Mad Madame Delphine LaLaurie

Summary

Morbid Podcast Summary

Episode: "Mad Madame Delphine LaLaurie"

Hosts: Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart
Date: April 13, 2026
Theme:
A deeply researched yet conversational (and at times darkly humorous) exploration of the life, crimes, and horrific legacy of Delphine LaLaurie—a notorious figure from 19th-century New Orleans whose cruelty to enslaved people reached infamous, near-mythic levels. The hosts examine Delphine’s background, the details of her crimes, social context, and the haunted legend of the LaLaurie Mansion, while reflecting critically on complicity and historical memory.

---

Overview

This episode centers on Delphine LaLaurie, whose brutal acts against the enslaved people in her household shocked even her contemporaries in New Orleans. The hosts dissect her background—born into privilege, entrenched racism, and personal trauma—to trace how she became an emblem of sadism. The episode also explores how her crimes were unveiled, the social reactions, and the persistent legends (and hauntings) surrounding the LaLaurie Mansion.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Life and Background of Delphine LaLaurie

• Privilege and Upbringing:

  • Delphine, born Marie Delphine McCarty (b. 1787), was part of one of New Orleans' wealthiest families (08:01).
  • Her youth was marked by excess, lavish “Bacchanalia” parties, and exposure to the abuses of power typical of her milieu.
  • The family dynamic: male relatives' sexual exploitation and dehumanization of Black women, which the hosts directly name as non-consensual and abusive (12:36–13:06).

• Impact of Slave Revolts:

  • The fear of rebellion shaped local sentiment and the McCarty family’s attitudes. Notably, Delphine’s uncle was killed by enslaved people after years of abuse (10:04–10:28).

Marriages and Position in Society

• First Marriage:
  • At 14, forced into marriage with a 35-year-old Spanish officer, a union ultimately annulled by the crown (13:28–14:39).
• Subsequent Marriages:
  • Second husband Jean Blanc (much older; slave trader, politically powerful) died leaving Delphine in debt.
  • Third husband Leonard Louis LaLaurie—15 years her junior—was a physician (24:44–25:48).
• Accumulation and Loss of Wealth:
  • Through inheritance, marriage, and property deals, Delphine amasses and sometimes loses significant land, goods, and enslaved people (15:20–24:24).

The Reign of Terror at 1140 Royal Street

• Establishment of the Mansion:

  • In 1831, Delphine builds the now-infamous Royal Street mansion, housing both her children and enslaved people (29:09–30:07).

• Public Persona vs. Private Cruelty:

  • Outwardly charming, generous, and “one of the city’s great beauties,” Delphine hides extreme violence inside her home (33:13–35:05).

• Escalation and Reports of Abuse:

  • Widespread rumors circulate about her mistreatment; signs seen in exhausted, malnourished, and injured enslaved people.
  • Legal interventions are rare and ineffectual due to her wealth and social status; the authorities often ignore or dismiss charges (39:47–40:14).
  • Notable incident: In 1833, Delphine chases a 12-year-old enslaved girl, Lia, onto the roof and causes her death. Delphine hides the body in a well; when forced by authorities to sell her slaves, friends and family buy them back for her (40:19–41:21).

The 1834 Fire and The Horrors Discovered

• The Catalyst:

  • April 10, 1834: mansion catches fire (set intentionally by an enslaved cook chained to the stove, in an act of both despair and desperate resistance, 43:32–48:40).

• Horrific Discoveries:

  • Judge and neighbors forcefully enter, finding at least seven enslaved people tortured, mutilated, chained in appalling conditions (45:35–49:07).
  • Victims' injuries included broken limbs reset to deform, metal-collared necks, deep wounds, malnutrition, starvation.
  • Quote: “Language is powerless and inadequate to give a proper conception of the horror which a scene like this must have inspired.” (46:19–46:26)
  • The hosts stress that this level of brutality shocked even a society where slavery’s horrors were normalized.
  • Quote: “She was not getting any work out of these people… She was just a psychopath.” (48:15–48:25)

• Aftermath & Mob Justice:

  • Citizens, enraged by the revelations, loot and destroy the mansion; Delphine escapes to France, evading legal consequences (52:56–54:03).
  • The hosts express fury that she “got to just go to France” and faced no substantive justice.

Lasting Legacy: Ghosts, Legends, and Historical Reckoning

• The House’s Many Lives:

  • After the fire, the property is rebuilt; serves as a residence, school (notably, an all-Black girls’ school where children reported paranormal phenomena), apartments, even owned by Nicolas Cage at one point (55:03–56:22).
  • Ghost stories and urban legends flourish: sounds of weeping, apparitions, disturbing incidents report by later occupants.

• Cultural Memory and Responsibility:

  • Hosts discuss the complex legacy—how New Orleans and true crime tourism have mythologized the mansion.
  • Strong emphasis on the human cost, need for remembrance, and not merely treating the site as a “spooky landmark.”

Hosts’ Critical Reflections

• The hosts continually challenge the whitewashed, romanticized, or trivialized versions of LaLaurie’s story.
• They discuss the failures of bystanders and authorities, expressing outrage at complicit elites:
  • “I'm more angry at, like, the high society people… who are helping to cover this up.” (51:44–52:12)
• The hosts reiterate: when you see injustice, say something—don’t be a “bystander in the face of horror.”

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the horror of slavery vs. social status:

  • “You set the precedent. It’s not like you’re sitting here treating people like humans… you’re treating people like property… How can you be surprised when people use that same precedent against you?” (11:01–11:21 – Alaina)

• On Delphine’s public/private duplicity:

  • “Outside of the home, Delphine was perfectly pleasant to everyone she met on the street… It makes it even harder for… local New Orleans[dwellers] to believe.” (34:13–34:37 – Ash)

• On seeing the victims:

  • “A reporter, whose words are their life, said language is powerless and inadequate to fully tell you what happened here.” (46:31–46:39 – Alaina)

• On escape and injustice:

  • “It pisses me off—the fact that she got to just go to France… France doesn’t want you, babe.” (54:06–54:12 – Ash)

• On societal complicity:

  • “You wish more people valued… taking a stance over their social standing… Eventually, the tide’s gonna turn, and your social standing will be back, because you’ll be on the right side of history.” (33:49–34:04 – Alaina)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [06:36] – Language and terminology: “enslaved people” vs. historical sources
• [07:41] – Delphine’s family background and early formative years
• [13:28] – Marriages, property, and dark inheritance
• [20:31] – Husband’s involvement in slave trading and New Orleans underworld
• [29:09] – Building the infamous Royal Street mansion
• [33:06] – Societal complicity and rumors about Delphine
• [40:19] – Murder of the 12-year-old girl, authorities’ response
• [43:32] – The 1834 fire and opening the house
• [45:35] – Description of the atrocities discovered in the mansion
• [52:56] – LaLaurie’s escape to France, community erupts
• [55:03] – Ghost stories, curse, and haunted reputation
• [57:56] – Hosts’ final reflections and calls to witness and action

---

Tone and Style

• Language: The hosts maintain a balance between dark humor (“You might be a loser if you don’t read the Butcher series” [04:09]) and seriousness, especially in addressing the horrors of slavery, racist violence, and collective societal failure.
• Critical and Reflective: The hosts repeatedly challenge listeners to reckon with complicity: “When you see something, say something… to the authorities, not just to your friend.” (60:31–60:36)
• Accessible, Empathic: They always circle back to the humanity of the victims, refusing to let true crime become mere spectacle.

---

Final Thoughts

"Mad Madame Delphine LaLaurie" is a thorough, unflinching look at one of American history’s most horrifying figures. The hosts transcend mere shock and horror, interrogating both individual evil and the social structures that enabled it—while anchoring the story with calls for awareness, responsibility, and compassion.

Memorable Closing Advice:
"Keep it weird—but not as weird as her. It’s much beyond that… And when you see something, say something." (60:14–60:36)

Transcript

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Chilling crime cases are mysterious, but finding coverage shouldn't be. With the State Farm Personal Price Plan, you have options and can personalize your plan to help create an affordable price so you can get back to cracking all of life's bigger cases. Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the Personal Price Plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail]

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra fee, full [e-mail] avoiding

[Thumbtack Advertiser]

your unf if you haven't finished home projects because you're not sure where to start, Thumbtack knows homes so you don't have to don't know the difference between matte paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app download today.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

This is gonna be so morbid today.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

You know what though? We're. We're ready.

