Gilles Garnier: Werewolf or Just a Murderer?

Missing children. Murders. Trials. Executions. Do these sound like they were ripped from this year's headlines? They very well could have been. However, these horror stories have been happening much longer than we'd probably like to admit. Even in the 1500s societies had to deal with these problems.

In the small French village Dole, the year of 1572 was quite traumatic. In mere months, the village lost four children who were attacked by a wolf. Each were found mutilated and without clothes. One boy even had a leg completely separated from his body; the wounds on all four children showed teeth marks.

The "wolf" was quickly identified. Villagers believed Gilles Garnier, a hermit, had bargained with the devil in exchange for an ointment that would turn him into a violent wolf. Whether there was such an ointment or not, over fifty witnesses placed Garnier at the scenes of the crimes. All witnesses claimed they saw him attack the children.

According to Garnier, following the feast of Saint Michael he took the form of a wolf and, in a vineyard, attacked a ten-year-old girl. He then carried some of her home to his wife.

Just eight days later he attacked another little girl in the same area. He used his hands and teeth in the attack, and would have commenced consuming the girl on the spot if it weren't for three individuals intervening.

Only seven days later, Gilles Garnier set his sights on a young boy. He attacked the boy in much the same way his previous victims were attacked. Again, he was about to eat the boy when he was stopped by passersby. The court was especially shocked that this took place on a Friday (eating meat on a Friday was not allowed by their church).

Gilles Garnier was arrested for being a loupgarou (werewolf) who had committed gruesome crimes in the presence of others. Lycanthropy, coming from the Latin words for "man" and "wolf", often referred to a violent, insane person who acted like a wolf. At that time however, it was very common for peasants, officials, and even criminals to openly believe these individuals didn't act like wolves, they were werewolves. Werewolves, or lycanthropy, was regarded as one of the worst social problems.

In 1573, following his open confession of his crimes, the court sent him to the master executioner, requesting that Garnier be quickly reduced to ashes. The executioner burned him at the stake.

Sources:
The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers; Schechter, Harold and Everitt, David; Pocket Books, 2006.
The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings; Steiger, Brad; Visible Ink Press, 1999.