Today is Friday, April 10, 2020.

On this day in 1834, New Orleans firefighters

responded to an act of arson, but the fire's light revealed an even more heinous

crime deep inside the L'Lorri mansion. The La Loree Mansion.

Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original. Due to the graphic nature of today's

crimes, listener discretion is advised. Extreme caution is advised for listeners under

13.

Today we're covering the fire at the Lalauree mansion.

Many call it a haunted house, but in the 1830s

its sadistic horrors were indisputably real.

Let's go back to the corner of Royal Street and Bayou Road,

shortly after 10 p.m. on April 10th 1834.

Judge Jacques Canonge watched the flames and gulped his neighbor's mansion.

The fire engines pumped away, steam flowing up from their clicking gears. The hoses aimed at a square gray building,

which belonged to one of the wealthiest couples in New Orleans. In shock, the judge could only cry out the obvious.

Is everyone out?

Anyone could be inside.

The lollaries were known to host myriad guests in their palatial home, the Creole elites, the well-heeled

and well-traveled, the several children from previous marriages.

The pair entertained ambassadors, foreign princes, and if you believed the rumors, the

Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.

Madame Lullery's parties weren't just a place to gossip.

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