[Host 3]

We're ready.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

We can do this.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

We can get through this. Yeah, we have blankets.

[Host 3]

Yep, we do have blankets.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Blankies today. Because in good old New England. I don't know what happened there. Good old New England. I became Erica Jane in that moment.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Goodbye.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Don't drink. Go listen to the re watcher.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

But anyway, in good old New England, we've had about three false starts to spring.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah. Which we always do.

[Host 3]

We do.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I feel like we've had more than usual this year.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It always feels like.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And I'm cold.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

We go, we slingshot back and forth.

[Host 3]

We're like, oh my God, it's 70 degree.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And then the next day it's like, oh my God.

[Host 3]

We literally looked outside and we said why is it snowing? And then it went away.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And we were like, that was weird.

[Host 3]

And Then all of a sudden it was like. And we were like, oh, it's sleeting. Yeah. Ice falling from the sky.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I don't know. And then Today it's like 50. But I'm cold.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Sunny. I don't know. Hello. Yeah. We don't know how to dress. We don't know how to act.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Back to you, Pete.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That was Ash and Elena with meteorology.

[Host 3]

But yeah, I think the only business nasty we really have is go buy tickets to the live show at Radio City Music Hall. Go buy your tickets.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I'm so excited for that show.

[Host 3]

One night only.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

One night only. We're not doing another one. Nope. Unless it's many years from now.

[Host 3]

Yeah. We're not doing one.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

We won't.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And there's merch for that.

[Host 3]

There is.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That. You can only get there. Go get your tickets and get them on Ticketmaster.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Do it.

[Host 3]

Make it a whole thing.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah. Go with your girlies.

[Host 3]

Go have a weekend in New York.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

You deserve it.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Get crazy.

[Host 3]

You deserve it.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

You've been through hard. You know?

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

If you woke up today in this world, you deserve enough.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

So go get it.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Go do it. Also, we have something fun and exciting upcoming. Maybe. Maybe sometime next week. Not totally sure on timing, but soon. Keep an eye on socials because we're going to be announcing something fun. Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That you guys will be psyched about.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

You guys are going to be st.

[Host 3]

Something you've been like, hey, hey, can I.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

So, yeah.

[Host 3]

And also, last little tidbit. Pre order the Butcher Legacy, period.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

If you haven't done it. What are you doing? Come on.

[Host 3]

It's the third in the series.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

You can get it the [e-mail] anywhere you want.

[Host 3]

Go pre order it.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It's coming out August 11th, and if

[Host 3]

you haven't, like taken a little. Little swan dive into the series, start at the Butcher and the Wren.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Do it. It's. It's okay.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

It's really good.

[Host 3]

I. I feel good about it.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

It's.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I would.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I would hype it up a bit more than that. Yeah.

[Host 3]

The Butcher, the Wren.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Then get the Butcher game and then get the Butcher Legacy.

[Host 3]

Dive into a series. We all need it.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

If not, you might be a loser.

[Host 3]

Maybe.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I didn't say it. I did.

[Host 3]

So don't come at me.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Don't be a loser.

[Host 3]

Go pre order the Butcher Legacy.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

My dog, even Elena's dog agrees. Now we'll pause.

[Host 3]

Wow.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

There wasn't even a follow up arc to that, so I think she was like, hell yeah, mama.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah. She's just my hype girl. Yeah, that's my hype woman right there.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Real.

[Host 3]

That was crazy. Which we needed. So this is gonna be a rough one.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Okay. It sounded like my serious.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Okay. Okay.

[Host 3]

We're finally gonna be covering mad Madame Delphine LaLaurie.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Oh, no.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

This.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

If you don't know who I'm talking about, I'm sorry, but I'm the one

[Host 3]

who's going to be telling you about this, because she's one of the worst people ever.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

If you've seen American Horror Story, you know about this.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah. You at least know, like, a fictionalized version of Kathy Bates history. Yeah. I love Kathy. Love Kathy Bates. But hate.

[Host 3]

And I believe that's how you pronounce.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That's what I. I did. I. I looked at a lot of things to see.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I know.

[Host 3]

Say it because you hear Laurie Lori.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That's what I've always heard.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

The correct pronunciation is actually lalaurie.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I mean, that makes sense because it's, like, French.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah. Because, like, French.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

It's making me laugh because that's a French name. It's making me laugh because there's a drag queen named Lala Ri.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Lala Ree.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Oh, so it's. It's not.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Is it spelled the same?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

No, it's.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I think it's L, A. L A. Oh, okay.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Because I was like, whoa.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Like, her first name, La La. Last name, Re.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Oh, that makes sense.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

But when you say it quick, it sounds.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Host 3]

So this is. This is a story that is really gruesome.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It's upsetting.

[Host 3]

It's got haunted elements at the end of it.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Oh, it's got everything, really.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

One pada.

[Host 3]

One pada.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

One pada.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And so here's one thing I want

[Host 3]

to say right up front.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I refer to the victims in this case as enslaved people, because, you know that's correct. Exactly.

[Host 3]

But some of the quotes that are going to be used in this are a little outdated.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Okay.

[Host 3]

And they refer to them as slaves.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Okay.

[Host 3]

I am going to read the quotes

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

how they are just because they're quotes.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

But just know that when I'm saying it, it's enslaved people.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Those are quotes if it is a little outdated.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Got it.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Just to be clear.

[Host 3]

So let's start you at the end

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

to then bring you back to the beginning.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Oh, I love a full circ.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

We love that.

[Host 3]

In April, 1830, a huge fire broke

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

out at the mansion of Delphine LaLaurie on Royal street in the New Orleans French Quarter.

[Host 3]

LaLaurie was known to have kept several enslaved people as servants in her home. But when neighbors, bystanders, anyone, tried to go into the house and rescue those

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

people that were trapped inside, they found

[Host 3]

that the doors were barred. After forcing them open and making their way into the house, the rescuers were

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

absolutely horrified to find the, quote, horribly

[Host 3]

mutilated bodies of at least seven enslaved people. Delphine LaLaurie was known, by the way, to treat her servants, quote, unquote, very badly.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Including physically abusing them.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Like, there were reports of that. It wasn't like it was completely hidden.

[Host 3]

But no one in New Orleans had

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

imagined that she was a sadistic torturer and murderer.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Like, they did not know how bad it was. Yeah.

[Host 3]

So let's go back to who Delphine Lalori actually was.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah. How the did she get this way?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

So her name is Marie Delphine McCarty originally.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That's like, such a pretty name.

[Host 3]

What are you doing?

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Being a beast.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah, exactly.

[Host 3]

She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

on March 19, 1787.

[Host 3]

And the beginning of her life is

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

obviously a little sketchy because it's so long ago. Yeah.

[Host 3]

But property records from that period do indicate that her family was one of the wealthiest that New Orleans had ever seen.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Oh, wow.

[Host 3]

Uh, in the late 18th century, letters

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

written by a friend of her family said that her mother, who is also Marie McCarty, is.

[Host 3]

Was described as vivacious and frolicsome. Describe me.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That's my description from this point forward.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Vivacious and frolicsome.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

What is frolic?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That's where you want it to end.

[Host 3]

The.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

The similarities between you and the McCarty family.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, definitely, for sure. But frolicsome. I like frolicsome. Does that just mean you're running around?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Probably. All right. Frolicsome.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

You know, frolican.

[Host 3]

And she was known to throw lavish part fun. When you look at it from here,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

you're like, that sounds fun.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Around this time, Delphine and her brother Louie would have been about 9 and 13 years old. So while it's unlikely they participated in

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

what was described as the Bacchanalia. What? Basically, there was like. There was some. It was just. It was a time.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

What is that?

[Host 3]

These parties were a time.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Okay.

[Host 3]

Watch the re watcher and watch True Blood and you'll get an idea.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

We like Marianne parties.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

They were orgies.

[Host 3]

Some might say.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Some might say not having orgies. Like, fine, have an orgy. But you have kids home. Don't do that. Yeah.

[Host 3]

I mean, but they definitely. They witnessed a lot.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, probably.

[Host 3]

And it would definitely have an influence

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

on her later in life, I was

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

going to say, that'll fuck you up. Yeah.

