- Patricia and Emmanuel Cartier
Patricia and Emmanuel Cartier are a French husband and wife who in
2002 were convicted of deliberately injecting their five children withinsulin , a crime which resulted in the death of one of their daughters. In 2005, they were sentenced by a court inBeauvais to 10 and 15 years in prison, respectively. [ [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=APAB&d_place=APAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10DB2C27F70B1468&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM French couple convicted for murder pact against their children] , accessed March 15, 2008.] At the time of their trial Patricia, a carer for the elderly, was 44, while her husband, a machine operator, was 37.Context of the crime
The Cartiers argued in court that they were driven to commit their crime out of desperation, caused by a
€ 250 000 debt which they incurred on numerous credit cards and an assortment of consumer loans. They claimed that they had been caught up in a cycle of consumption, including on products for their children: each of the children had a television, two had personal computers, and three had hi-fis and games consoles. Emmanuel Cartier eventually spent entire nights juggling loans in a downward spiral ofrevolving credit .The crime
The edifice finally collapsed. The family went out for a meal at a local restaurant, and on returning home the parents told their children they were giving them vaccinations for a holiday abroad. Patricia Cartier then gave the five children insulin injections, before giving herself the same injection. Emmanuel Cartier attempted to slash his wrists. The children had been dressed in new clothes bought with the last of their money. Patricia Cartier said in court that this was so that they would be "nicely dressed when they reached the other side." [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/18/france.jonhenley Debt-ridden parents tried to kill family] , accessed March 15, 2008.] The doses given were not fatal for four of the children or the mother, but 11 year-old Alicia later died from the injection in hospital. The four surviving children were initially cared for by their grandmother, but coincidentally she was killed in a road accident on the day Alicia died. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/21/wpoison21.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/21/ixworld.html You are murderers, son tells poison parents] , accessed March 15, 2008.]
The Cartiers' lawyer said of the couple: "There are responsibilities, but it would be profoundly unjust if they were to bear them all." [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/18/france.jonhenley Debt-ridden parents tried to kill family] , accessed March 15, 2008.]
Impact
The French philosopher
Bernard Stiegler wrote about the Cartiers in "Mécréance et Discrédit: Tome 2, Les sociétés incontrolables d'individus désaffectés" (2006). An extract was published in English translation as [http://www.arsindustrialis.org/Members/pcrogan/disaffectedindividual The Disaffected Individual] .References
External links
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/19/wpoison19.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/10/19/ixportal.html Death pact couple tried to poison their five children]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/18/france.jonhenley Debt-ridden parents tried to kill family]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/21/wpoison21.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/21/ixworld.html You are murderers, son tells poison parents]
* [http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/couple-deep-in-debt-plotted-to-poison-their-five-young-children-236364.html Couple deep in debt plotted to poison their five young children]
* [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=APAB&d_place=APAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10DB2C27F70B1468&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM French couple convicted for murder pact against their children]
* [http://www.arsindustrialis.org/Members/pcrogan/disaffectedindividual The Disaffected Individual]
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