Poltergeist Over England: Three Centuries of Mischievous Ghosts. Country Life Ltd. London, UK.
Parsil, Tim (2022) Certain Nocturnal Disturbances: Ghost Hunting Before the Victorians. Brom Bones Books, UK.
The Gentleman’s Magazine (1872) A Hampshite ghost Story. The Gentleman’s Magazine, v.233 1872 Jul-Dec. London, UK.
Lindley, Charles, Lord Halifax (1936) Lord Halifax’s Ghost Book. Geoffrey Bles, London, UK.
Howard, Catherine Mary (1838) Reminiscences For My Children. Charles Thurnham, London, UK.
Barnham, Richard (1870) The Life and Letters of the Rev. Richard Harris Barnham. Richard Bentley, London, UK.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.
-------
For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com
Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories
The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories
Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9
Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast
Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories
& Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/
Or you can contact us directly via email at [email protected]
or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf
The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye
Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017
Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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