[Host 3]

And in stark contrast to these lavish parties and the lives of luxury that were experienced by the McCarty family, there was also a growing fear at this time that the enslaved people that they were treating so poorly and saying that they owned. Yeah. Were going to. They were starting to rebel and revolt. And so a lot of white people

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

in the region felt that that was coming, which, like, yeah, you deserved it.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

It's also like, yeah. Did you never think that was going

[Host 3]

to happen when you're coming up human beings.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Exactly.

[Host 3]

And so Delphine's uncle, Jean Baptiste Le Breton, was reportedly murdered by enslaved people

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

on his plantation in New Orleans in 1771.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Probably had it coming.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It 100 had a. Yeah, I'm not even.

[Host 3]

Let me take away that.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Probably you're on a plantation. Had it coming.

[Host 3]

One evening, he was awoken from sleep

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

by a fire raging in a shed just outside his bedroom window.

[Host 3]

And when he ran outside to direct the men to put the fire out,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

he was shot and killed. So it was like drawing him out.

[Host 3]

An investigation conducted in the days after this concluded that two of the people that Jean Baptiste enslaved, Temba and Melton,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

they were responsible for the murder and were brutally executed for it.

[Host 3]

Their bodies were displayed in the city square.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Meanwhile.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That's just like.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Like, you can't treat people, you can't

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

exactly like that for that long. Like, what?

[Host 3]

I'm not saying murder is ever okay.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

No. But it's kind of like self defense.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

But it's like, you can't be doing this.

[Host 3]

And this is the kind. And you know what it is? It's like when you get. When you set this precedent of, like, brutality and violence and disrespecting people as human beings and like, taking humanity out of the equation, which is what you were doing when you were enslaving people.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yep.

[Host 3]

How can you be surprised when people use that same precedent against you?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right.

[Host 3]

You set the precedent. Like, it's not like you're sitting here teaching, like, treating people like humans and having all this humanity and grace with people. And like, no, you're treating people like property and you're being brutal and violent to them.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Of course they're not just going to sit around and take that if it

[Host 3]

flips back on you. You set the tone, man. Like, it's not okay from the jump.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yep. So it just pisses me off.

[Host 3]

But although this death occurred more than a decade before Delphine's birth, the effect of this death would definitely affect the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Family, like, as a whole. Yeah.

[Host 3]

Now, life in the McCarty home was

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

one of luxury in excess, like I said.

[Host 3]

And Delphine wanted for nothing. And her heritage and family name were

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

entitled, or so she thought, to all the finest things.

[Host 3]

She would just get whatever she wanted for the rest of her life.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That's what she thought.

[Host 3]

But outside the home, there was the constant reminders of how easily those things

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

could be lost or taken away, either

[Host 3]

by violence or simply lack of vigilance. And add to that the growing resentment of free and enslaved black people whom she perceived to not only be a violent threat, but also a threat to

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

her inheritance and social status.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Oh.

[Host 3]

And what results is a cruel, callous, horrific, self centered person who is capable

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of the most terrible of acts.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Because she's growing up in this house of excess, never wanting for anything. Witnessing lavish parties that were like, not okay a lot. And also like the people in her family, the men in her family especially were treating black women too like property. And they were having these like non consensual relationships with them, sometimes impregnating them and then also treating them like dirt. You know what I mean? So she's seeing this, like that. She's really seeing like throwaway people.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

And it's like. And then she's growing up to think that's.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That's okay to act that way.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And then with this growing sense of

[Host 3]

fear in the community.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Having her uncle murdered by the people

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

that he treated so horribly and owned.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

But she doesn't see it.

[Host 3]

She looks at it as their fault, not his fault.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Right.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Oh, that's a mess. Yeah.

[Host 3]

So it's not a good mix to.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

To be grown up with.

[Host 3]

Now, in the late spring of 1800, when Delphine was barely 14 years old, she married.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Hello.

[Host 3]

Roman Lopez. I. Angelo de la Candelaria.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Brother, what are you doing with all those names and a 14 year old?

[Host 3]

Exactly. What's going on here?

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

You're having too much.

[Host 3]

He was 35 years old.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Get a grip.

[Host 3]

And he was a widower and a high ranking officer in the Spanish military.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Find a grown woman.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah. Get it together.

[Host 3]

Now, at the time of their marriage, he was serving as the second in

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

command to the governor.

[Host 3]

He was the representative of the treasury and he had jurisdiction over matters of

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

police, the courts and the military. So he had a ton of power and influence.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

And shortly after they were married, though, he was ordered to return to Spain because he hadn't asked for permission to marry a child. Oh.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yep.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

It wasn't that he married the child. It was just. No, you had to ask nicely.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

You had to ask the government for permission, like the crown for permission. And he hadn't done that. Oh.

[Host 3]

So Delphine went with him, but he

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

was held and faced consequences in Spain for not seeking permission.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

They were like, hey, is this your child, Brad?

[Host 3]

She returned home without him, and on her return trip to Louisiana, she gave

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

birth to their first child.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Oh.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

She was barely 14.

[Host 3]

Oh, my God. Borgia.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Delphine Lopez Angelo de Candelaria, or Marie

[Host 3]

Borgia, whom she nicknamed borgita.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Okay.

[Host 3]

In March 1807, on her 20th birthday,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Delphine remarried this time because she never saw him again.

[Host 3]

She remarried this time to Jean Blanc, a native Frenchman and local banker who

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

was more than twice her age.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Sounds like a good wine. Yeah.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Jean Blanc.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I'll take the Jean Blanc.

[Host 3]

According to sources, Jean Blanc was, quote, every bit Delphine's match, a ruthless wheeler

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

dealer who was a merchant slave trader,

[Host 3]

an associate of the pirates Jean and Pierre Lafitte. A few years earlier, Delphine's mother died

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

from natural causes, and she left her a sizable sum of money which was put towards her 33, 000 dowry. Oh. Because remember, dowries were a thing.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I kind of love the idea of

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

a dowry that you have to pay.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

No, I just like. I just like.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I think I like the word.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

You know what I mean?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

You're like, I actually don't love the idea.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, not the idea. I just like the words. I was like, what about the idea

[Host 3]

gets to get you going?

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

No, I just like. I like a collection. I don't like that. You have to use it to be like, marry me. I'm so good. But I like the collection and I like the word.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Oh, okay.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Like collecting.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Okay. Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And it's pretty stuff, like, oh, these nice glasses. Let's put them in your dowry. These shoes. You've seen these. These sparkly shoes. Put them in your dowry.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I just don't want it to go to a man.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And it will.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

No, I don't.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

So.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

No, I think we should re. I think we should redo it.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Update our dowries and just have, like, collections.

[Host 3]

Because the name, the word dowry, it's great.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Word.

[Host 3]

Feels nice. Yes, thank you. It feels too nice for what it is, period.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

You see where I'm coming from?

[Host 3]

I do now. In addition to the left by her mother, Delphine also inherited a large number

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of farm animals, farming equipment, and a downtown plantation.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I was gonna say, hell, yeah. Until then, you got to the plantation and you said, hell, I was like, farm Animals Downtown.

[Host 3]

Let's go. Now, despite that inheritance, Blanc purchased a

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

large home for them at 409 Royal

[Host 3]

street and he purchased that through a sheriff's auction. For the duration of their marriage, they

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

would split their time between the plantation left by Delphine's mom and the house on Royal Street.

[Host 3]

Now, over the course of their eight year marriage, Delphine gave birth to four children.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Are you ready for their names?

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I'm so ready.

[Host 3]

Marie Louise, Pauline Louise Marie Laurie, Marie Louise Jean and Jean Pierre Polin.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

So she was just trying to do riddles.

[Host 3]

She's just.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

She was like, which one is shuffling them around? She just like presented them to groups and was like, who do you think is.

[Host 3]

I guess it's good because you can be like Louise. And three of them are like, yep, yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And you can always get someone.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And Marie, Marie.

[Host 3]

You can always get Marie Louise Louise

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Marie Marie schmodube shmish mob.

[Host 3]

Yeah. Because it's Marie Louise, Louise Marie and Marie Louise,

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

just with a different third name. Reverse, reverse.

