Jacques Bertault and Gilette Banne and daughter Isabelle (9th g-grandparents and 8th Great Aunt) murdered Julien de la Tousche on 17 May 1672 in Trois Rivieres, New France. LaTousche was Isabelle's husband who had a reputation as being lazy and a wife abuser. They attempted to poison him and when that failed they held him and beat him to death with a hoe and threw him in a river by their farm. They were quickly caught and tried in Quebec City. They were found guilty, Jacques and his wife being sentenced to death and their daughter sentenced to witness the execution. Jacques was sentenced to be broken on the wheel but this was changed to being hanged, then broken on the wheel. They appealed 9 June, lost the appeal that morning and were executed at 4pm. Jacques was hanged and mutilated first, then his wife was hanged. All this time Isabelle was made to watch, wearing a noose around her neck.
Listings concerning Jacques Bertault and Gillette Banne include
their date of death, June 9, 1672, but their burial is not included in the Church Vital Records repertory. They were not accorded a christian burial. Most likely their remains were carried off to the town refuse dump and left there
Wow, that's a pretty gruesome story, I like it. I wonder if the excuted had any sympathizers. Did the people from Trois Rivieres gather around to witness the executions, I bet they did. Thanks for sharing.
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