The French Student Who Tried to Hire a Murderer — or Did He?

The French Student Who Tried to Hire a Murderer — or Did He?
News of the Times | Episode 532 | 1876
In this true crime case from 1876, a young French student in Hertford is accused of hiring a drifter to murder his own parents with an air gun. But was Paul Bayart a cold-blooded conspirator—or the victim of a scam by a man with far more ambition than scruples?

📜 Featuring forged notes, poison research, family photographs, and a very dramatic disappearance before trial… this is one of the strangest cases ever to walk the line between parricide and fraud.

👮‍♂️ PLUS: In our end-of-episode Further Particulars, a drunken Victorian constable punches his sergeant, wrestles three colleagues, and attempts to strike the inspector—all while technically still on duty.

🔍 Highlights:
1876 courtroom drama from Hertford to Roubaix
Blackmail, forgery, and a very questionable £500 note
Bonus tale: “The Drunken Constable of Berkeley Square” (1872)
👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

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📚 Related cases from the archive: 
•1878: Poisoner in the Family: The Dark Tale of Ellen Heesom |  EP491
https://youtu.be/dNzsOByqvGg
1879: The Curious Case of the Perryman Affair |  EP492
https://youtu.be/3gBKtzV_22g
1873: The Case of the frightful Outrage Near Norwich  |  EP494
https://youtu.be/tF_sqNrzBh4
1872: The Twisted Tale of Mrs Portbury |  EP499
https://youtu.be/OhyLhLfCpK0

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