Hamida Djandoubi
Hamida Djandoubi (Arabic: حميدة جندوبي) (c. 1949 – 10 September 1977) was the last person to be executed in Western Europe, and the last person executed by beheading in the Western world. He was a Tunisian agricultural worker who had been convicted of the torture and murder of 21-year-old Elisabeth Bousquet in Marseille. Marcel Chevalier served as chief executioner.
Early life
Born in Tunisia in 1949, in 1968 Djandoubi started living in Marseille and working in a grocery store. He went on to work as a landscaper but had a workplace accident in 1971 that resulted in the loss of two thirds of his right leg.
In 1973, a 21-year-old woman named Elisabeth Bousquet, whom Djandoubi had met in the hospital while recovering from his amputation, filed a complaint against him, stating that he had tried to force her into prostitution.
Murder of Elisabeth Bousquet
After his arrest and eventual release from custody during the spring of 1973, Djandoubi drew two other young girls into his confidence and then forced them to "work" for him. In July 1974, he kidnapped Bousquet and took her into his home where, in full view of the terrified girls, he beat the woman before stubbing a lit cigarette all over her breasts and genital area. Bousquet survived the ordeal so Djandoubi took her by car to the outskirts of Marseille and strangled her there.