The Arrest
Police investigation was finally gaining impetus and investigators knew for certain that several of their unsolved crimes were linked and that they potentially had a serial killer on their hands. The media frenzy surrounding the killings had unleashed a level of panic in the population of Paris. Georges was being dubbed the ‘Beast of Bastille’ due to the fact that several of his attacks had occurred in the Bastille quarter, the famed Revolutionary era Parisian neighbourhood.It was one of the largest manhunts in French criminal history. Police finally found Georges in Montmartre and arrested him on 27 March 1998 for the rape and murder of Pascale Escarfail, Catherine Rock, Elsa Benady and Agnes Nijkamp. It transpired that Georges’ DNA matched that found at all four crime scenes, as well as at one attempted rape. Confronted whilst in custody with the irrefutable DNA evidence, Georges confessed to these four, as well as three other murders.Kept in custody, Georges tried to escape in December 2000; a few weeks before his trial was due to begin. He and three cellmates attempted to saw through the bars of their cell but were caught by prison guards. Georges was assessed by psychiatrists and declared legally sane and fit to stand trial.
