Isabella Mueller (crime writer) 
In the 1970s, a series of gruesome murders of brunette women took place in the French town of Nogent-sur-Oise; these always occurred at dusk, which is why the serial killer was nicknamed the Shadow Killer. A total of seven women and one man were killed, all of whom were shot. The serial killer stripped some of the women without sexually assaulting them. He took only their handbags as souvenirs. Who was behind the series of murders of brown-haired women? For a long time, the police were completely in the dark as to the identity of the Shadow Killer, who first shot a woman on 10 January 1969, though she survived. Just four days later, the Shadow Killer struck again, shooting a young woman in the stomach. But she too was lucky and survived. His third victim was less fortunate; on 23 January 1969, the Shadow Killer shot her in the neck with a 5.5 calibre weapon. From then on, brunette women in the area were in danger, which is why many women changed their hair colour. For seven years, the Shadow Killer – who had also shot a couple on 29 May 1973 – was able to shoot women with a rifle without being detected. Until an anonymous caller tipped off the authorities. The Shadow Killer turned out to be 35-year-old Marc Henri Barbeault, a 1.80-metre-tall father of two. He was regarded as an exemplary family man, a former boxer and a veteran of the Algerian War. Barbeault already had a criminal record for burglary. During a house search on 14 December 1976, the 22-calibre rifle used to kill the last two victims, several bullets from the 5.5-calibre rifle, a club and a dagger were found in his cellar. Ballistic analysis confirmed that the weapon was indeed the same one used to commit the last two murders. Furthermore, the murders always took place when Barbeault was on leave. This was sufficient to bring Barbeault to trial on 28 May 1981 at the courthouse in Beauvais in the Coeur d’Assises of Oise. Barbeault was charged with five counts of murder, as the evidence for the other three murders was inconclusive. On 10 June 1981, Barbeault was sentenced to life imprisonment. An appeal against his sentence was rejected by the Court of Cassation in November 1981. Since then, Barbeault, who to this day denies being the Shadow Killer, has been imprisoned at Saint-Maur Central Prison in Indre, where he works as a prison librarian.
