In the span of 7 years, one man terrorized an entire neighbourhood of Paris, France. Guy Georges was so notorious, and so unremorseful, he was given the moniker: The Beast of Bastille.
On October 15th, 1962, Guy Rampillon was born in Angers, France to a French mother, and an American father who worked as a book on NATO bases. At a very young age, Rampillon’s parents abandoned him. He was taken in by the DDASS, the French social welfare services, and placed with a foster family.
At the age of six, Guy Rampillon’s name was changed to Guy Georges, thinking that the name would be more appealing to adopting parents. Soon after, Georges was adopted by the Morin family. He grew up with them for a time – a mother, father, and 12 adopted children in all.
It could be said that the Morin parents were spread too thin, or that Georges was simply acting out, after having faced abandonment anxiety at such a young age. Either way, Georges’s behaviour soon became very troubling.
At the age of fourteen, in 1976, Georges attacked one of his foster sisters, Roselyne D. Two years later, at 16 in 1978, he attacked Christiane D., another one of his foster sisters. (Most last names have been withheld for the sake of privacy.)
After these two attacks, Mrs. Morin decided it was best that Georges be placed elsewhere, and contacted the DDASS to take him from the home. She had her other children to think about, and their safety came first.
Shortly after being placed in the custody of the DDASS, Georges was placed with another family. Shortly thereafter, on February 6th, 1979, Georges attacked Pascale C. She managed to escape as he attempted to strangle her, and she contacted the police. Georges was arrested, however, due to unknown reasons, he was released a week later.
Following this attack, Georges was, once again, sent back to the DDASS. Following this incident, Georges began to abuse alcohol, and became dependent upon it to soothe his underlying depression and anxiety.
In May of 1980, at 17 years old, Georges assaulted Jocelyne S, and then later in the same month, he brutally stabbed Roselyne C. Thankfully, both of the girls survived the attacks, and reported them to police. Georges was arrested, and sentenced to a year in prison in Angers, France.
These attacks would be the precedent to a pattern of offending, being arrested, being released, and reoffending immediately upon release. Georges had no remorse, and no care for those whom he hurt.
Following his year in prison, Georges moved to Paris with a friend. There, he lived a very transient lifestyle, moving from squat house to squat house. In order to survive, and ensure he had money for alcohol, Georges committed petty crimes. At this point in his life, Georges had a solid group of friends – all young transients like himself. They all thought he was a nice guy, kind, fun to talk to. They just thought that he was a little depressed, and an alcoholic. They had no idea of the violence Guy Georges was capable of.
On November 16th, 1981, a month after his 19th birthday, Guy Georges attached Nathalie C., a neighbour, as she was returning home. Georges had committed his first rape. He stabbed her, and left her for dead, but she managed to survive. It is unknown whether she reported the incident to police, or whether knowledge of this attack came about afterwards.
In 1982, George served five months in prison for theft. On June 7th, he attacked Violette K. in a car park. Violette escaped, and immediately alerted the police. Georges was arrested shortly thereafter, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Once again, Georges was released, and completely undeterred. In February of 1984, Georges raped and stabbed Pascale N. in a car park. She broke free, and reported the attack to police. That very same night, Georges was arrested.
In 1985, Georges was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Six or so years into his sentence, Georges earned some privileges due to good behaviour. He was allowed to leave the prison during the day (it is unknown whether these ‘adventures’ were supervised or not), so long as he reported back to the prison in the evening to spend the night.
On January 24th, 1991, these rules seemed especially lax. Having left the prison that day, Georges simply didn’t return. While out and about, he spotted Pascale Escarfail, a 19-year-old student at the Sorbonne.
Georges followed her home, and invaded her home as she was opening the door, holding a knife to her throat. He proceeded to rape her, and then slit her throat. Georges sat there, in her home, and watched as she died by his hand.
A week later, calm as anything, Georges reported back to the prison as if nothing had been amiss. There is no information as to whether or not he faced ramifications for his absence from prison, or if they simply did nothing at all.
On April 4th, 1992, Georges was released from prison. A couple weeks later, on the 22nd, he attacked Eleonore D. She escaped his grasp, and reported the attack to the police.
He was arrested, thought it seems he only served a short amount of time, if any, in prison. Either way, he was out by January of 1994
On January 7th, 1994, Georges raped and murdered Catherine Rock, aged 27, in an underground parking garage. Six days later, he attacked Annie L., who was found raped and murdered on her own patio on January 13th.
