Jean-Claude Romand
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Jean-Claude Romand (born 11 February 1954) is a French impostor and murderer who pretended to be a medical doctor. He killed his family when he was about to be exposed.
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[edit] Early life
Jean-Claude Romand was born in Lons-le-Saunier and grew up in the village Clairvaux-les-Lacs in the département of Jura. He studied at the lycée of Lons-le-Saunier until his baccalauréat. In 1971, he registered at the classes préparatoires of Lycée du Parc in Lyon, but dropped out after one semester. Afterwards he enrolled as a medical student.
[edit] The deception
The deception began with a simple lie: Romand claimed that he had passed a second-year medical examination that he did not sit. He therefore never qualified as a doctor, a fact unknown to his peers.
Romand fooled his family and friends for 18 years; they thought he was a successful medical professional and researcher in the World Health Organization. He managed to give an impression that he had researched arteriosclerosis and he had contacts with political figures.
In reality, he spent his days wandering and used free information services of the local WHO building. He lived close by in Prévessin-Moëns, France. Periodically he left for a supposed work trip but only traveled to Geneva Cointrin international airport and spent a couple of days in a hotel room there, studying medical journals and a travel guide about Switzerland, the country where everyone supposed he worked. Romand lived off the money his wife and he had made by selling an apartment, from his wife's salary and from sums of money which were given to him by various relatives, who relied on his assurances that he was investing the money in various imaginary hedge funds and foreign ventures.[1]
On 9 January 1993 Romand, fearing that his family was about to discover the truth, killed his wife, both of his children, his parents and the family dog. He also made an attempt on an ex-lover's life by spraying tear gas in her face and shocking her with a taser in the stomach. When she struggled, he released her and drove her home, apologising for trying to harm her. He then set alight his house and took an overdose of barbiturates, intending to burn with his home. He was rescued by local fire fighters who were alerted by the road cleaners at 4 o'clock in the morning. After trials and many interogations Police found out exactly what happened.
[edit] Aftermath
Romand's trial began on 25 June 1996. On 6 July 1996 Romand was sentenced to life imprisonment.
[edit] Fiction
French author Emmanuel Carrère entered into correspondence with imprisoned Romand to write a book, published in 2000, L'Adversaire (The Adversary), based on the case. Nicole Garcia directed a movie, L'Adversaire (2002), based on the book; actor Daniel Auteuil played the part of Romand (renamed Jean-Marc Faure in the film). Two other movies were loosely based on Romand's life: the French L'Emploi du temps (2001) (English title: Time Out) and the Spanish La Vida de nadie (English title: Nobody's Life). Romand's deception also formed the basis of a 2005 episode of the BBC crime drama Waking The Dead. The episode 16 (season 1) "Phantom" of Law & Order: Criminal Intent is also constructed around this story.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Detailed website about Jean-Claude Romand (in French)
