The Strange Case of Dr. Etienne Deschamps: Murder in the New Orleans French Quarter

In the era of Storyville and Bellocq, one man heard the spirits calling.

Believing himself to be gifted with magnetic and hypnotic powers, Dr. Etienne Deschamps searched for the lost treasure of pirate Jean Lafitte. And he needed a young virgin to find it. Juliette Deitsh, poor, immigrant, and 12 years old, never stood a chance. In 1889, she was found dead from an overdose of chloroform in bed next to a distraught Deschamps. The deranged doctor’s heinous act made the legal authorities confront the question: Should the clearly insane Deschamps be executed for his crime? This incisive examination of the murder, trials, and conclusions invites readers to rethink this famous case.