[Host 3]

Marie Louise Pauline Louis Marie's Lurie and Marie Louise Shung. Now, while little is known about their private lives, there's a lot that's known

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

about their public affairs during the.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Sorry, I need to go back for just one second. So there's all the Marie Louise's and then there's Borgita.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah, Borgita is from the other marriage.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

But I'm just like, how do we go from Borgita to Marie Louise?

[Host 3]

And actually Borgita, her. Her name is Marie is Borgia Delphine

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Lopez e Angelo de la Candelaria or Marie Borgia.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Right. So there's another Marie.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

So like, hello.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

A lot is known about their public affairs.

[Host 3]

They were very local and very active in local real estate and even more

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

active in local politics.

[Host 3]

Blanc was very outspoken and often ruthless

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

when it came to getting what he wanted.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

According to Carolyn Long, Blanc was, quote, much disliked by most of the native

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Americans residing in or near New Orleans.

[Host 3]

Not only because his ways were entirely

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

foreign to them, but also because, quote, they considered him a dangerous man.

[Host 3]

I'm sure. Another account of him written by a representative of the Spanish crown describes him

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

in like, only slightly kinder terms.

[Host 3]

It said, this clever and daring man is persuas persuasive of tongue whereby he sways the crowd. Blanc is regarded as one of the persons financially interested in the piracies of

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Barataria, which he openly protects.

[Host 3]

Basically, he was not only despised by

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

the native population, but also by the Spanish.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Okay.

[Host 3]

Who identified him as one of those

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

financially Backing local pirates.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Awesome.

[Host 3]

Yeah. So his financial support of the pirates, essentially, it was basically because he had relationships with pirates. He was friends with Jean and Pierre

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Lafitte, who were very famous. Right. Infamous, I should say.

[Host 3]

At the dawn of the 19th century,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

as the agriculture business in Louisiana was

[Host 3]

like, really booming, the Lafittes were among the many who were importing the labor

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of enslaved people from Africa and Caribbean nations. Okay.

[Host 3]

But they were known to also be

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

among the more unscrupulous of people doing that. Not that any of them were scrupulous, but.

[Host 3]

Meaning they didn't abide by any laws.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Right.

[Host 3]

Jean Blanc would often receive these shipments of enslaved people from the Lafittes and either help to. And speaking in these terms, really, Shipments. Shipments of people that just. It makes you. How anybody can hear that and not

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

be absolutely just like people are walking around town being like, oh, there's a shipment of slaves.

[Host 3]

Shipment of people here.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Like what?

[Host 3]

And even this next thing, he would either. So he would often receive the shipments of enslaved people from the Lafittes and either help to sell them, just really, really let that sit. Or put them to work on the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

plantation left to Delphine by her mother.

[Host 3]

So he would. He would be snatching up enslaved people who are being shipped here like cargo and just give some of them to Delphine.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yes. Yeah.

[Host 3]

By that. By the time that he died in 1815. Are you ready for this? He had owned or traded at least 367 enslaved people.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Holy.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

You know, that is burning in gnarliest hellfires right now.

[Host 3]

The hottest part, still.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Stop allergy season in its tracks. With big savings from Goodrx. Kick those itchy eyes, stuffy noses and scratchy throats straight to the curb. Start saving today on seasonal allergy meds for you and the whole family, even your pets too. GoodRx is free and it's easy to use. Just search for your prescription on the website or the app, compare prices and get a free coupon to show your pharmacist. Use GoodRx to save at over 70,000 pharmacies nationwide, including Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Publix, Kroger and many more. Gutter X is not insurance, but it does work whether you have insurance or not. And even if you do have insurance or Medicare, Gutter X may be your copay price. I run into that all the time whenever I'm in line at the drive thru pharmacy. I am always checking the app to see what I can save on. And I'm always saving.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I love it.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I love to save don't let allergies slow you down. Save time and money on your prescriptions with GoodRx. Go to goodrx.commorbid that's goodrx.com Morbid Sling is the live TV service that puts viewers in charge of their entertainment at an unmatched value. Streaming live sports shows and movies starts at just 4.99 and everything works instantly across your favorite devices. The best part? Total control over the channel lineup. No paying for tons of channels that never get watched or local channels that are already free. And there's also no long term contract. Live TV is available when it's wanted with flexible options like monthly subscriptions or one day, three day or seven day passes. Subscriptions can be paused at any time and entertainment doesn't stop over 600 free channels stay available even after pausing. One thing that I love about Sling is they have this thing called the cloud DVR and it includes 50 hours of storage but you can also upgrade that to 200 hours.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I love that.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That's awesome because I love to record my shows and watch them later and then fast forward through the commercials. Choose and customize your favorite channel lineup or pause and watch for free. Sling lets you do that. Visit sling.com to learn more.

[Udemy Advertiser]

Not sure if you have the experience to start your dream job? Good news these days it's the skills that count. Udemy can help you get those in demand. Skills? Want to be an AI mastermind? Learn with us game developer. We've got you covered. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. We can help you prep. You'll learn from real world experts who love what they do so that you can love what you do. Go to udemy.com for the skills to get you started. And get started. Set for your dream job.

[Host 3]

Now. When he died in 1815 he left Delphine, a 28 year old widow with

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

five children to care for and significant debts.

[Host 3]

Rather than risk having to forfeit the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

assets left by her mother, she went

[Host 3]

before the court and declared Blanc had left her quote encumbered with debt and chose to relinquish any property and assets

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

that they held together to pay for what he owed. Because he was also just like a shady little yeah. This totaled roughly $160,000, which is now 3 million today.

[DSW Advertiser]

Wow.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That's how much in debt he was.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Damn.

[Host 3]

Now in the end Delphine was able to keep some of the property.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

She would either buy it with her

[Host 3]

own money and you know, some of

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

the property and assets were purchased by her brother and father which at least Kept it in the family.

[Host 3]

Okay. She also persuaded the court to allow her to keep 15 of the people she enslaved in her home as, quote, payment of her matrimonial rights. What?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

My God.

[Host 3]

Holy. Now, unlike her first two marriages, where

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

the husbands were at least twice her

[Host 3]

age, Delphine's third husband, Leonard Louis LaLaurie,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

was 15 years younger than she was when they married.

[Host 3]

Oh, honey. Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I didn't know she was a cougar.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

She was.

[Host 3]

Now, upon completing his medical studies in France in 1824, he left for Louisiana

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

and arrived in the United States in February 1825. Okay.

[Host 3]

Once there, he set up shop as a local physician. And he was skilled in what the local newspapers described as, quote, the means of destroying hunches, which basically was repairing

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

a crooked or hunched back. Oh, he helped with that.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I could use that.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

He would destroy hunches just the way they've said that was like he just destroys hunches.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

No hunchback gonna survive around.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

No way. Oh, damn.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

What's his secret? I have that little, like I have a little hump in the back.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Isn't it called technic?

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, it is called.

[Host 3]

I think it's called I want it.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I just want somebody to punch it.

[Host 3]

Get that form bra.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Oh, God, I hate brows. But this one, honestly, is great.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, but isn't it kind of like, like uncomfy?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

No, I think it's super comfy. Oh, yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Maybe I'll get that brassier.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Do it.

[Host 3]

Get that brassiere.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Get that brazier girl.

[Host 3]

No. There are a few different ideas about how they met. Initially, mostly people believe that they met

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

at one of the lavish parties that they were both invited to.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Was she going to sex parties too?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Probably. No.

[Host 3]

However they met, the 38 year old,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

twice widowed mother of five was still

[Host 3]

considered one of the city's great beauties. Wow. Which like holy as well as the member.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And she was also the member of one of the most influential families in the city, so of course she's going to catch la.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

There was money to be made.

[Host 3]

According to Carolyn Long, by 1825, her name began appearing in letters written to

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Louis by his father.

[Host 3]

You can they.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I guess they never discovered Louis part

[Host 3]

of the letters, but.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Oh, okay.

[Host 3]

So it's safe to assume that even if they were like romantic at this

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

point, which I'm pretty sure they were,

[Host 3]

they'd at least become friendly enough that

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

he was talking to his father about her right now.

[Host 3]

Unfortunately, not long after he came to

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

the U.S. his mother passed away.

[Host 3]

But at this time, his father and brother insisted he close his business in

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

New Orleans and returned to France. Oh.

[Host 3]

But by that time, Louis Louis and Delphine had already started a courtship and

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

they wanted to be married.

