Jacques Fruminet

Jacques Maurice Fruminet (4 September 1959 – 7 June 2014), was a French serial killer and multi-recidivist criminal.

Fruminet committed his first murder in May 1980 at the age of 20. Sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment, he was released in June 1989. Three months later, he assaulted and robbed an elderly woman. Sentenced to four years' imprisonment, he was granted leave in December 1991, during which he sexually assaulted two women. Sentenced to 9 years' imprisonment, he was released in May 1998 and killed two other women on November of that year. Arrested on 22 November and then imprisoned, Fruminet was sentenced in December 2001 to life imprisonment with a 22-year security period.

He died at the Nancy-Maxéville prison on 7 June 2014.

Biography

Youth and first convictions Jacques Fruminet was born on 4 September 1959 in Évaux-et-Ménil, near Charmes in the Vosges. The youngest of seven siblings, he had a difficult childhood and grew up in a violent family that regularly abused alcohol. He says he was not loved by either his father or his mother. His father, he says, wakes him up almost every night to hit him and tell him that he only wanted six children: as the seventh, he is the victim of this ‘injustice’. His mother, who regularly beat him, lived with her husband and his lover.

Release, first murder and detention Fruminet was released on 27 May 1980, after seven months in prison. He returned to Évaux-et-Ménil, the village where he was born.

On the morning of 29 May, a resident of Évaux-et-Ménil was surprised that Mrs Bottini had not opened her shutters, as she always did. Worried, the old lady's neighbour went to her house and discovered her dead upstairs. The village immediately suspected Fruminet, who had just been released from prison. According to the autopsy, the victim had been raped, as traces of semen were found on the quilt and on her body. Arrested that afternoon in Épinal, Fruminet confessed to killing the widow Bottini, but denied the rape, which turned out to be an attempted rape. The 20-year-old was charged with robbery and rape followed by murder and remanded in custody.

Fruminet appeared before the Épinal Assize Court from 15 to 16 June 1981. He was granted extenuating circumstances because of his chaotic childhood and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. During his time in prison, Fruminet passed his driving test and a cook's C.A.P.: he was an exemplary prisoner who did not draw attention to himself and was noticed for his good behaviour. He married on 5 March 1986 at Ensisheim prison, but divorced after a few months.

In September, having only been free for three months, Fruminet assaulted an elderly woman at Colmar station and stole her handbag. The victim lodged a complaint with the police station and recognised Fruminet when he was shown a photograph. Aged 30, he was arrested again, charged with theft and repeated acts of deliberate violence, then remanded in custody. He appeared before the Colmar Criminal Court on 20 February 1990 and was sentenced to four years' imprisonment. He was then considered "dangerous to society", but with a minor risk of re-offending, although he remained capable of committing acts reprehensible by law when he had the opportunity to do so.

On 14 November 2000, Fruminet was taken into police custody for the murder of Kritter. When questioned, he denied having killed her and claimed to have had a relationship with her. He claimed that Kritter had been harassing him for sex. According to him, she visited him on the day of his disappearance and committed suicide by taking antidepressants in his presence. Fruminet says that he panicked because of his criminal record, then weighed the body down and threw it into the Rhone-Rhine Canal. On 16 November, Fruminet was charged with rape and recidivist murder, and taken to the Strasbourg prison. Fruminet was referred to the Colmar Assize Court for rape and murder in the case of Kritter, and for murder accompanied by rape as a repeat offender in the case of Arcangeli.

Trial and conviction Fruminet's trial opened on 10 December 2001 before the Colmar Assize Court. The accused, aged 42, appears to be suffering from obesity, having gained thirty kilos during his three years in custody.

A man with a thousand and one faces Among the archives and documentaries tracing Fruminet's career, everyone is struck by the change in his face over the months or years of the investigations. In the programme Faites entrer l'accusé, broadcast in December 2008, journalist Christophe Hondelatte referred to this change in physical appearance as the characteristic of a person capable of blending into the crowd. Fruminet could be classified as a serial killer for several reasons:

he is helpful and kind in the eyes of his friends; he has a permanent job; he takes pleasure in committing his crimes; he pulls down his victims' trousers after killing them. he returns to work after his crimes, as if nothing had happened; his behaviour in custody is beyond reproach; his discreet behaviour makes him unsuspected.