This seems like something from a horror movie, a Hitchcock production, or the stuff of nightmares, but it was a real crime that was encouraged by the people she loved and trusted the most.
This is the account of Blanche Monnier’s incarceration and torture.
She was formerly a stunning socialite who was thought to be dead and buried for more than 25 years until being found barely alive and imprisoned in a dim attic of her family’s estate.
Blanche Monnier was a determined individual who aspired to control her course in life. She was bold and well-liked for her beauty among the high classes she was born into.
When she revealed to her family in 1876 that she planned to wed a lawyer who was a few years older than her and was similarly impoverished at the time, her mother angrily refused to approve the union. Then she instructed her daughter to turn down his proposal. Blanche declared she wouldn’t take such action. After a dreadful fight, her mother locked Blanche in a small attic room with barred shutters that prevented any light from entering. Her mother warned her that she would have to call off her planned marriage to this inappropriate man if she wanted her independence. Blanche would not move.
She was confined to the attic, sleeping on a rotting hay bed and eating only a few leftovers from her mother’s meal.
Blanche’s brothers, mother, and the whole staff at the Monnier Estate all helped to spread the myth that she had passed away unexpectedly in 1876. Her family would pretend to be in severe grief whenever they were in public. They continued to convey their sorrow and even sold their tale to several media outlets. Nobody contested the report that she had died. There would be no motive for her family to lie, would they?
The cops got a handwritten message in 1901. It said that there was a problem going on at the Monnier house. Horrible cries were coming from behind a shuttered window, according to the message. The new housekeeper, who had informed her lover about the horrible circumstances at her boss’s house, wrote the message. He encouraged her to call the police right away.
Despite their belief that Blanche had passed away long ago, the police visited the residence to make sure the reports were untrue. However, Blanche’s mother disregarded the police and refused to let them in, even though she could see them from a window when they arrived.
When the cops finally succeeded in breaking down the door, they were met by an offensive stench emanating from the vicinity of Blanche’s improvised jail. After forcing the door open, they discovered Blanche Monnier had turned into a live skeleton.
The awful stench had been her, and she was now fifty. After being transferred to the hospital, Blanche was showered with attention by shocked nurses, who also offered her a hot supper and continued to thank them.
Despite being detained for her actions, Madame Monnier showed no remorse. She stated that Blanche was the one who caused everything. Her brother supported his cruel mother and put Blanche’s foot firmly on the blame.
Her mother passed away unexpectedly. After that, her brother—a lawyer as well—was successful in his appeal of his one-year prison sentence and was allowed to go free.
Blanche, who had spent the previous 26 years and two months alone in a dark attic, was now a 50-year-old mentally ill lady with no life skills and a host of health issues. Blanche was still left out in the cold when her brother assumed control of the Monnier Estate.
But the Monnier brand was in ruins today. After being mistreated, tormented, and sequestered, the lady was suddenly let go, but her life was only beginning. After being accepted, she resided at a mental health facility until her passing in 1913.
