The French movie Le Trio Infernal / “The Infernal Trio” by Francis Girod depicts the story of a murderous trio, brilliantly cast with Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider and Mascha Gonska. This bizarre plot specializes in insurance fraud is based on true events – the case of the murderer Georges-Alexandre Sarrejani – executed in Aix-en-Provence on April 10, 1934.
Marseille 1931. The young German Philomene Schmidt, who was employed as a nurse by a rich old woman loses her job due to the death the old woman. Philomene finds herself out on the street. Her lover, Villette, does not want to marry her as his wife has been missing since World War 1.
Lawyer George Sarret, prepares a forged death certificate of Madame Villette, enabling Philomene to marry Villette. In return, George makes Philomene and her sister Catherine his mistresses. Villette dies soon after the wedding. George expresses jokingly his regret at not having taken out a life insurance policy on him. Thus, an idea is born. Lawyer George is determined to use insurance fraud as a business model with his two mistresses.
Lawyer George’s next victim is the old Detreuil. He sets him up with Catherine. In order to take out an insurance policy in Detreuil’s name for the benefit of his young wife, George uses the petty criminal Chambon, who pretends to be Detreuil. The plan works, Detreuil soon dies and Lawyer George collects the insurance money. He splits the amount with the Schmidt sisters.
Chambon is left empty-handed and they consequently have to get rid of him. Luckily, Chambon is married to the rich pawnbroker Noemie. They meet in a country house, and Lawyer George kills the Chambon couple. Together with his two lovers, he disposes of the bodies in a hydrochloric acid bath. The couple’s fortune is cashed in by a trick.
Business is booming and George decides to enter politics. In order to eliminate a rival candidate for the upcoming election, George cold-calls him with compromising photos in clearly adulterous situations. The business practices are now somewhat altered by George to avoid exposure. A life insurance policy is taken out on Catherine. Philomene finds a terminally ill girl named Magali, who has no relatives and is to die in Catherine’s place. Catherine seduces the lesbian girl who regains her courage to live. Shocked by what she has done, Catherine commits suicide. In the funeral procession at Catherine’s funeral, George tells Philomene: “The insurance paid!”. Soon afterwards, the two marry.
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional.
What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
