Edme Castaing
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Edme-Samuel Castaing (1796 – 6 December 1823) was a French physician and is thought to have been the first person to use
morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...
to commit murder.Mingo, Jack and Barrett, Erin, "Doctors Killed George Washington - Hundreds Of Fascinating Facts From The World Of Medicine", Conari Press (2001). P 104


Early life

Castaing was born in
Alençon Alençon (, , ; nrf, Alençoun) is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people). History The name of Alençon is firs ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the youngest of the three sons of an inspector-general in the department of Woods and Forests. He went to school in
Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...
, where he was an outstanding student, winning many prizes. He graduated from the School of Medicine in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, becoming a doctor in 1821, by which time he had fathered two children with his mistress, the widow of a judge. He was under financial pressure, which became further exacerbated by a friend's debt of 600
franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (Style of the French sovereign, King of the Franks) used on early France, ...
s, for which he had vouched in 1818 and which became due in 1820.


Murders and fraud

He befriended two wealthy lawyer brothers, Hippolyte and Auguste Ballet. In October 1822 Hippolyte died from a sudden illness, leaving 260,000 francs to be split between his brother Auguste and their sister. Castaing, who had been treating Hippolyte, and another doctor conducted the autopsy, concluding that he had died of
pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...
aggravated by
consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
. On September 18, it was later shown in court, Castaing had purchased 10
grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes ...
of
acetate An acetate is a salt (chemistry), salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. Alkali metal, alkaline, Alkaline earth metal, earthy, Transition metal, metallic, nonmetallic or radical Radical (chemistry), base). "Acetate" als ...
of morphia. Two days later on October 7, Auguste cashed 100,000 francs of stocks, which he was later seen giving to Castaing. Auguste would later claim that this was to be used as a bribe to get the family lawyer, Lebret, to destroy a will by Hippolyte that favoured the brothers' sister. On October 10 though, Castaing gave a stockbroker 66,000 francs to invest, then on the 11th he sent his mother 30,000 francs and on the 14th gave his mistress 4,000 francs. On December 1, 1822, Auguste made out a will with Castaing as sole
legatee A legatee, in the law of wills, is any individual or organization bequeathed any portion of a testator A testator () is a person who has written and executed a last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person ...
. It was deposited with Castaing's cousin, a
notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...
's clerk, on May 29, 1823. That same day, Castaing and Auguste went on holiday to the countryside near Saint Germain and spent the next day back in Paris in
Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest towns ...
, where Auguste fell ill. Castaing had that day purchased 36 grains of morphia. The next day, on June 1, Auguste died. The following day Castaing was arrested and a post-mortem was held. Though it deemed Auguste to have died from natural causes, Castaing was not released.


Arrest and trial

Castaing was taken to Paris, where an investigation commenced that lasted five months. For the first three days Castaing feigned
insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...
but soon gave it up. He was then moved to
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
prison. His trial commenced before the Paris
Assize Court The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...
on November 10, 1823, and lasted eight days. He was charged with the murder of Hippolyte Ballet, the destruction of a document containing the final dispositions of Hippolyte's property, and with the murder of Auguste Ballet. The three charges were to be tried simultaneously. The ''acte d'accusation'' (
indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...
) against Castaing consisted of a hundred closely printed pages. Castaing was defended by two advocates: Roussel, a schoolfellow of his, and the famous
Pierre-Antoine Berryer Pierre-Antoine Berryer (4 January 179029 November 1868) was a French advocate and parliamentary orator. He was the twelfth member elected to occupy Seat Four of the Académie française in 1852. Biography Early years Berryer was born in Paris, t ...
, though the latter's speech is not considered one of his most successful ones. According to Irving, Berryer "gave personal testimony as to the taste of acetate of morphia. He said that with the help of his own chemist he had put a quarter of a grain of the acetate into a large spoonful of
milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
, and had found it so insupportably
bitter Bitter may refer to: Common uses * Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience * Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes Books * '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...
to the taste that he could not keep it in his mouth." Much hinged on the lack of morphia in the bodies of the deceased. In his concluding address, Berryer "quoted the words addressed by one of the Kings of France to his judges: "When God has not vouchsafed clear proof of a crime, it is a sign that He does not wish that man should determine it, but leaves its judgment to a higher tribunal."' Medical opinions differed as to the nature of the poison used in the murders. The jury took two hours to decide the verdict. They found Castaing innocent of the murder of Hippolyte but guilty of destroying his will and guilty by seven votes to five of the murder of Auguste. Castaing, in a last statement before being sentenced said:
I shall know how to die, though I am the victim of ill-fortune, of fatal circumstance. I shall go to meet my two friends. I am accused of having treacherously murdered them. There is a Providence above us! If there is such a thing as an immortal soul, I shall see Hippolyte and Auguste Ballet again. This is no empty declamation; I don't ask for human pity. I look to God's mercy, and shall go joyfully to the scaffold. My conscience is clear.


Execution

After a failed appeal and a
suicide attempt A suicide attempt is an attempt to die by suicide that results in survival. It may be referred to as a "failed" or "unsuccessful" suicide attempt, though these terms are discouraged by mental health professionals for implying that a suicide res ...
(using poison hidden inside a watch, which was brought to him in prison by a friend), he was executed on December 6, 1823. In the
Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...
novel ''
The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. Li ...
'', Albert de Moncerf tells Franz d'Epinay and the Count that he witnessed the execution of Castaing.


See also

* John Bodkin Adams – doctor suspected of murdering his patients with morphine *
Harold Shipman Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known by the public as Doctor Death and to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner and serial killer. He is considered to be one of the most prolif ...
 – doctor convicted of murdering his patients with morphine *
List of serial killers before 1900 The following is a list of serial killers i.e. a person who murders more than one person, in two or more separate events over a period of time, for primarily psychological reasons''Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying'' entry o"Serial Killer ...


References


Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castaing, Edme 1796 births 1823 deaths People from Alençon Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients Poisoners 19th-century French physicians French people convicted of murder People executed by the Bourbon dynasty of the Kingdom of France People executed for murder People convicted of fraud Executed people from Normandy 1822 murders in France