[Host 3]

So he said no.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And he temporarily signed over his portion of his mother's estate to his father, which. This would actually cause a lot of tension among the LaLaurie family.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Like that makes sense.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

But while it's possible, there are many

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

reasons why Louis Louis decided not to return to France.

[Host 3]

There is good reason to think that

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Delphine had already become pregnant by this point.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I was wondering that.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And on August 13, 1827, she gave birth to a boy, Jean Louis Leonard.

[Host 3]

So we have another Jean.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Another Jean.

[Host 3]

Despite his refusal to go back to

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

France after his mother died after the

[Host 3]

birth of his son in August, he

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

did leave the country in October and didn't return for several months. That's fake.

[Host 3]

And no one knows why he left

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

or where he went.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That's weird.

[Host 3]

But upon returning to New Orleans in January 1828, they appeared before a notary

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

and were legally married. And just needed to get some out of his sister. I guess so. So is wild oats, I suppose.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

In later accounts of their life together, date of the marriage is often given as 1825, presumably to uphold Delphine's honor

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

since she had become pregnant and given birth before they had married. Yeah.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Now at that. At the time, his assets were listed

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

as $2,000, which he had inherited from his mother and was still controlled by his father.

[Host 3]

Delphine, on the other hand, was worth

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

$67,000 at the time.

[Host 3]

So there was a big imbalance of power, but it was an unusual one

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

because it was tipped in the woman's favor.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah. For this era, which did not happen

[Host 3]

now, in the personal papers of Baron Henry Distemgemi.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I have no idea if I said that correctly. I think you did. I loved it. He was a business associate of Delphine's father.

[Host 3]

There are letters that provide some secondhand

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

accounts of the Lala remarriage.

[Host 3]

In one letter, he wrote, they do

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

not have a happy marriage.

[Host 3]

They fight, often separate, and they return to each other. Which would make one believe that someday

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

they will abandon each other completely.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I mean, that makes sense because he

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

did like pre abandon her.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

So there's that.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And also, I can't imagine she was super duper fun to live.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

She's a nightmare. So I can't imagine.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, she was probably abusive.

[Host 3]

Now, in the summer of 1831, Delphine had grown tired of living in the country with Louis and started selling off her own property and mortgaging others to raise money for what would become her

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

final home in New Orleans. By August, she had purchased the vacant lot at 1140 Royal Street. That's a very famous address now.

[Host 3]

And began overseeing the construction of a

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

lavish multi story mansion.

[Host 3]

The first floor of this mansion would have several galleries, sitting rooms. All were decorated in a style more

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

American than French, which was pretty atypical at the time,

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

French decor.

[Host 3]

The second floor had living quarters which

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

included a parlor, bedrooms and a large formal dining room.

[Host 3]

And Carolyn Long suggests the attic under the hipped roof might have had quarters

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

for the most favored domestic servants. The attic.

[Host 3]

However, the majority of Delphine's servants would have been quartered in one or more

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of the outbuildings in the rear of the house. Okay.

[Host 3]

Now, by early 1832, Delphine Louis and

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Jean Louis moved into the home along with the four Blanc children, all but one of whom was an adult at the time. Okay.

[Host 3]

Despite the new environment in the city proper at this point, Delphine and Louis relationship continued to deteriorate over the course of the year.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And in November 1832, she filed for 20 divorce.

[Host 3]

In the petition, she quoted state law

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

almost verbatim and she cited her reason

[Host 3]

for seeking divorce as his having, quote, treated her in such a manner as

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

to render their living together insupportable.

[Host 3]

She also alleged that he had been physically abusive and claimed that Louie had

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

been living out of the house for some time. Okay.

[Host 3]

Whatever the cause of the separation, it

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

doesn't appear to be permanent, at least not practically.

[Host 3]

It never is. By 1834, she was listed in a city records as being a, quote, wife separated in property of Lou Louis Laury. But it reality, Louis had returned to

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

living at the house at Royal street

[Host 3]

and was at least very regularly an

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

overnight guest, but was at home on the night of the fire in April 1834.

[Host 3]

Now, in her 1834 multi volume account

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of her travels across the United States,

[Host 3]

British writer Harriet Mont Martineau.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Martinu.

[Host 3]

Sorry, Martinu Martinu presents a picture of American slavery that is very naive. Yeah, Unsettling at times and also like, at times, a little insightful.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Okay.

[Host 3]

Very strange. And in later assessments of her writing, scholars have noted, quote, an inability to sympathize with cultural others who do not

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

conform to the formulaic and imaginatively controlled terms in which she imagines difference.

[Host 3]

Basically, her sympathy towards enslaved people only

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

extended to those who fit in her very like, narrow view of black people.

[Host 3]

Okay. Now I bring this up because it's important to talk about her view because the Majority of insight into how Delphine Lalori treated enslaved people in her home

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

comes directly from Harriet Montanese writings.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Oh, yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Like a lot of scholars, you point to that.

[Host 3]

Interesting. So while she definitely had a complicated

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

and very limited perspective of on plantation

[Host 3]

owners and their treatment of enslaved people, she was able to identify cruelty and

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

brutality when she saw it.

[Host 3]

About Madame LaLaurie. She said it had been long observed that Madame LaLaurie's slaves looked singularly haggard and wretched, with the exception of the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

coachman, whose appearance was sleek and comfortable enough.

[Host 3]

And that shows you that as long as the enslaved person was being seen

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

by the outside world, they were being treated. Okay.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Okay.

[Host 3]

If you were in that house, she

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

was going to treat you however she wanted to. And it didn't matter if the marks were physical.

[Host 3]

Wow.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Now, despite the obvious maltreatment of enslaved

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

people that was occurring in the Lala

[Host 3]

Re house, it seems few, if any locals at the time were bringing, like,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

thinking to challenge her or raise a concern.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

One, they're all pretty racist because they all probably had slaves of their own at the time. At the time, of course. And two, she's, like, super powerful in the town.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That's what it is.

[Host 3]

She was still one of the wealthier

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

and most respected members of the New Orleans society.

[Host 3]

And to speak out against her would

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

have had consequences 100%. If only social, though.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Oh, I'm like, okay, well, it could have had.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

There could be more consequences that I'm not seeing.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

But I'm like, I think social consequences back then for. I'm not saying it's a good excuse, but I think social consequences back then meant so much more than they do today.

[Host 3]

You just look back and you're like, you just wish people. And I guess people weren't taught to value human life and human dignity, especially not that. You just wish somebody had taken it upon themselves.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Which people did. I will say a couple people obviously took some action.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

There's always good people.

[Host 3]

You wish more people valued what the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

was going on and taking a stance over. Yeah, like, their social standing. Because I'm like, eventually, the tide's gonna turn. Eventually. And your social standing will be back because you'll be on the right side of history.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And it's just.

[Host 3]

So don't worry anyway. Don't worry being. Why do you want to be on the shitty side and keep that.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

You should.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

You know, it's weird.

[Host 3]

And here's the other thing. Outside of the home, Delphine was perfectly

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

pleasant to everyone she met on the street.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That's the thing I didn't realize that I thought she was a big old.

[Host 3]

And that makes total sense that you

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

would think that, because I also would have thought that.

[Host 3]

And it's like, that's what makes it even harder for, I think, her local New Orleans to.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Because maybe people thought they were just rumors. Yeah.

[Host 3]

Like, I think they were just like, oh, well, she's wealthy, she's powerful.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Maybe people are just making up about her because they can.

[Host 3]

And, like, because. So maybe they just were like, all

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

right, I just don't believe that she would abuse her. Her servants in her home.

[Host 3]

But people who went to her home,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

like neighbors and such, did Note later

[Host 3]

that LaLaurie's servants seemed exhausted. They seemed malnourished, basically miserable and being mistreated. Oh, my. They said it was obvious just by looking at them.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Malnourished, just.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah, she wasn't feeding them.

[Host 3]

Now, whether or not the locals believed them, throughout the mid to late 1830s,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

rumors about Delphine's cruelty continued to circulate around the city.

[Host 3]

According to Martin New, the rumors eventually became so widespread that a local lawyer sent a letter to Delphine Fiend reminding her, quote, the law which ordains that slaves can be proved to have been cruelly treated shall be taken from the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

owner and sold in the market for the benefit of the state.

