THE KILLING OF LITTLE SHEPHERDS-Douglas Starr

True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers

Dan Zupansky

True Crime, News Commentary, Documentary, News, Society & Culture

4 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2011

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A True Crime Story and The Birth of Forensic Science.
Starr eloquently juxtaposes the crimes of French serial killer Joseph Vacher and the achievements of famed criminologist Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne during France's belle époque. From 1894 to 1897, Vacher is thought to have raped, killed, and mutilated at least 25 people, though he would confess to only 11 murders. Lacassagne, who headed the department of legal medicine at the university in Lyon, was a pioneer in crime scene analysis, body decomposition, and early profiling, and investigated suspicious deaths, all in an era when rural autopsies were often performed on the victim's dinner table. Lacassagne's contributions to the burgeoning field of forensic science, as well as the persistence of investigating magistrate Émile Fourquet, who connected crimes while crisscrossing the French countryside, eventually brought Vacher to justice. Vacher claimed insanity, which then (as now) was a vexed legal issue. Lacassagne proved the "systematic nature" of the crimes. Starr, codirector of Boston University's Center for Science and Medical Journalism, creates tension worthy of a thriller; in Lacassagne, he portrays a man determined to understand the "how" behind some of humanity's most depraved and perhaps take us one step closer to the "why." THE KILLING OF LITTLE SHEPHERDS-A True Crime Story and The Birth of Forensic Science-Douglas Starr. www.douglasstarr.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	You may have heard about people's postcode lottery and often wondered, how does it work?
0:06.0	Playing is simple.
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0:12.0	And your ticket is your postcode.
0:15.0	Prizes are one every day, including millionaire street, where one lucky postcode wins a share
0:21.0	of 1 million pounds every Saturday.
0:24.0	Also, at the end of the month, players in one postcode area win a share of a minimum
0:29.0	of £3.2 million, a minimum of 33% of every ticket goes to charities and good causes across
0:37.0	Great Britain and beyond.
0:39.0	With a staggering £1.1 billion raised so far.
0:43.0	So, for a chance to win, sign up before midnight on the 24th of August to play in the September
0:49.0	Draws, and the next winning postcode could be yours.
0:53.0	PPL managed lotries and behalf of good causes, 18-plus conditions apply.
0:57.0	Play responsibly, not available in Northern Ireland.
1:12.0	You are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking killers in true crime history,
1:17.0	and the authors that have written about them.
1:20.0	Gacy, Bundy, Dahmer, The Night Stocker, DCK, every week, another fascinating author talking
1:28.0	about the most shocking and infamous killers in true crime history.
1:32.0	True Murder, with your host, journalist and author, Dan Zufanski.
1:47.0	Good evening. This is your host, Dan Zufanski, for the program True Murder,
1:51.0	the most shocking killers in true crime history, and the authors that have written about them.
1:57.0	A true crime story and the birth of forensic science.
	...

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