September 10

Hamida Djandoubi was, to put it mildly, not a very nice person. In 1974, he tortured and killed an ex-girlfriend. For quite a while, he seemed to be getting away with it, having threatened two witnesses with a fate identical to that of his ex-girlfriend if they ratted on him. However, in February of 1977, justice finally caught up with Djandoubi. At the end of his trial Djandoubi was sentenced to death. As is not only fitting, but also expected, the sentence was appealed. All reviewing courts upheld the sentence of death and it was finally ordered that the sentence be carried out. Djandoubi paid his debt to society at 4:40 in the morning on the 10th in 1977 when at Baumettes Prison in Marseille, when executioner Marcel Chevalier flipped a switch and the blade of a guillotine sent Djandoubi to whatever reward awaited him. This would be the last execution by guillotine in France.