Courrier de Lyon case

The "Courrier de Lyon" case is a famous French criminal case. It occurred during the French Revolution. During the night of 27 and 28 april 1796, a mail coach was ambushed outside Paris (commune of Vert-Saint-Denis) by several men who stole a large sum of money (7 million livres). The stage coach was supposed to go to Lyon from Paris, carrying money for the Army of Italy. Both the driver and the armed guard were brutally killed. A third man onboard (whose identity was never established) disappeared without a trace.^[1]

Following investigations, six men (Couriol, Guénot, Richard, Bruer, Bernard and Lesurques) were arrested. After a trial, all of them were guillotined (except Guénot and Richard). Later, Joseph Lesurques was rehabilitated: he always claimed innocence (the other convicts also said he had nothing to do with the robbery). Due to a physical resemblance with one of the suspects, he probably was mistaken by witnesses.^[2] Today, this case is remembered in France for being a famous example of miscarriage of justice.

In popular culture

The case is featured in a 1937 French movie L'Affaire du courrier de Lyon. There is also a British movie The Lyons Mail (1931).

References

1. ^ "L'affaire du "Courrier de Lyon". http://www.lodace.net/histoire/impost/courrierdelyon.htm. 
2. ^ "Affaire du "Courrier de Lyon". http://www.histoire-de-france-et-d-ailleurs.com/articles/evenementstextes/CourrierdeLyon.htm. 

External links

• Histoire de France et d'ailleurs (in french)
• L'Affaire du courrier de Lyon at the Internet Movie Database
• The Lyons Mail at the Internet Movie Database