Locked Away: Blanche Monnier
SEASON 3 : EPISODE 43
OCTOBER 2, 2024
Tonight’s story is nothing short of a real life Victorian horror story. It’s what happens when the societal pressure of Victorian era ideals go way, way, WAY too far. One mother’s sense of right and wrong became so monstrously twisted, that she locked away her own child for over two decades.
This is the story of Blanche Monnier
Follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @agoodnightforamurder.
The bonus content on Patreon for this episode is about more messy situations Victorians found themselves in when they wanted to marry the quote/unquote “wrong” person
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ARTICLES
The Blanche Monnier Story: Why She Was Locked Away for 25 Years
Louise Léonide Demarconnay Monnier
Marie Louis Charles “Marcel” Monnier
Blanche Monnier Was Kept Hidden In Her Room For 25 Years, Just For Falling In Love
Blanche Monnier: A Fate Worthy of a Horror Story
The Tragic Story of Blanche Monnier, Locked Away From Society for 25 Years
This Woman's Family Locked Her In A Bedroom For 25 Years, Leaving Her Emaciated And Insane
Blanche Monnier: The Lady That Was Imprisoned By Her Family In Her Room For 25 Years
VICTORIAN SOCIETY TIP
Spirits, Scams and the Victorian Séance
Six Ways Victorian Séances Were Not Like the Movies
Séances, Spirits & Mediums - Victorians & Spiritualism
Seance recreations explore how Victorian-era mediums talked to the dead
Victorian seances: The ingenious tricks used to ‘speak to the dead’
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INTRO
Hello everyone, welcome to A Good Night for a Murder, a Victorian true crime podcast.
My name is Kim, and tonight’s story is nothing short of a real life Victorian horror story. It’s what happens when the societal pressure of Victorian era ideals go way, way, WAY too far. One mother’s sense of right and wrong became so monstrously twisted, that she locked away her own child for over two decades
This is the story of Blanche Monnier (Mun-knyeeh).
But first, a Victorian society tip.
TIP
Despite their reputation for being stoic and uptight, the Victorians also had a deep obsession with mysticism and the macabre.
And since we find ourselves in the season of mysticism and the macabre at the moment, tonight’s tip is what to expect if you were invited to a Victorian seance…
Now first off, if you found yourself invited to attend a seance at a private residence, know you have an important role that night
You see the success of the seance would depend on gathering the right group of people to participate.
One of the pillars of the Victorian spiritualist movement was animal magmatism or mesmerism
According to this, each person possessed their own magnetic energy or vibration
Those who were more negatively charged were more open to channeling than those who were positively charged
Having both types of people in equal number was important to the success of the night
The evening would start out much like any other gathering with drinks and refreshments, but once the medium arrived, who was usually a woman, candles would be lit, and oil lamps would be turned low.
Mediums often hung red draperies in the seance room as this was said to help spirit communication
Sometimes a “spirit cabinet” would be brought in - which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like… a big cabinet large enough for the medium to sit inside of
Then the seance would begin with the medium putting forth a prayer or an intention
You may be surprised to learn that after this, participants were encouraged to engage in light, uplifting conversation while waiting for the spirits to make themselves known
After all, they were people too once, and who wants to enter an awkwardly silent room at a party?
It was also at this point that the medium might bring out one or more devices to aid in communication like a planchette - which is a small triangle shaped board with a pencil mounted on it
This would be used by the spirit over a piece of paper to draw or write messages
Later on around the 1890s Ouija boards adopted the planchette pointer and were similarly deployed at seances
If the medium chose to use a spirit cabinet, they would spend all or part of the seance seated within and yell out messages from inside that they received from spirit
Or sometimes, they would exit the cabinet under trance and interact with the guests
Under trance, many mediums would produce a gooey substance called ectoplasm from their body as evidence of their immersion in the spirit realm…
This is getting weirder by the minute, isn’t it?
Sometimes knocks, phantom music, or smells would present themselves
Who knows? You may even see or feel a spirit within the darkened room
What’s really going on here though? Did Victorians really believe in this spectacle?
