Today is Wednesday, June 17, 2020.

On this day in 1939,

Kidnapper and serial murderer Oigan Weidman was sent to the guillotine in Versailles, France. Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original. I'm Vanessa Richardson and

today I'm joined by our guest host, Alistair Murden.

Thanks for having me, Vanessa.

And hello everyone.

Parcast fans may recognize Alistair

from the Parcast original Villains.

Every Friday, Villains dissects the greatest foils from history and fiction,

uncovering origins, analyzing impacts, and exploring the complexity of character and motive.

Alistair is here to discuss some of the historical aspects of today's story

while I'll cover the narrative.

I'm thrilled to dive into today's episode on the last public execution in France, the beheading of German

killer Eogan Weedman.

It's a fascinating end to a historical villain.

Let's go back to the early morning of June 17th, 1939 in France.

As the sun rose over Versailles, a crowd gathered in front of the Saint-Pierre prison,

the day's first rays cast a glint on the curved blade of the guillotine.

Police were struggling to maintain order.

They hadn't expected so many people to show up.

They really hadn't expected the unrest.

Spectators started lining up as early as the night before,

...