Tragedy in White Coat: The Fake Doctor's Long Con and Deadly Descent

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Jean Claude Romand seemed to have it all: a happy marriage with his beautiful pharmacist wife, two kids, and a cushy job as a doctor and researcher at the World Health Organization (WHO). However, that wasn't the case. Jean Claude was indeed married with children, but his marriage to Florence Crolet was certainly not a safe and healthy marriage. It's unknown if Jean Claude had planned to be dishonest for so long. During his first year at Lyon Medical School, Jean Claude was immediately smitten with Florence when he ran into her. However, this was not the first time they had met. In reality, Jean Claude and Florence were distant cousins who saw each other at familial events. While his admiration was quite obvious from the beginning, the same couldn’t be said about Florence. Eventually, though, he wore her down after she saw how much he was willing to help her friends with their classes.

Jean Claude was smart; that was obvious. But he didn’t necessarily attend Medical School for the same reason as Florence. He didn't care about taking care of sick people. As an only child who came from a family of foresters, Jean Claude wanted more. He was tired of being looked down on by his peers. So, he thought: what better way to gain respect and prestige than to become a doctor? When his first year exam came around, Jean Claude spent his time studying with his friends. After the exam, he celebrated that he had passed. But there was one problem: Jean Claude never took the exam. He never took the one after that, or the one after that. When his medical school friends finally graduated, he feigned his graduation as well.

After medical school, Jean Claude told his friends and family that he got a job at the World Health Organization (WHO). In 1980, he convinced Florence, who had become a pharmacist, to marry him. In 1986, their first child was born. Two years later, their second and final child arrived. As his family grew and his fictitious job didn't generate any income, Jean Claude stole money from his parents. Desperate for funds, he also sold the apartment his parents had bought for him. However, this money would only last so long. Eventually, he began to commit financial fraud by using his fictitious status as a doctor and researcher.

The marriage between Jean Claude and his wife was condemned from the start. Not only was he lying to Florence about his career, money, and health, but in 1989, he began to deceive her about his affair with Corrine Hourtin, a child psychologist and coincidentally, the ex-wife of one of his friends. He visited her in Paris, showering her with gifts and money. He gained her trust—enough to convince her to give him her money so that he could invest it. This was yet another one of his lies.

At one point, Jean Claude's father-in-law, Pierre, requested that he return some of his money. Consequently, Jean Claude visited him to possibly discuss the situation. Unfortunately, Pierre lost his life that day in a mysterious accident. Then, Jean Claude's lies began to slowly unravel. After all, it's impossible to hide from the truth forever.

Firefighters were called to the Romand residence early morning on January 11th, 1993. The house was engulfed in flames when firefighters began pulling body after body out of the home. The only survivor was Jean Claude, who was rushed to the hospital and remained in a coma for three days. Meanwhile, the police began their investigation into what could have possibly occurred within the house that caused a fire and four casualties. The police had so many questions, and fortunately, the person who had all the answers had just woken from his coma.

Soon after the tragedy, police questioned Jean Claude, who quickly confessed to everything. His falsified career, fraud, and the murder of his family. So, what really happened? Jean Claude admits that he does not entirely remember everything that happened. However, he recalls waking up in the morning, holding a bloody wooden rolling pin, and standing over the dead body of his wife. He had bludgeoned her to death while she slept in their shared bed. Jean Claude then washed the blood off the rolling pin, placed it back in its place, and slipped into bed with his dead wife. The next morning, he watched TV and ate breakfast with his kids. He convinced his daughter to get into her bed because she wasn't feeling well, and he then shot her in the back, covered her with her blanket, and proceeded to do the same with his son.

Unfortunately, he didn't stop there. He drove to his parents' house and shot both of them and their dog, before calling Corrine and asking her to meet up. She agreed, believing he was going to return her money. He drove Corrine to a forest, then parked and tried to strangle her. She begged for her life, luckily for her, this worked. Jean Claude blamed this behavior on his health, and Corrine agreed not to tell anyone.

When he finally returned to his home, he decided to end his life by taking sleeping pills and setting the house on fire. In 1996, Jean Claude Romand was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 22 years. He was paroled in 2015 and released in 2019.

Works Cited

“Jean-Claude Romand: A Cautionary Tale of Deceit, Illness, and Spree Murder.” Things That Keep Me Up at Night, 3 Jul. 2020, https://ttkmeup.com/blog/2020/7/3/jean-claude-romand-a-cautionary-tale-of-deceit-illness-and-spree-murder.

“Jean-Claude Romand: Fake French doctor who killed family is free.” BBC, 28 Jun. 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/worldeurope-48790276.

Carrére, Emmanuel. “Deadly Fantasist.” The Guardian, 12 Jan. 2001, https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/jan/13/weekend7.weekend1

Drexler, Paul. “Jean Claude Romand: From Fake Doctor to Family Annihilator.” Crime Traveller, 22 Nov. 2022, https://www.crimetraveller.org/2022/11/jean-claude-romand-from-fake-doctor-to-family-annihilator/.

Nights, Ominous. “Jean-Claude Romand: The Fake Doctor Turned Family Annihilator.” Medium, Medium, 30 Aug. 2023, medium.com/@Ominous.Nights/jean-claude-romand-the-fake-doctor-turned-family-annihilator-ae4100f5bca8.