Well, many most certainly did
I’ve talked before in the episode about spirit photographer William Mumler that during the Victorian era, the line where science stopped and mysticism began was very fluid back then
Science was advancing at such a rapid rate where things that had previously seemed like pure fiction - such as electric light, or telegraph wires carrying voices over hundreds of miles - were now real!
Many reputable figures of the time such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Todd Lincoln, and even Queen Victoria herself engaged in spiritualism practices
However, there were non-believers amongst them
The famous magician and escape artist Harry Houdini openly spoke out against the tricks used in seances
Because more than anything, people wanted to believe
Everyone has lost someone, and in the Victorian era when death and mortality rates were at all time highs, most everyone was grieving someone they’d give anything to hear from again
And a lot of people would take advantage of that
So, while there very well might have been some very legit mediums practicing at that time, there were certainly quite a higher number of people looking to make a buck off mourning friends and family members
Some of the tricks these fraudulent mediums used included
Hiring actors and ventriloquists to initiate whispers or murmuring from corners of the room.
Or pay a candlemaker embed perfume or cologne in the wax so as the candle burned, it would eventually release the scent in to the air allowing the medium to claim the spirit of someones dearly departed was with them
They would also pay the chimney boys to hide inside a chimney’s flue and make rapping sounds
They would prep paper with messages in invisible ink, or hide gramophones in their giant red draperies to produce phantom music
After the event they would commission fake photographs showing the seance room with ghostly, translucent figures imposed on top
The ectoplasm Victorian seances are so well known for is usually suspected to be a simple mixture of water and flour or corn-starch
Seriously, my son made it at school as a science experiment, they called it oobleck, and if you Google it, you can make it too…
Seances were often held in very low light or even complete darkness
Mediums would also often insist participants keep their eyes closed for the duration of the event…
Listen… if you have to insist your audience keep their eyes shut to pull off a trick, it’s probably not a very good trick…
And a lot of Victorians probably knew that too, but still played along for the sport of it
However, as we count down to Halloween this month, remember anything is possible, and maybe just be sure to keep your wits about you…
ANNOUNCEMENTS
None
CONTENT WARNING
A Good Night for a Murder is a true crime podcast that does cover stories including death, violence, sexual assault, and other adult themes.
Please take care while listening.
EPISODE
This story is about the Monnier family
A well-respected, connected, upper class family from Poitiers (pwah-tee-ayz), France
According to local history, the family was actually integral in establishing the town of Poitiers long, long ago
In 1846, Charles Emile Monnier married Louise Léonide Demarconnay, and two years later, the couple welcome a son they would call Marcel
A year later, their daughter, Blanche was born
As I mentioned, by and large, the Monnier family were valuable, highly regarded members of the community
Son, Marcel, would attend and graduate law school, then put his skills to use to serve the Puget-Théniers commune as an administrative official
Daughter, Blanche was described as “very gentle and good-natured”
She was said to be quite good at piano, and was also very beautiful with soft, flowing hair and piercing green eyes
Because, you know… what else are girls good for?