[Host 3]

That's the most wild statement in the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

entire world that they.

[Host 3]

They're literally holding that as like, well,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

you need to treat the people that you buy and own correctly or else

[Host 3]

we're going to take them from you, we're going to sell them to someone else, because we are the morally superior people here.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And it's like, what you're talking about people? Christ, what the. That's nuts.

[Host 3]

Martinu claims that the lawyer even sent a younger employee to investigate the situation at the Lalory home. But this younger lawyer employee returned full of indignation against all who could suspect

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

this amiable woman was doing anything wrong. I'm like, so, did she seduce you? I was just gonna say, apparently she had convinced her that everything was fine. Him. That everything was fine.

[Host 3]

Now, despite how it was framed or

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

understood by Harriet Martineau and the American public at the time, we now know

[Host 3]

that the practice of slavery was not

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

just morally reprehensible, but also cruel and

[Host 3]

brutally violent on nearly every single level

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

that you can imagine. Absolutely.

[Host 3]

For the entirety of her life, Delphine had been raised in a family where human beings were not only owned, but also treated badly. Physically abused and coerced into sexual relationships

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

with the men in her Family. So she was like, this is just life.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Deal with it, what it is.

[Host 3]

And she felt entitled to this.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I'm entitled to own people and treat them how I want because she's just

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

been able to own whatever she's wanted her whole life.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And, yeah, that.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That goes to people, too.

[Host 3]

And people said it used to piss her off that the people, Men in

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

her family, were not ashamed of having relationships with black women, even free black women.

[Host 3]

Oh, so she was just racist like she was.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

She had it in her DNA like, it was just in there now, in

[Host 3]

the period between 1860, 16, and when

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

she left New Orleans in 1834, because she eventually does, unfortunately, Delphine, she gets chased out of there, but still.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, she's free to do so.

[Host 3]

Oh, yeah, yeah. You wish she had stayed and faced

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

the consequences, because I think she'd be in several pieces around New Orleans.

[Host 3]

But Delphine owned at least 54 men, women and children.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Oh, children.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Men and women as well. But you just think of children in this situation.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

And whether they acknowledged it or not, the public appeared to have at least

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

some awareness of what went on inside that house. Not to the extent of what went

[Host 3]

on, obviously, that it wasn't a good

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

thing to have even an ounce of awareness of what was happening in that house.

[Host 3]

In an 1828 newsletter, Jean Bosie wrote, finally, justice descended on her home. And after being assured of the truth

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of the denunciations for barbaris treatment of her slaves contrary to the law, the

[Host 3]

authorities found them still bloody. She had been. She had them incarcerated, letting them be given only the bare necessity. Custodies. Oh, my. Now, in another report from the following year, quote, her viciousness roused her neighbors

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

in arms against her.

[Host 3]

They announced that they would no longer hear of such actions, and in case

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

they did, she should become amendable to the law.

[Host 3]

So it became a problem, like, pretty late in the game, where her neighbors were like, okay, now we know what's going on. And they did start reporting her. Like, they started seeing things, and they would report them, and authorities wouldn't do

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

anything about it to.

[Host 3]

So she was just getting away with

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

it, and people were trying to report her at this point. Okay, well, that's good.

[Host 3]

Now, given what we now know about slavery in the United States during this period, Delphine's treatment of the people she

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

enslaved in her home and on the

[Host 3]

plantation would have had to be particularly brutal and cruel for her neighbors to

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

speak out against her.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That's the thing that you really have to think about here, because people were not treating Enslaved people? Well, no, they were like, they literally whipped them constantly.

[Host 3]

They were her. They treated them as property.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

So it had to have been really bad, like unimaginably bad.

[Host 3]

And for people to speak out against

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

somebody with such power and influence, you

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

really have to think about that piece of it.

[Host 3]

But again, she was rarely held accountable for her actions. In fact, if anything, it seems most of the locals just ended up having to turn a blind eye to it because she was keeping up appearances in

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

public and so no one was doing anything about it. So they were like, what do we to do here?

[Host 3]

On one occasion in July 1829, she was brought before the court for mistreating

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

the enslaved people in her house.

[Host 3]

But the charge was dismissed when her

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

accusers failed to show up in court to testify that they'd actually seen her abuse them.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right.

[Host 3]

So that's the only reason she got out of there.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

She probably threatened them.

[Host 3]

Now she literally tortured these people in her house. She would beat them until unconscious. That was her MO was if she was doling out a beating to you, you weren't going to end that beating until you were out.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That's unreal. Yeah.

[Host 3]

In 1833, neighbors reported her because.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And this is horrific because it's about to get gnarly. So just be.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I mean, this story gets.

[Host 3]

Now gruesome neighbors reported her because they saw her literally chase an enslaved little girl who was 12 years old off the roof of her home. She was chasing her with a whip and she was so scared, she fell

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

off the roof of the home. Oh my God.

[Host 3]

Lalori hid this murder and her body by hiding her in a well. And authorities did discover this after the reports. Cuz people, neighbors saw this happen and reported her.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

She's literally chasing a child off of her roof.

[Host 3]

And you know what they did?

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Nothing.

[Host 3]

They find her and then they forced her. They told her that she had to sell her remaining enslaved humans. But she said that's the other thing

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

it's like to sell a human. Like that's one concept that you have to.

[Host 3]

You.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

You never can, but you have to try to wrap your brain around for this story.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And then she gets to profit.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Like the punishment is, oh, sell your slaves and make money.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

What?

[Host 3]

And she said, okay. And her friends and family bought those enslaved people back and then brought them

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

back into her home.

[Host 3]

Are you fucking kidding me?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah. Isn't that insane? Wow.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

With the dozens of notifications you get

[Narrator/Advertiser]

on your phone a day, it's easy to become desensitized to them. But if that latest ping is from your security camera. Ignoring it could spell disaster. Picture this, somebody's breaking in, but you're at the movies or you're on a flight. You'll see that footage in a couple hours, but by then it's obviously too late. The good news is Simply Safe's active Guard Outdoor Protection can help prevent break ins before they even happen.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

It's a customizable whole home security System

[Narrator/Advertiser]

backed by 24, seven monitoring agents that you can rely on to act even.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And if you can't.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I actually was prompted to get a

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Simply Safe system after a very spooky event.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

It was like this weird snowstorm. Somebody was banging on my door at 3am I don't know what was going

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

on, but it freaked me out.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I got Simply Safe.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And since then I have had so much peace of mind knowing that when I am home, my home is protected and when I'm not home, my home is protected. You can have that peace of mind too. Right now, our listeners get 50 off their new Simply Safe system at SimpliSafe.com

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

morbid that's SimpliSafe.com morbid there's no safe like Simplisafe.

[Thumbtack Advertiser]

Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to don't know the difference between matte, paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app download. Today

[DSW Advertiser]

at dsw, we ask the important questions like what shoes are you going to wear? Whether you're prepping for wedding season, festival season, or just planning the ultimate vacay, the right shoes can make or break an rsvp. So own the moment. You've got big plans and we've got just the shoes at the perfect price, of course. Get ready to get ready with designer shoe warehouse. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today and let us surprise you.

[Host 3]

Now. The full extent of Delphine's cruelty finally

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

came to light on the morning of Thursday, April 10, 1834, when a fire broke out at the mansion. What?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

It's April 9th.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

What the Elena it is.

[Host 3]

How does this happen? Guys, I'm not even kidding you.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

We don't do this on purpose.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Also, we were gonna do this story like a couple weeks ago, literally weeks ago.

[Host 3]

And I wanted to add some things. Things and I Did not. And then I literally was like, you know what?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I'm gonna do that one for the next episode.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

It was like a game time decision.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Wow. That's chilling.

[Host 3]

What the.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That's chilling.

[Host 3]

That's wild.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

All of a sudden I was like, wait, is it. I thought it was April 10th.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That's.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

But it's April 9th. Like, what?

[Host 3]

And it's a Thursday.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah. Wow.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Hello.

[Host 3]

All right, so Thursday, April 10, 1834,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

a fire broke out in the mansion on Royal Street.

[Host 3]

And according to the local press, the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

fire started in the kitchen and quickly spread until the house was, quote, soon wrapped in flames.

[Host 3]

Immediately, the neighbors raced to the aid

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of the LaLaurie family, with many helping them to recover their valuables from the house.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Nice.

