"They looked like such nice girls"
The infamous photo of Léa and Christine Papin taken weeks before the brutal murders depicted in My Sister in this House.
Sisters Christine (March 8, 1905 – May 18, 1937) and Léa Papin (September 15, 1911 – July 24, 2001) were employed as live-in maids for the Lancelin family in Le Mans, France in 1933.
When Monsieur Lancelin returned to his home on the night of February 2nd, he was met with a gruesome sight. His wife and daughter had been brutally murdered, and blood and body parts littered the stairwell. Rumors that the sisters were lovers further fuelled the mystery of crazed and unnatural women who had committed two heinous crimes (a double murder and an incestuous affair) in the middle of a sleepy and safe town.
The Women
The Papins
Christine and Léa Papin were born to Clémence and Gustave Papin in Le Mans, France. Reportedly, Clemence was a less than affectionate mother, and combined with Gustave's alcoholism, their childhood was not pleasant.
Clémence and Gustave eventually moved away from Le Mans, leaving Christine and Léa to be brought up in the home of an aunt, and eventually sent to a Christian orphanage, where they reportedly suffered abuse.
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Christine was the older of the two sisters. It was often remarked upon that though often stubborn, she was a hard worker and a good cook.
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Léa on the other hand was of slightly lower intelligence than her sister, and she was known to be introverted, quiet, and obedient.
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The sisters rarely left the house except on Sundays for church, preferring instead to spend their free time alone in their shared room.
The Lancelins
From 1926 until the murder in 1933, the Papin sisters worked as live-in maids in the home Monsieur Lancelin, a retired lawyer, his wife Léonie, and their adult daughter Geneviève. The Lancelin family was considered respectable and ordinary, and though accounts vary of their treatment of the Papin sisters, most sources agree that the maids were paid a fair working wage.
The Murder
The Crime of the Century
Around 5:30 on the night of February 2, 1933, the Lancelin women arrived home to a mostly dark house. A faulty iron had blown the fuse for the second time in a week. Angry, Madame Lancelin accused the girls of causing the damage. A dispute ensued, and overcome with rage the Papin sisters attacked the Lancelin women, bludgeoning them with a pewter mug before running to get a butcher's knife from the kitchen.
The Gruesome Details
warning: graphic content
When the police entered the Lancelin household on the evening of February 2, 1933, they were met with a shocking sight. The bloody bodies of the two Lancelin women lay prone on the staircase, covered in wounds.
The majority of the injuries were on the faces and heads of the Lancelin women. However, notably, the legs and buttocks of Geneviève revealed deep knife lacerations. The faces of the mother and daughter had been brutalized to the point of obscurity. Teeth were found scattered throughout the room, and one of Geneviéve’s eyes sat on the top stair, optical nerve and all.
According to Papin Sisters: The Shocking Housemaids’ Crime That Shook France, "Investigators later found the other eye under her body. Hidden within the folds of the Madame’s neck scarf were both of her eyes. Madame Lancelin was lying on her back with her legs apart and only one shoe on. Geneviève’s body was facing down. Next to her right hip lay a bloody kitchen knife with a dark handle. Blood covered the entire scene and had even splattered the walls two meters above the bodies."
warning: graphic content
The Aftermath
The Trial
The brutal tale details of the murder became the subject national and international fascination. Theories abounded, ranging from motives of class, to an incestuous homosexual rage, to a diagnosis of psychosis. During their pretrial imprisonment, the sisters kept the news cycle spinning. Christine was often reported to cry out for her sister, and roll around on the floor of her cell. When not begging to be reunited with Léa, she allegedly experienced hallucinations, once even attempting to gouge her own eyes out. On the night before the trial, Christine confessed to killing the women alone, stating that her sister had nothing to do with the murder. The judge dismissed this confession on the grounds that Léa maintained her own guilt.
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The trial took place in September of 1933 and was attended by scores of public and press. The girls denied having had a sexual relationship, but never made any attempt to deny the murders. Both girls were found guilty of murder and Christine was sentenced to death by guillotine (though the sentence was later commuted to life in prison). Léa was sentenced to ten years of hard labor, because doctors concluded that Geneviève had died before Léa had joined in.
What Happened Next
Christine's health deteriorated rapidly in prison. Distressed at being separated from her sister, she refused to eat, had fits and was eventually transferred to an asylum where she died in 1937.
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Léa served eight years in prison and was released on good behavior. She moved to Nantes, France and got a job as a chambermaid under an assumed name. She lived a quiet life and died in 2001 at the age of 100.
News Coverage
The papers in France and around the world were buzzing with sensationalized accounts of the murders, the trial and of the murderesses themselves. The Papin sisters made headlines, with speculation ranging from what was going through Christine's head in the hours leading up to the murder to whether or not the death penalty would be carried out.