The Sinner and The Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece” (Penguin), out Tuesday.On December 14, 1834, Lacenaire (along with his axe-wielding henchman Victor Avril) knocked on the door to the apartment where Jean François Chardon lived with his widowed mother, Anne Marie Yvon Chardon, in Poissy, France.
Jean François was a supposedly gay conman rumored to possess 10,000 francs — more than $200k in today’s money. After he welcomed the two men into his apartment, Lacenaire stabbed Chardon but allowed Avril to finish him off with a blow from his axe.
Meanwhile, Lacenaire entered the bedroom, where the invalided widow lay, and repeatedly stabbed her in the face and eyes until his knife snapped.
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