Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris

CHAPTER 21. “P.S. DESTROY ALL MY LETTERS”

1 “provisionally released” Réquisitoire définitif, December 31, 1945, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.

2 Massu, a firm believer Georges Massu, Aveux Quai des Orfèvres. Souvenirs du Commissaire Massu (Paris: La Tour Pointue, undated/1951), 151.

3 “I was almost arrested” … “P.S. Destroy” Marguerite Braunberger to juge d’instruction, September 6, 1944, printed in Jacques Perry and Jane Chabert, L’affaire Petiot (Paris: Gallimard, 1957), 62–63; AN 334, AP 65, 3378.

4 “ma chère amie” Ibid.

5 “Ma chère Maggi” Ibid; Marguerite Braunberger, Audition, December 4, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.

6 “a baptism or first communion” Ibid.

7 “either a genius or a madman” Raymond Vallée, Audition, December 5, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.

8 “I’m going to give” … anything else, other than Marguerite Braunberger, letter to juge d’instruction, September 6, 1944, and Report, December 11, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V. Marcel Braunberger confirmed receiving a letter as well. Marcel Braunberger, Audition, December 8, 1944, also in carton n° V.

9 she reported her husband’s disappearance Report, March 26, 1946, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.

10 The case was closed Braunberger dossier, No. 95, 543 closed on January 9, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.