Today is Monday, April 25th, 2022.

On this day in 1792,

Nikola Jacques Peltier was the first person ever

to be executed by the guillotine.

Welcome to today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parcast. Due to the graphic nature of these crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes descriptions of torture, murder, and beheading. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Today we're covering the first execution by guillotine.

This tool for a swift decapitation was designed to make capital punishment more humane,

and later became a symbol of mass death during the French Revolution.

Now let's go back to the Place de Greve in Paris, France, on April 25, 1792.

Spectators arrived early that morning to get a good view of the day's execution.

For hours they watched as a brand new device was assembled before them.

Some ogled as the long column raised to the sky, and a shining triangular blade was positioned inside.

With one swift drop, the condemned would meet their fate. Once the guillotine

was in place, Nikola Jacques Peltier ascended the platform. He wore a red shirt, matching the

color of the device that would end his life. As he took his place, a group of soldiers supervised the onlookers, many of whom

were likely shouting scornful remarks. Peltier wasn't exactly a noteworthy criminal. He was a French

highwayman, a robber on a horse who associated with other thieves. In October 1791, Peltier robbed and assaulted a man in the streets.

Most scholars believe he killed the target,

although there's some dispute over whether this was true.

Regardless, his crime was considered punishable by death,

and when a commoner faced a judge in the late 1700s, they were offered

little recourse. Traditionally, Peltier would have received a hanging as his penalty,

but times were changing, and there was some debate over the hanging method at the National Assembly.

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