Georges’s next attack occurred on November 8th, 1994. He raped and murdered 22-year-old Elsa Benady in an underground parking garage.
Wasting no time, Georges murdered 33-year-old Agnes Nijkamp on December 10th, 1994, in her home.
By this point, the media had latched onto the attacks. While police surmised they were committed by several people, the media believed that it was the work of one person. At first, they dubbed him “The Killer in East Paris”.
Georges attacked Elisabeth O. in June of 1995. Thankfully, she narrowly escaped. A month later, on July 8th, Georges raped and murdered 27-year-old Helena Frinking in her own apartment. Undeterred once again, Georges attacked Melanie B on August 25th.
By this point, the police were beginning to agree with the papers – this was the work of one individual. Police had collected DNA traces from two of the crime scenes, and were hoping that recent advances in forensic analysis and technology would lead them in the right direction.
However, they hit a snag when Elisabeth came in and gave them a vague description of her attacker. She managed to get his general profile correct. But when shown a photo of Georges in a lineup, she did not identify him as her attacker.
In September of 1997, Georges attempted to rape Estelle F. She managed to escape. It’s unknown whether or not she informed police of the attack, or if it was discovered later.
Later that month, on September 23rd, Georges raped and murdered Magalie Sirotti, a 19-year-old student, after breaking into her apartment.
Over a month later, on October 28th, 1997, Georges assaulted Valerie L. in the stairwell of her apartment block. A couple weeks later, on November 16th, 1997, Georges, whom the news media how now been dubbed “The Beast of Bastille”, attacked for the last time when he raped and murdered 25-year-old Estelle Magd.
The media had latched onto not only the killings, but the attacks on all the other women committed by The Beast of Bastille. Paris was in a panic, believing a monster to be in their midsts. Police were frantic for leads.
Knowing of Georges’ extensive violent history, police were highly suspicious that Guy Georges was the media-named Beast of Bastille. The killer and attacker had earned the nickname due to the fact that so many of the attacks occurred in the Bastille quarter of Paris, a neighbourhood which has great historical significance to Paris particularly, and France as a whole.
Police felt they were on the right track, launching “one of the largest manhunts in French criminal history” in order to catch their serial rapist and killer.
On March 27th, 1998, Guy Georges was found, and arrested, in Montmartre. He was officially charged with the rapes and murders of Pascale Escarfail, Catherine Rock, Elsa Benady, and Agnes Nijkamp.
Evidence proved that the DNA found at all four crime scenes matched Guy Georges’s DNA. While in custody, Georges knew he was the end of his rope. He confessed to all four murders, as well as three others.
While awaiting trial, Georges was kept in custody. In December of 2000, he, along with three of his cellmates, attempted to escape the prison by sawing through the bars. They were quickly caught, and stopped, by prison guards.
Just before trial, Guy Georges was assessed by psychiatrists. He was declared legally sane and fit in order to stand trial.
On March 19th, 2001, the trial of Guy Georges, The Beast of Bastille, began. It lasted three weeks, and included the evidence and testimony from four of the women who survived his attacks, 15 experts, various family members of the women Georges attacked, and his 71-year-old foster mother.
Despite the evidence against him, Georges recanted his previous confession, and plead not guilty to all charges against him. He claimed that his confession was not truthful, and that the police had ‘tortured and beaten him’ in order to make him confess.
His grandstanding didn’t last long. A week and a day into the trial, Georges broke down and confessed all over again. He confessed to the original four murders he’d been charged with, and then further confessed to the rapes and murders of Helena Frinking, Magalie Sirotti, and Estelle Magd.
On April 5th, 2001, Guy Georges, at the age of 38, was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole for 22 years.
It is the belief of French authorities that Guy Georges will most likely not be granted parole. Psychiatrists have described Guy Georges as an unrepentant narcissistic psychopath. He remains unremorseful, and likely will reoffend if released.
After his sentencing, Georges indicated that he did not intend to fulfill his sentence. To salivating news media, he announced to anyone who would listen: “You can rest assured, I know that I will never leave prison but I can assure you that I will never serve my sentence… The sentence that you are going to impose on me is nothing. I will inflict a sentence upon myself.”
As of 2020, Guy Georges remains imprisoned, and is, indeed, serving his sentence.
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Sources:
Beast of Bastille: Guy Georges – Crime and Investigation
Life sentence for Paris serial killer – BBC News
Nothing Rhymes with Murder podcast – Episode 9 – France: The Beast of Bastille & The Ogre of Ardennes
Guy Georges Wikipedia page