Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. To keep creating
new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help
the Murderpedia project stay alive. We have many
plans and enthusiasm
to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really
need your help for this. Thank you very much in advance.
Leone
BOUVIER
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Crime of passion - Murdered her lover because he
was going away from her
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: February 27, 1953
Date of arrest:
Same day
Date of birth: February 12, 1930
Victim profile:
Emile Clenet, 22 (her lover)
Method of murder:
Shooting (.22
automatic pistol)
Location: Nantes,
Pays de la Loire, France
Status:
Sentenced to life in prison on December 10, 1953
Leone Bouvier
murdered her lover because he was going away from her. At the
trial she stated that she had shot him dead because she loved him.
If she couldn't have him she wanted to make sure no-one else did.
Bouvier, Leone
This could almost be termed as a crime of
passion. Leone who was an illiterate 23 year old french girl who
after several disasterous relationships became involved with a 22
year old mechanic Emile Clenet. All was fine until Leone became
pregnant, she then lost the child and her job. Her parents seemed
to turn against her and the final stroke seemed to be when Emile
started to reject her. Without any means of support she became a
prostitute.
She bought a gun which she had with her when
she next met Emile. She supposedly was hoping for a reconciliation
but when this did not come she shot her lover through the neck.
She was tried for murder but incredible though it seems even
though she had gone to the meeting with the gun premeditation was
not proved. She was found guilty and sentenced to life
imprisonment in December 1953.
A Tale of Two Sisters
Leone Bouvier, a young French girl dealt with the
corruption of her father’s alcoholism and her mother’s
irresponsibility and lack of heart. Aside she was her sister
Georgette who luckily managed to escape to a covenant at Angers,
becoming a disciplined nun. As Leone was left alone to tend to her
family, she dealt with her mother showing no gratitude towards
her. She was rejected by all those around her; in response, Leone
looked for love elsewhere in particular towards men.
As Leon
directed her attention towards men, she fell in love with a
22-year-old garage mechanic, Emile-Clenet. As they convened on a
weekly basis (every Sunday) Leon learned to love Emile and
appreciate the attention he gave her which she so lacked from her
childhood.
As time
progressed and Leon discovered that Emile’s “so called love” for
her was more of a false emotion she became restless and
distraught. “Emile could be cruel, too. Once, snapped by a
street photographer, the couple went to pick up the picture. Emile
took one look and said he didn’t want it. When Leone asked why, he
said: “Just look at that face and you’ll understand.” She hurried
off to cry alone…It took her all night to cycle the 30-odd miles
to Nantes where Emile worked. But when she got there in the
morning, Emile was annoyed. Their arrangement was only for
Sundays, he said. It was a weekday. She must leave.” (Press
177-178)
As Emile
began to neglect Leone, she took her anger out by purchasing a .22
automatic pistol and shooting him in the neck after kissing his
cheek and saying goodbye.
After
reading this, I realized that many characters throughout the novel
such as Leone have been driven to commit murder because of people
like Emile. After dealing with neglect from her family, she was
looking for a person to love her and care for her. After being
betrayed by the one person she depended on and made her happy, she
was driven to insanity.Leone's betrayl
by her loved ones throughout her life led her to murder the one
person she loved most.
