The Werewolf of Angers, France

 In 1598, a beggar was convicted for being a werewolf in Angers, France.  The man named Jacques Roulet was jailed for murdering a fifteen year old boy and for the alleged shape shifting in a form of a wolf.  The story started when some villagers stumbled upon a mutilated body of a fifteen year old boy.  The whole body was covered with blood, while there are two wolves feeding on the dead boy.  The town’s people try to catch the wolf, but during the chase the wolf vanished, but it left a trail of blood that the villagers can follow.    They track the culprit by the trace of blood on the road.  They were stunned to see a man half naked and covered with facial hair on the end of the blood trail.  His hands are covered with blood and his long nails have scraps of human flesh.

The man was arrested and interrogated.  He confessed that he attacked the boy and planned to devour him but the villagers’ arrival prevented him from doing so.  Roulet was a beggar who asks for alms from every house.  The only known relative he has was his brother and cousin.  He was given a small shanty to serve as a home.  But prior to the crime that he had committed, his neighbors attested that Roulet was missing at around 8 days.

At the court trial, he claimed that he has the ability to take the form of a wolf using the liniment that his parents passed unto him.  He was asked about the ingredients of the cream but he was unable to provide the court with answers.  He further said that the two wolves found in the murder scene were his brother and cousin whom he said have also the ability to shape shift.  Roulet gave a detailed description of the boy he also describe the father of the boy who was the first one to arrive at the crime scene. His brother and cousins were not found guilty after their parents testified before the court.  They provide solid evidence that can prove that those two are miles away from the crime scene.

Roulet was sent into prison. But during his stay inside the jail, he acted like some lunatic man.  He took a pail of water and drank it and from that moment he refused to consume meal or even water.

Roulet said that he made a pact with the demon and ate several children before that.  He claimed that his hands and feet were able to turn into a paw but his head remains human.  He also asserted that he can tear the flesh of the kids by his bare teeth.

The court sentenced him to die, but they appealed his case to the Parliament.  The Court believed that his poverty might have caused him to go insane.  He was ordered to spend two years in a mental asylum and receives religious teaching that might help him to recover his lost faith caused by indigence.