Jacques Plumain

Jacques Plumain (born August 14, 1973 in Guadeloupe), also known as "The Ghost of Kehl", is a Guadeloupean-born French serial killer who claimed four victims (including one who escaped) in France and Germany between October 1999 and May 2000. Plumain was sentenced in France on June 3, 2005 to 30 years of imprisonment; however, there was an appeal of the decision and Plumain was sentenced a second time to life imprisonment with a security sentence of 20 years. ·

Jacques Plumain murdered two of three women he assaulted and is suspected or murdering a fourth.

• A young 22-year-old Turkish woman, Hatice Celik, whom Plumain reportedly attacked in Kehl in the courtyard of a retirement home around 4 AM on October 11, 1999. Jacques Plumain would have stunned her from behind and dragged away from prying eyes. He would then stab her and slit her throat before lowering her panties, without committing any rape. He has always denied this murder and has never been found guilty in his two trials.
• Barbel Zobel, a 38-year-old woman, was assaulted in Kehl as she was leaving her home to work early in the morning of November 23, 1999. Zobel was hit from behind but had time to call for help; this is when her husband intervened and Plumain fled.
• Gisela Dallmann, a 66-year-old woman who was also killed in Kehl around 3 AM on December 4, 1999, while distributing newspapers in mailboxes. Jacques Plumain said that he was looking for a nightclub and that he was lost in small roads; he claims to have seen Dallmann distributing newspapers, approaching her from behind. But Dallmann got scared and Plumain put his hand against the woman's mouth, which she bit and to silence her, he killed her by and dragged her body into an isolated corner where he cut off her carotid and lowered her panties. He also stated that he put his finger in the vagina of the woman to imitate a rape. Dallmann's body was found in the backyard of a building.
• Ursula Brelowski, 44 years old, was killed on May 15, 2000 in the La Wantzenau forest near Strasbourg; Plumain recounts crossing the road and seeing Brelowski, a teacher, cycling by and asked her how she was doing. Brelowski told Plumain that he was clearly mistaken and according to him, Ursula told him: "I do not have negroes in my relationship". Jacques Plumain became enraged and hit the woman until she fainted, then dragged her into the forest where he stabbed her a dozen times (to the chest, arms and legs) before he slit her throat. As with the previous victims, he lowered Ursula's panties to simulate a rape. Given the insistence of the victim's family, anxious to rehabilitate the memory of Ursula, Plumain eventually admitted that the victim had in fact never made the racist remarks at him.

In January 2001, Plumain was arrested for assaulting a motorist with a katana. He claims he had an account to settle with the motorist with whom he violently disputed a few months earlier.

During his interrogation on the crimes Plumain quite quickly confessed and told at the same time that the on the evening of Brelowski's murder he went out to kill because he felt impulses which grew stronger and stronger. Moreover, he admitted that he never wanted to kill Barbel Zobel but that he had attacked her because he was stealing bicycle tires and that she surprised him. On the other hand, he denies any involvement in the murder of Hatice Celik.

In September 2003, the trial of Jacques Plumain began at a cour d'assises of Bas-Rhin in Strasbourg, for the attempted murder on the motorist in 2001. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

On May 18, 2005, the trial of Jacques Plumain for murders began at the cour d'assises of Bas-Rhin. The defense of Plumain was provided by Emmanuel Karm and Jean Guibert. Gioia Zirone was the lawyer of Barbel Zobel, Thomas Mutter was the lawyer of Marc Fisher, the former companion of Ursula Brelowski and Brice Raymondeau-Castanet was the general counsel.

Jacques Plumain was cold, detached and hardly spoke. It was also established that Plumain had invented a character name "Maïve" and that it is this Maïve (in the words of Plumain) who would have killed all those women. Jacques Plumain also states that he assaulted Zobel partly because she looked like his own mother. The lawyer of the family of Ursula Brelowski claimed that the latter never treated Plumain as a 'negro' and that he had killed her only by impulse and not for racism. Psychiatric experts noted that Plumain was a mythomaniac, that he has a normal sexuality but having sexually assaulted these women showed a desire to debase the victims.

On June 3, 2005, Jacques Plumain was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment with a 20-year prison sentence. He was acquitted of Celik's murder. The prosecution appealed the decision.

On March 27, 2006, the appeal process for Plumain began at a cour d'assises at Bas-Rhin court in Colmar.

On April 12, 2006, Plumain was resentenced to life imprisonment with a 20-year sentence of imprisonment.

• "Jacques Plumain, the ghost of Kehl" in September 2008 and January 2010 in Get the Accused presented by Christophe Hondelatte on France 2.
• "The killer of borders" (first report) "...in Alsace-Lorraine" on September 21 and 28 and October 6, 2015 in Crimes on NRJ 12.

• "The shadow of a serial killer in Strasbourg" Article by Philippe Marchegay publishedMay 21, 2000 in Le Parisien.