Serial Killers and Haunted Places

LaLaurie Mansion

Built in 1832, this New Orleans manor is reputed to be haunted by several mistreated slaves - a story stemming from a fire in the building in 1834, when neighbors helping to save furniture from the flames reputedly found tortured slaves chained up in the attic by owner Marie Delphine LaLaurie, better known as Madame LaLaurie, a prominent Louisianan socialite and, it would later be discovered, serial killer. The woman who became infamous as the 'Cruel Mistress of the Haunted House', who was born on March 19, 1787, to Louis Chevalier Barthelemy de Macarty and Marie Jeanne Lerable.

Rumors spread that she was harming her slaves after her third husband left her she went mad, and an incident in 1833 when a young slave within the household, Leia, fell to her death in the courtyard turned all eyes on Marie Delphine Macarty LaLaurie. An investigation was held by the council, an all of her slaves were set free. One by one, Delphine purchased them all back. The events within 1140 Royal Streets quieted until that fateful night in 1834.

On the morning of April 10, 1834, a fire broke out at the luxurious house owned by Delphine LaLaurie. The fire not only destroyed part of the house, but it also brought to light seven slaves who were starved, tortured and chained in the upper part of the building.

The nearly helpless were carried to the Cabildo where they received medical treatment, food, and drink. Nearly two thousand townspeople came to view the victims. Appalled by the wretched sight before them, the people began gathering at the LaLaurie Mansion in an expectation that the Sheriff would arrest Delphine. However, the Sheriff never arrived. As the day went on and no action was taken, the crowd slowly transformed into a mob with only one thought on their mind: vengeance.

When Madame LaLaurie managed to escape the fray, the enraged crowd attacked the now empty residence. They stripped the interior of its valuables and continued their assault by trying to dismantle the whole house by damaging the walls and the roof. By the next morning, they had nearly demolished the entire house. Details of the fire and the aftermath, as reported by eyewitnesses, emerged in the local newspapers during the following week. The account was soon picked up by national publications. Madame LaLaurie was reviled as a "monster," a "demon in the shape of a woman" and "fury itself escaped from hell."

The fire was ignited in the kitchen of the grand mansion. Allegedly started on purpose by a slave woman who had been chained to a stove as punishment, the fire seemed to be an attempt at trying to call attention to the deplorable conditions that she and her fellow slaves were forced to endure.

According to the New Orleans Bee of April 11, 1834, bystanders found 'seven slaves, more or less horribly mutilated ... suspended by the neck, with their limbs apparently stretched and torn from one extremity to the other', who claimed to have been imprisoned there for some months.

It was said that one of the slaves had their bones broken numerous times, and set in unnatural positions, so that when she moved, her limbs remained crooked and bent, her gait reminiscent of a crab's. Another slave was said to have had a hole drilled into his head, with a wooden spoon sticking out--An obvious attempt to stir the brains of this poor soul. Yet another person was allegedly found with the peeled back so that the tissue and muscle were exposed to the naked eye. And yet another slave was said to have had their intestines removed from their body and wrapped around their naked waist. Others were covered with honey and black ants. The lucky ones, as the legend goes, were the ones who were found dead, their torture finally at an end.

For almost 200 years, there have been reports of paranormal activity coming from this house. It shouldn't surprise many that a lot of the hauntings can be traced back to the slaves that Madame LaLaurie kept on the property. Reports of moaning coming from the room where the slaves were kept are common. Phantom footsteps echo through the house with regularity. Many people who have stood near the house have reported feeling as if they were taken over by negative energy.

The home, which was rebuilt to resemble the original, was owned by actor Nicholas Cage from 2007 until 2009.

Not much is known of LaLaurie's life after the fire.

However, writer Harriet Martineau documented that LaLaurie fled New Orleans during the mob violence, taking a coach to the waterfront and traveling by schooner from there to Mobile, Alabama and then on to Paris. She is rumored to have died in Paris in a boar-hunting accident