Etienne Chatton

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Chatton's police photos dated December 6, 1901

Etienne Chatton (* 1875 or 1876 probably in Neyruz ; † 1. August 1902 in Freiburg , heimatberechtigt in Avry-sur-Matran ) was a Swiss offenders, on which the last civilian execution in the canton of Friborg and in the Romandie was completed.

Example

Chatton's father and grandfather were both alcoholics . At the age of 16, he fell eight meters in an accident and was subsequently in a coma for several days . His personality reportedly changed after this accident: he has since been described as nervous, irritable and malicious, has been sexually dissolute, and has apparently suffered from impulse control . He also became infected with syphilis , but was described in the medical report as free of neurolues .

Chatton had several criminal records for minor property offenses. The bachelor earned his living as a servant in Geneva and Marseille , most recently with his godfather Etienne Mettraux, the postman in Neyruz .

Murder of Louise Mettraux

Chatton had planned to steal the mailbox on the morning of December 1, 1901, while the Mettraux family was in church for Sunday mass . However, his 17-year-old cousin Louise Mettraux stayed home that day. She received Chatton kindly and invited him to lunch. Chatton declined the invitation on an excuse, whereupon Louise served him a snack. Then Chatton slew his cousin with a blow of the ax and took the contents of the post office box worth 309 Swiss francs (based on today's value around 3,000 CHF). On returning from mass, the Mettraux family found Louise lying in a pool of blood with the ax in her forehead. Despite immediate medical attention, she died around 3 a.m. on December 2nd from the effects of her severe head injury.

A broken cufflink was found in the pool of blood , which was recognized as Chatton's property. Chatton was arrested on December 3 in Lausanne for theft , confessed to the murder after a brief interrogation and was extradited to Friborg by the Vaudois authorities. Here it turned out that he had been hiding in Mettraux's barn on the night of December 1st, in which the forensic doctors had also performed the autopsy on Louise Mettraux's corpse. Chatton was so accidentally an ear witness to this autopsy, which evidently made him feel so badly guilty that he subsequently tried not to deny his act.

Trial and request for mercy

Chatton's petition for clemency to the Grand Council of the Canton of Friborg

On January 22, 1902, Chatton was sentenced to death by the Cour d'Assises in Freiburg in the first instance for the murder of Louise Mettraux . His appeal to the Cour de Cassation was rejected on February 12th, whereupon Chatton wrote a petition for clemency to the Grand Council on February 20th . The federal court subsequently also denied his appeal, and on July 17, Chatton's defense attorneys filed his pardon to the Grand Council:

“Au Grand Conseil du Canton de Friborg

Monsieur le Président,
Messieurs les Conseilliers,

Condamné à mort par la Cour d'Assises du II ème Ressort, je viens vous demander de m'accorder la grâce prévue par la loi et de communer ma peine en une détention à vie dans la Maison de Force.

En faisant cette demande, je ne crois pas chercher un allégement du châtiment dont le Juge m'a frappé; mais je pense à ceux qui sont innocents de mon crime, à ma pauvre mère, à ma sœur et aux autres membres de ma famille dont l'honneur sera à jamais flétri.

The prie le Gouvernement d'inviter mon défenseur à présenter un mémoire à l'appui de mon recours.

Friborg, le 20 février 1902

Etienne Chatton

In German:

To the Grand Council of the Canton of Friborg,

Mr President,
Dear Members of the Council,

As someone sentenced to death by the court of second instance, I ask you to grant me the grace provided by the law and convert my sentence to life imprisonment.

I do not think that by doing so you will mitigate the severity of the sentence to which the judge has sentenced me; but I think of those innocent of my crime, my poor mother, my sister, and the other members of my family whose honor would be forever tarnished.

I ask the government to invite my defense attorney to submit a memorandum on my request.

Freiburg, February 20, 1902

Etienne Chatton "

- Etienne Chatton's petition for clemency

The Grand Council debated this request in two sessions on July 30 and 31, 1902. On July 31, it was rejected in a secret ballot with 76 to 23 votes. After the results of the vote had been announced, the councilors left the room “somewhat dismayed”.

execution

Guillotine set up for the execution of Chatton in the courtyard of the Augustinian prison in Freiburg

The preparations for an execution had already been made: Executioner Theodor Mengis had traveled from Rheinfelden and had the guillotine borrowed from Schaffhausen set up in the courtyard of the Augustinian prison after the results of the vote had been announced.

It was now discussed whether the execution should be carried out on August 1st (the national holiday ) or whether one should wait until August 2nd. The decision was made to go to the early morning of August 1st, and Etienne Chatton was guillotined at around 4:30 a.m. Forensic doctor Louis Comte , who also performed the autopsy on Louise Mettraux, later described the execution as follows:

“It is about four in the morning when we hear a door open on the second floor. We see a small procession with Chatton in the center, blindfolded, supported by three priests, including Prince Max of Saxony , who spent the cruel night with him. The clergy recite prayers to the Virgin Mary aloud.

So Chatton is led to the scaffold . But when the executioner tries to strap him to the terrible plank, he breaks free and demands to speak. We cannot deny him this last wish, and these were his last words: 'I ask forgiveness from God and men; i repent of my crime. I forgive everyone with all my heart. ' That was all, but it was tragic.

Then the executioner and his assistants quickly strap Chatton onto the board; it is tipped on the guillotine and we hear the sound of the guillotine. In his last second he says 'God have mercy on me'. A few seconds later the clergymen present begin to pray das de Profundis . It's about 4:30 a.m. "

- Louis Comte

After Chatton's execution, those involved went to the nearby Capuchin Church for a funeral mass . Chatton's body was buried at 7 a.m. in an anonymous grave in the cimetière de Miséricorde (now Saint-Léonard cemetery).

Afterlife

In 1952 Louis Comte prepared a report for the Freiburg Historical Society on the 50th anniversary of the execution, which he was to present in a lecture. However, this lecture was canceled a few days before the scheduled date. Superficially, this was done out of consideration for Chatton's sister who was still alive at the time: she had already suffered a heart attack on the occasion of the press reports on Max von Saxony's death in 1951 , because it also acknowledged his role in Chatton's execution. Comte was promised that his report would be published in the Annales Fribourgeoises , but that never happened.

The fact that the death penalty by guillotine was being discussed controversially in France at the time and society did not want to take a position on the matter probably played a role in the decision . It was not until 2011 that the historian Alain Chardonnens discovered Comte's report in the Freiburg canton archive and published an annotated edition.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ladame, p. 20
  2. ↑ a b c Vallélian
  3. ↑ Ladame, p. 19
  4. ↑ Ladame, p. 19
  5. ↑ NZZ , October 22, 1950 (PDF file, accessed October 12, 2015)
  6. ↑ a b Chardonnens and Comte
personal data
SURNAME Chatton, Etienne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss criminal, last execution in French-speaking Switzerland
DATE OF BIRTH 1875 or 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH unsure: Neyruz
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1902
Place of death Freiburg