The Pious Poisoner: Antoine François Desrues
A devout Paris grocer. A trusted host. A man who knelt in prayer by day and measured poison by night.
In 1770s France, Antoine François Desrues invited a noblewoman and her teenage son into his home. He slowly poisoned them both, buried their bodies in secret, forged documents, and tried to claim their country estate as his own. When the truth emerged, he was broken on the wheel and burned alive in the Place de Grève—still protesting his innocence.
Host Alexander Lawson unravels the calculated crimes of one of the Ancien Régime’s most hypocritical killers: the pious poisoner who turned…
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