Father Charles was in charge of a local arts faculty
And their Mother, Louise, was recognized by Parisian high society for her generous monetary contributions
Behind the rosy exterior though, there were a few bruises, so to speak…
First, mother Louise was said to be a hothead and a tyrant
Those passing by the luxurious three story manor would often hear Louise screaming at her staff and family from inside the house
Also, Blanche was said to be a little bit too progressive for her parent’s taste at times
At least her status and beauty would afford her a host of suitors to select from though, which she entertained often…
In 1876, when Blanche was 27 years old, she announced that she had met the man she wanted to marry
Her mother was appalled to learn that Blanche wished to marry a man who was not only quite a bit older than her, but also - quote - “a penniless lawyer”
Back then, being a lawyer was a pretty respectable career for a common-born man, but was still several rungs below the status the Monnier family
Her mother insisted she stop seeing this man at once
But, Blanche didn’t listen
And it was rumored that she’d even snuck out to meet him a time or two
Now, this man has never been named
Also, by this point, it sounds like her father is no longer in the picture somehow, and Blanche’s mother has taken on the responsibility of managing the family on her own
Things grew very heated and intense between Blanche and her mother, until one day, Blanche just disappeared
Now a lot of people knew that things had been tense between Blanche and her mother of late, so they didn’t find it super peculiar that Louise hadn’t mentioned anything about Blanche going away…
It was not beyond possible that Blanche had - either willingly or unwillingly - been sent off to live with a relative, or attend finishing school, or something of the sort
If anyone asked about her, this was more or less the reason her mother and brother gave for her absence, but it was clearly a sore subject that the family didn’t wish to talk about
Some even thought it possible that Louise had had Blanche institutionalized…
Everyone had heard those screaming matches after all…
Even darker yet, some even heard the screaming matches continue, even after Blanche’s disappearance, and thought perhaps Louise had been forced to lock up Blanche within the house…
This, unfortunately, was a very common way to deal with mentally ill family members in the Victorian era
It was certainly not a thing anyone would talk about, and it was considered better to just look the other way…
Days went by, then weeks, then months, then years…
All the while Blanche’s mother Louise and brother Marcel went about their daily lives in the Monnier home
And eventually, everyone stopped asking about Blanche
Nine years later, the lawyer Blanche had wanted so badly to marry died, but even then Blanche didn’t come home
Then on May 23 of 1901, a full 25 years after Blanche had disappeared, a curious letter was received by the Paris Attorney General from an anonymous sender
It read:
I have the honour to inform you of an exceptionally serious occurrence.
I speak of a spinster who is locked up in Madame Monnier's house, half-starved and living on a putrid litter for the past twenty-five years – in a word, in her own filth.
Though the report did seem somewhat outlandish the attorney general found it so disturbing that they thought it better to settle the matter immediately, and deployed officers to the Monnier house
Upon their arrival, Louise Monnier, did not want to let them in…
But the officers were there to do a job and forced their way into the residence.
Nothing seemed amiss, but it was noted that a bad odor seemed to be coming from behind a padlocked door on the third floor
Police broke the lock and entered the room to find it in pitch blackness
Also, the smell that emerged from the room was ungodly
An account from one officer states:
We immediately gave the order to open the casement window. This was done with great difficulty, for the old dark-colored curtains fell down in a heavy shower of dust. To open the shutters, it was necessary to remove them from their right hinges.
With the curtains now open, officers could see a carpet of rotting food scraps scattered all over the floor
This would account for the smell… or so they thought…
Across the room on a decrepit bed, was an emaciated, naked woman, with long matted hair, essentially just crusted to the bed in filth
This was Blanche Monnier
Again, from an officer’s report:
As soon as light entered the room, we noticed, in the back, lying on a bed, her head and body covered by a repulsively filthy blanket, a woman identified as Mademoiselle Blanche Monnier.
The unfortunate woman was lying completely naked on a rotten straw mattress. All around her was formed a sort of crust made from excrement, fragments of meat, vegetables, fish and rotten bread... We also saw oyster shells, and bugs running across Mademoiselle Monnier's bed. The air was so unbreathable, the odor given off by the room was so rank, that it was impossible for us to stay any longer to proceed with our investigation.
Blanche was immediately wrapped in a blanket and transported to the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital
She was severely malnourished and had wasted away to only 55 pounds
When officers opened the curtains on the windows that day, it was the first time Blanche had seen sunlight in over two decades
Given her condition, it’s said she was remarkably lucid immediately following her rescue and remarked at how happy she was to be washed clean and able to breathe fresh air.
Her mother Louise and brother Marcel were immediately arrested
It actually sounds like they were permitted to stay on house arrest while police investigated
Blanche’s mother’s story was that Blanche had become seriously mentally ill, and suffered a breakdown
She said that Blanche locked herself in that room, and refused to come out
She stopped bathing and even refused to wear clothes
Louise claimed that she had done all she could just to keep Blanche alive and she never meant or did any harm to her daughter…
Her brother, who had a wife and daughter of his own now, by the way, had a somewhat similar story
He stated that at some point his sister became violent and had isolated herself in that room on the top floor, and that she was actually free to go any time she wanted!
