Healing to Kill in the French Quarter (1889)
Dr. Etienne Deschamps, a French dentist who settled in French Quarter in the late 1880s, wanted to branch out in his business. To this end, he studied hypnosis and magnetism, and reportedly bragged about having supernatural powers. He allegedly convinced a friend, Jules Deitsch, that he was close to using those powers to locate a lost treasure, but he needed the ‘help’ of a young virgin. Unfortunately, Deitsch knew just the person; his own twelve year old daughter Juliette, who underwent six months of Deschamps hypnosis sessions. These sessions, however, were less about occult powers and more about the chloroform he used to incapacitate Juliette while he sexually assaulted her. Juliette’s sister found out and told her father. Deitsch went to confront the wayward dentist. However, instead of rescuing his girl, he found her unclothed and deceased from a chloroform overdose. Deschamps hung for his crime in May of 1892.