[Host 3]

Then Judge Jacques Francois canon asked Louis LaLaurie for permission to remove the enslaved

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

people in the house to safety.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

The fact that there was a possibility that he could have said nah.

[Host 3]

Oh, yeah. He literally.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

And he had to ask permission because that's their property. Oh.

[Host 3]

Yep. That makes.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Actually just made me nauseous, doesn't that? Like, I mean, just nauseous.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Like, that's humans, man. Wow.

[Host 3]

Lala Ree responded, quote, with much rudeness. It was Delphine who said this next part. She said, there are those who would be better employed if they would attend to their own affairs instead of officiously inter meddling with the concerns of other people. In other words, mind your own business

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

and let them burn. Wow. Now, horrified by that response, in his

[Host 3]

refusal to unbar the door to the kitchen, where at least seven enslaved people were imprisoned and bound with chains, Judge Kanon ordered several people to break down the doors.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Good.

[Host 3]

Once they were inside, the men were

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

shocked by what they saw.

[Host 3]

According to the local press, upon entering one of the apartments, the most appalling

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

spectacle met their eyes.

[Host 3]

Seven slaves, more or less horribly mutilated, were seen suspended by the neck with their limbs apparently stretched and torn from

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

one extremity to the other. Oh, yeah.

[Host 3]

They were all wearing metal spiked collars. Once removed from the house and cleaned,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

like, cleaned of, like, soot and ash.

[Host 3]

The victims were found to be covered in old scars and they were weighed

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

down by heavy chains.

[Host 3]

Most of them couldn't even hold themselves up to walk. I'm sure had they not been rescued

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

by that judge, like, like just going against the homeowners, they surely would have died in the fire. Absolutely.

[Host 3]

One of the newspapers said, language, and

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

this is a wild quote, language is

[Host 3]

powerless and inadequate to give a proper conception of the horror which a scene

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

like this must have inspired. Wow. That should tell you what was going on.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That just gave me a full.

[Host 3]

That a reporter whose words are their life said language is powerless and inadequate

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

to fully tell you what happened here. That's. Oh, my God.

[Host 3]

There are reports that some of them

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

were tortured to the point of being unrecognizable as humans. Like, their faces were completely mutilated.

[Host 3]

One woman's back was so badly cut

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

and whipped that muscle and bones were poking through.

[Host 3]

Oh, my God. They found one woman, and this is

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

one that a lot of people I'm sure have heard of, that had had her bones broken and reset several times so that she resembled a crab.

[Host 3]

Because they would. They would break and then reset in

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

the broken place, essentially, so that they were, like, bent in all crazy angles. How do you do that to another human being?

[Host 3]

Apparently her daughters.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

She was trying to teach in her daughters the same hate and cruelty, but they did not have that inside of them. Oh.

[Host 3]

So they would try to feed the. The enslaved people. And when she would catch them, like, she. Because they.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

She wouldn't feed them, so she. They would try to bring food to them.

[Host 3]

When she would catch them, she would,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

like, beat and punish them.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Her daughters.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah. For their kindness to these people. What the.

[Host 3]

And it's become. And it should be.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It should be obvious now that you've heard this, that everybody's heard this.

[Host 3]

Scholars believe that this is just something

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

that Delphi being enjoyed like this.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I mean, yeah, she's sadistic.

[Host 3]

Like, this isn't punishment.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

This is.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

No, she was getting her. Yeah.

[Host 3]

Because.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Most of the enslaved people they found in her home were so badly tortured

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

and disfigured that they could barely walk, never mind work.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Right.

[Host 3]

So she wasn't getting work out of these people.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

They weren't working for her.

[Host 3]

She was just a psychopath. She had a Torture. Torture and pain on people. Like, she liked this.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

This was a thing she did.

[Host 3]

Yep. She's a literal psychopath. The awful discoveries only continued after the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

fire was extinguished as well.

[Host 3]

It turned out the fire had been started by the cook who was found

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

chained to the stove.

[Host 3]

So the cook was chained to the stove. When asked why she'd done it, the woman explained, she set the house afire with the intention of terminating the sufferings

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of herself and her companions or perishing in the flames.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

So she was ready to die in

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

a fire to escape suffering the nightmare

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

that she was living.

[Host 3]

It was made clear that the victims who were discovered in the burning home, again, weren't being put to work.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right.

[Host 3]

And were not being punished for any particular offense. They were, quote, merely kept in existence to prolong their sufferings and to make them taste all that was the most

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

refined cruelty that could be inflicted.

[Host 3]

Like that's a quote.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

The victims were removed from the property and taken to a guard house to

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

protect them from Delphine and provide medical care.

[Host 3]

In one account, journalist J.C. de St. Rome describes one man with, quote, a large hole in his head, and his body from head to foot was covered

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

with scars and filled with worms. Oh, my God.

[Host 3]

Yeah. It's, like, unthinkable.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It is.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And my reactions are just the same over and over again, but you just don't know what to say.

[Host 3]

No. After the initial reports of what was discovered in that house, more than 2,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

000 locals visited the guard house to see the victims with their own eyes. The incident inspired the residents of New New Orleans to have such incredible outrage that they demanded justice for the men and women taken from that plantation, which is shocking.

[Host 3]

A writer for the New Orleans be said the community share us our indignation, and that vengeance will fall heavily fall

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

upon the guilty culprit.

[Host 3]

The outrage of the locals, while understandable,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

obviously in, like, good. Absolutely, is also, like, guys, like, she.

[Host 3]

She was doing this.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

You know what I mean?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Like, what the.

[Host 3]

To. To some degree, yeah. It just like, she had been hauled into court several times for abuse.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It's like, this can't be that shocking. Like, obviously.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

But then when you find out, like, exactly what was happening and you see it with your own eyes, like. Like a woman having her bones reset

[Host 3]

as a crowd, seeing the actual.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

What was like, the actual stuff that happened must have been shocking.

[Host 3]

But it's. And I think it's just me being

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

like, hindsight 2020 and being like, well,

[Host 3]

it's like, I wish anybody had done something. Like, you know, I mean, but then I have to go back and say, well, people were trying to, like, you

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

know, report this and trying to do something, and it's the authorities that really weren't doing anything, because I'm sitting here saying, like, why weren't they doing anything? I'm like, what do you do?

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, like, I'm sitting here trying to

[Host 3]

figure out what I do in my own.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Like, well, what do you do when you're going to the authorities multiple times over and over and nothing's happening, and they're. They're going out there and just giving her tickets.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah, like.

[Host 3]

And it's like, you know what it is? I'm more angry about some of the wealthier and well, to do families in local. I'm less angry at the.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

The. The locals that were not of higher

[Host 3]

social standing because they really were powerless in a lot of ways.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

I'm more angry at, like, the high society people fully agree, who are helping

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

to cover this up and get mad

[Host 3]

because, like, during one of her court cases where she was pulled in for abusing the enslaved people in her house, several of the servants described scenarios where she whipped them mercilessly for supposed infractions, including trying to. To feed themselves or their starving children. That was a. That was a punishable offense for her.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And they just gave her.

[Host 3]

And when she was feeling particularly cruel, she would skip over the adults entirely and just beat their children as punishment

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

in front of them.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Oh, so she's.

[Host 3]

She's a monster.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

She honestly, like, she should have got the guillotine.

[Host 3]

And honestly, I think they would have

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

kind of let justice happen, like, if

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

she didn't skip out, like, street justice.

[Host 3]

I think they would, because the people of New Orleans were ready to tear her to shreds. And I think if she had come

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

back there, they would have torn her to shreds. And I wish she had been able to get the justice.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Isn't it, like, nobody really knows what happened to her. She just kind of, like, faded into obscurity.

[Host 3]

I mean, unfortunately, justice was denied in this situation. In the immediate aftermath of the discovery,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

a lot of the locals took their anger out on the Royal street property.

[Host 3]

They stormed the house, they destroyed everything in sight. They ripped paintings off the walls, destroyed the furniture.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

They made off with anything of value which, like, good for you.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

They called her the devil in the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

shape of a woman. Yeah.

[Host 3]

And they were out for blood. The crowd was eventually dispersed by the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

local sheriff, but by that time, the damage was done.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yes.