But he also stated time and again that his mother was in charge of this family, not him - refusing to accept any blame or responsibility for the situation
Unfortunately, Blanche would never be able to relate her side of the story
Despite initial reports from doctors and nurses that she was coping relatively well given the circumstances, the trauma she endured would prove too great for her ever to coherently recount what had happened to her.
The most likely story is that Blanche and her mother disagreed so vehemently over Blanche’s life choices, that one night things escalated until Louise locked Blanche in that upstairs room, then she just never let her out
It’s reasonable to believe that her brother played a part in this as it would be difficult for Blanche’s mother alone to overpower a vivacious 27 year old woman
Her mother likely meant to let her out once Blanche learned her lesson, but Blanche’s will proved too strong and little by little Blanche’s mental state devolved to the point that Louise had no choice to continue keeping her locked away
Now remember when I said there were rumors that Blanche had had a mental break and been locked away?
Later one witness would claim to have heard Blanche scream,
“What have I done to be locked up? I don’t deserve this horrible torture. God must not exist then, to let his creatures suffer in this way? And no one to come to my rescue!”
Whether or not this is an accurate witness account, the one thing that is pretty clear here is:
that people knew about this - and they chose to turn a blind eye
To this day though, no one knows who wrote that anonymous letter
It was rumored that one of the family’s servants let the secret slip to her boyfriend, who was so horrified that he felt compelled to alert the attorney general.
Blanche’s mother, unfortunately, would not get the chance to stand trial though as she apparently became so distraught after seeing the angry mobs gathering outside her house, that she died at home from a heart attack 15 days after her arrest
One source noted that Louise Monnier changed her will in her final days bequeathing the majority of her wealth to be dedicated towards caring for her daughter, and that her last words were reportedly, "Oh, my poor Blanche!"
I don’t know if I believe that though…
Officials would go on to prosecute her brother Marcel
He was initially convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison
15 months!? You’re complicit in holding someone in captivity in squalor for 25 years and they give him 15 months?
I almost threw my laptop when I read that one…
Unfortunately, it gets worse, as on appeal, Marcel would wind up being fully acquitted as he was determined to be mentally incapacitated
The grounds for this was basically that no sane man in possession of all of his faculties would have allowed the situation to go on like it did for that length of time
Plus, no “duty to rescue” law existed at that time, so he was in no way legally obligated to aid his sister - as such, there was nothing to prosecute him against, and he was free to go
I feel like he might have also been the victim of some mental abuse at the hands of the mother as well here, so while I’m still outraged on Blanche’s behalf, we have to keep in mind we don’t actually know the full story…
So, as I mentioned, after Blanche was freed, she had unfortunately been far too traumatized to return to any normal semblance of life
She had to re-learn how to eat with utensils, use the chamberpot, and struggled to carry on simple conversation
She had an aversion to sunlight and suffered various mental problems including anorexia nervosa, schizophrenia, exhibitionism, and coprophilia
It was determined that the “best” place for her would be in a psychiatric hospital, which is where she spent the rest of her life
The staff who cared for her said that she was very quiet and gentle, though she struggled up until the day of her death
She died 13 years later at the age of 64 in obscurity, on October 13, 1913
Interestingly, her brother also died only 4 months earlier at the age of 65
She was buried in the Chilvert Cemetery, in Poitiers (pwah-tee-ayz) - along with the rest of her family! Her mother included!
If you’ve listened long enough you know it kind of grinds my gears when victims’ final resting spot is exactly the same as their attacker or abuser!
I’m curious to know what you think though!
Was there a chance Blanche had a psychotic break and locked herself in the room?
Do we agree with the verdict for the brother?
And how do you all feel about them all being in the same cemetery?
Am I unnecessarily bothered by that, or do you feel the same?
If you head on over to Instagram, TikTok or YouTube @agoodnightforamurder, you can let me know there.
I’ve also posted photos of Blanche before and after her captivity, Blanche’s family and her home.
You can also see the photos and source links for this episode on the episode blog on my website at agoodnightforamurder.com
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Listen through the outro music to hear a short preview of this Patreon bonus content
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Thank you for listening,
And I will talk to you again soon