[Host 3]

Later, the extent of the destruction would

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

be estimated to have caused roughly $10,000 in damage.

[Host 3]

In a report in the New York New Orleans be, a reporter described the mob as, quote, animated with the desire

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

to punish lalaurie in the fire because of her cruelty towards her slaves. Quote, again, yes.

[Host 3]

As for Delphine herself, it seems that

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

once the discovery was made, she didn't wait around to see how the crowd was going to react. She got the out of there.

[Host 3]

It's widely believed that she fled the city that night and made her way

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

to the water, where she and her family escaped to Alabama and then to Paris.

[Host 3]

And she lived out the rest of her life in France and died on

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

December 7, 1849, at the age of 62.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

The fact that got to just go to France.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah, it pisses me off.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

France doesn't want you, babe.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

In the week you get to live

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

your whole life like, I mean, she

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

died pretty early, luckily so.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

But back that, back then she was elderly as hell.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Now, in the weeks after the fire,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

two of the victims died from their injuries.

[Host 3]

And upon a further search of the property, the bodies of two more victims

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

were discovered buried on the plantation grounds, one of which was the body of a child. Wow. Yeah.

[Host 3]

Now, the night after the fire and after the looting and destruction, the locals

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

returned to the property and set the rest of the house on fire. They burned much of it to the ground. It shouldn't exist. No.

[Host 3]

It remained a burned out rubble until

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

the property was purchased in 1838 by Pierre Trustor, who built a new home

[Host 3]

on the land which remains at the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

corner of Royal and Governor Nicholl street to this day. Wow.

[Host 3]

In the decades that followed Pierre to Restore's death, the home served a lot of different functions.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Like it was used as a school

[Host 3]

building, a music conservatory. Not a school building in an apartment building with the lower floors containing retail

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

shops or other businesses.

[Host 3]

But as early as the late 1940s,

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

the LaLaurie mansion, which is, it's still known despite having be rebuilt, has been the centerpiece of the city's rumored hauntings.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

And has drawn tourists with an interest

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

in all of these ghosts.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I mean, that is some gnarly gas energy.

[Host 3]

According to a 1947 article on New

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Orleans hauntings during the Reconstruction era, which is like 1865 to 1867, the house

[Host 3]

gained a reputation as a quote, haunted saloon and has maintained that reputation ever since. Over the years, visitors have reported hearing weeping maidens who leap screaming from the roof.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Roof.

[Host 3]

Oh, that's horrible.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

As well as countless other ghostly encounters

[Host 3]

over the years, the reputation of the

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

mansion has definitely only grown.

[Host 3]

Residents of the second floor apartments that were there once reported hearing footsteps running along, dim passages, mournful sighs, and at

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

least once a smothered scream. Oh.

[Host 3]

The property has changed hands a lot

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of different times, including a recent period in which it was owned by actor Nicolas Cage.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, I knew that. He doesn't own it anymore.

[Host 3]

No, he doesn't anymore.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I don't think.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I don't think he does.

[Host 3]

At least when it was an apartment in the late 1800s, a tenant was found murdered there. And in the weeks leading up to it, he had told acquaintances of ghostly

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

figures, voices and violent demonic activity in his apartment.

[Host 3]

Now when it was a school as

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

well, this like really me up.

[Host 3]

It was once it was a couple

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

of different schools and once it was

[Host 3]

an all girls primary school and it was.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It was only for black girls.

[Host 3]

And this is important.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I only say this because there were

[Host 3]

reports of kids who were only like

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

6, 7, 8 years old and didn't know the history of Madame LaLaurie.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Rushing to their teachers with scratches and bruises on their arms. And the teachers would obviously be horrified

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

being like, oh my God.

[Host 3]

Thinking another child had done this. But they'd be like, who did this to you? And they would always say that woman.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Oh, yeah, no.

[Host 3]

Yeah, no problem.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Ew.

[Host 3]

So that place, I mean you can.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Why would you ever make that an all black girl school?

[Host 3]

I have no idea who the decided that. I guess it's just the only.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

The only property. I suppose if it could be.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

You heard that there's like a plaque there or something? I don't know that there is, but like that commemorates all the lives lost in the.

[Host 3]

What a gnarly. The energy. I'd love to hear from people who

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

have like been to this particular place because it's like.

[Host 3]

Like, how did that feel?

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

Does it. I just feel like the energy.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Even walking by that must feel.

[Host 3]

I gotta say something.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I think that's one place I'm not interested in going. It's just like.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Oh, it's so sad. It is really sad.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I don't, like, I'm not saying like

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

don't go there or anything like that. I just.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I don't know if I could. Yeah.

[Host 3]

I mean it's not the mansion anymore that's rebuilt.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Exactly.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

But that ground has.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

A lot of honey the lamb.

[Host 3]

Honey the lamb. That's a perfect Honey the land, honey.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

The land.

[Host 3]

The land does.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

How some gnarly.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I know.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I know that story. Like I know how bad it is, but it never gets any easier to listen to.

[Morgan and Morgan Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

It really doesn't.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It was a gnarly.

[Host 3]

That's why it took me a little

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

while to do it because I was like. I don't know if I want to tell this one today.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah, no, I fully understand that.

[Host 3]

But. Yeah.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I wish she had got justice. I do too.

[Host 3]

I really do.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I'm just looking up a fun fact

[Narrator/Advertiser]

for us right now.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Okay.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Ready?

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

I'm ready.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

There's a lot to this. Okay, so this is a. This is from a tick tock I saw last night. So I'm not sure. I gotta. I gotta like double check it, but okay. Abraham Lincoln elected to Congress, 1846. JFK elected to Congress, 1946. Abraham Lincoln elected President, 1860. JFK elected 1960. Actually, this is perfect. Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yep.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Both wives unfortunately lost a child while living in the White House.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Both were shot on Friday.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Interesting.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Both were shot in the head. Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln. Both were assassinated by southerners. Both were succeeded by southerners named Johnson. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln. He was born in 1808. Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded Kennedy. Lyndon B. Johnson was born in 1908.

[Host 3]

That I think that is all true. Because I've seen that, that, that as a thing forever.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That I think that's crazy.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

That's nice.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

You can't.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Like, that's one of the biggest.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That's a fun fact.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah. That's a series of fun facts.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yes.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I saw that last night at like midnight as I'm doom scrolling tick tock and I was like, what the.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

What the.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

I was like, that's crazy.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

That is. I remember like the Lincoln secretary was Kennedy. Kennedy secretary was Lincoln.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Yeah. But then you go to the very

[Host 3]

dates and it's literally like very strange.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Perfectly a hundred years ago.

[Host 3]

I wonder.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

It's like simulation.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Simulation for sure.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Well, with all of that being said, we hope that you keep listening and

[Host 3]

we hope you keep.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Keep it weird. But not as I can't even say

[Host 3]

what she did was weird.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

It's much beyond that. So just like, don't just, just keep it weird.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That's all.

[Host 3]

Don't be an.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yeah. Be nice.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

And when you see something, say something.

[Host 3]

Yeah.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

To the authorities.

[Host 3]

To the authorities.

[Host 2 (Possibly Erica Jane)]

Not just to your friend.

[Host 1 (Possibly Sam)]

Sa. Sam,

[Coop Sleepgoods Advertiser]

Quick question. How old is your pillow? Not like I bought it last year. I mean emotionally. Like, has it been through multiple life phases with you? If your bedding has seen more seasons than your favorite show, it might be time for an upgrade. That's why Coop Sleepgoods launched their bedding upgrade program. Take a quick sleep quiz, upload a photo of your setup, no judgment, and get matched to your perfect upgrade. Plus, you get 25% off site wide. It's basically a glow up, but for your bed. Coop's pillows are adjustable, breathable, and designed to feel exactly how you want. So if your bedding's feeling a little vintage, this is your moment. Head to coopsleepgoods.comcomedy to get your 25% off. That's coopsleepgoods.comcowedy.

[Morgan and Morgan Advertiser]

talk about regrets. We all know someone who's been in a car accident and said, I don't need to call a lawyer. Only to regret it after their pain and damages were worse than expected. When someone hurts you, you deserve to be compensated fairly. Morgan and Morgan is America's largest injury law firm. Fighting for the people for over 35 years. Injured. Visit forthepeople.com podcast that's forthepeople.com podcast. Their fee is free unless they win.