The Beast of Royal Street: The True Story of Madame LaLaurie (Revisited)

1
00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:04,800
New Orleans has always had a way
of hiding its monsters behind

2
00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:08,400
beauty, behind the wrought iron
balconies, behind the

3
00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,040
candlelight music drifting
through the French Quarter,

4
00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:16,200
behind the masquerade.
But on Royal St. in a mansion

5
00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:20,320
filled with wealth, perfume and
polished silver, something

6
00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,920
horrifying was ratting behind
locked doors.

7
00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,200
The neighbors heard screams.
The servants looked terrified,

8
00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,720
and still the city's elite
continued attending lavish

9
00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,400
parties hosted by one of the
most respected women and

10
00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:42,080
Louisiana society.
Her name was Delphine La Laurie,

11
00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,800
and to the public, Madame Laurie
was elegance personified.

12
00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,760
Charming, wealthy,
sophisticated.

13
00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,680
But inside the upper rooms of
her mansion, enslaved people

14
00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,480
were allegedly being subjected
to cruelty so grotesque that

15
00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,720
even hardened witnesses would
later struggle to describe what

16
00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,280
they saw.
And for years, no one stopped

17
00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:08,080
her.
Until one night in 1834, when

18
00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:10,520
smoke began pouring from the
Lawlery mansion.

19
00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,360
A fire.
A crowd gathering outside and

20
00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:16,160
hidden behind a locked attic
door.

21
00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,680
A discovery so disturbing it
would turn Madame Lolary into

22
00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,440
one of the most infamous figures
in American history.

23
00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:27,280
Some say the house is still
haunted.

24
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,680
Others say the real horror isn't
the ghost stories at all.

25
00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,960
It's the fact that a woman
accused of unimaginable

26
00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:40,720
brutality was protected by
wealth, status, and power for

27
00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,720
far too long.
This is the story of Madame

28
00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:50,160
Delphine Laurie, and trust me,
the deeper you go into this

29
00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:55,240
case, the darker it gets.
I'm Brittany Ransom and This is

30
00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,120
When Killers Get Caught, a
podcast where I examine the

31
00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,680
people, the psychology, and the
moments that lead to the most

32
00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,600
extreme acts of violence.
And what happens when the

33
00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:05,480
darkness finally meets the
light?

34
00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,400
If you've been listening for a
long time, you might remember

35
00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,800
that Delphine La Laurie was
actually the subject of one of

36
00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,920
my earliest episodes.
But this weekend, after learning

37
00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:16,880
that a new season connected to
American Horror Story Coven is

38
00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,960
expected in September of 2026, I
found myself re watching the

39
00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,240
season that introduced a
supernatural version of Madame

40
00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,560
Laurie to an entirely new
audience.

41
00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,080
And while I was watching, I
started wondering, how much of

42
00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:31,760
the real story did we actually
know?

43
00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:34,920
Were there details that I missed
in 2021?

44
00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:37,400
New sources, new
interpretations?

45
00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,640
More context surrounding the
woman they called the Beast of

46
00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:44,720
Royal St.
What I found was a story darker,

47
00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,680
more complicated, and more
disturbing than I remembered.

48
00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:52,680
So today we revisit Madame
Lawlery, separating legend from

49
00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,640
documented history, exploring
the myths that have grown around

50
00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:59,800
her name, and diving deeper into
the horrifying legacy she left

51
00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:05,840
behind in New Orleans.
Before the horror stories and

52
00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,440
the legends, before the ghost
tours and the television

53
00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,600
dramatizations, Delphine Lawlery
was New Orleans royalty.

54
00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:15,080
But she wasn't born Madame
Lawlery.

55
00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,480
Her full name was Marie Delphine
McCarty, and she entered the

56
00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,760
world March 19th, 1787 into one
of the most powerful Creole

57
00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,880
families in Louisiana.
The Mccarty's weren't just

58
00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,240
wealthy, they were politically
connected, socially untouchable,

59
00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,920
and deeply embedded in elite
power structure of colonial New

60
00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:36,600
Orleans.
Delphine's family lineage

61
00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,640
stretched back to the French
colonial era when her great

62
00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,080
grandfather emigrated from
Ireland around 1730 and

63
00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,440
established the family among
Louisiana's upper class.

64
00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,520
By the time Delphine was born,
the Mccarty's had become part of

65
00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,360
the aristocracy of the city, the
kind of family whose name alone

66
00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,200
open doors.
Her father, Luis Bartheleme de

67
00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,880
McCarty, was a prominent
landowner and military officer.

68
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,120
Her relatives help positions of
enormous influence throughout

69
00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:06,760
Louisiana and Spanish controlled
territories.

70
00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,000
One uncle served as governor
over Spanish provinces in

71
00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,480
Louisiana and Florida.
A cousin would later become

72
00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,640
mayor of New Orleans.
Wealth, status, and political

73
00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,120
protection surrounded Delphine
from the moment she took her

74
00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,000
first breath.
And that's important to

75
00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,840
remember, because when people
picture serial killers or

76
00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:28,760
sadists, they imagine outsiders,
isolated people, social

77
00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,080
failures.
But Delphine was the opposite.

78
00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,360
She was cultivated, educated,
wealthy, and she knew how to

79
00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,840
move through elite society with
grace and charm.

80
00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,480
She understood appearance better
than most people probably ever

81
00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,320
will.
And in New Orleans, high society

82
00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:49,200
appearance was everything.
But beneath the silk gowns and

83
00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,520
polished manners and glittering
dinner parties was a world that

84
00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,160
was just built on unimaginable
violence.

85
00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,480
Slavery was deeply woven into
everyday life in Louisiana

86
00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,120
during Delphine's childhood, and
she came of age during one of

87
00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,440
the most volatile periods in the
history of the Atlantic slave

88
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,800
trade.
When Delphine was just four

89
00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,600
years old, the Haitian
Revolution erupted in the French

90
00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,400
colony of Saint Domingue, now
known as Haiti.

91
00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,440
Enslaved Africans organized a
massive uprising against French

92
00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:24,040
colonists and what became the
most successful slave revolt in

93
00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,520
history.
And the effects of that

94
00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,400
revolution sent shock waves
through the American South and

95
00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,000
the Caribbean.
White slave owning families

96
00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,040
lived in fear that the violence
would spread.

97
00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,840
Rumors of uprising circulated
constantly.

98
00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,640
And in Louisiana, anxieties
intensified after Delphine's own

99
00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,760
uncle was reportedly killed by
enslaved people.

100
00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,400
That fear fueled increasingly
brutal crackdowns and harsher

101
00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:49,840
punishments throughout the
region.

102
00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:53,400
Slave revolts like the MENA
conspiracy, the Point coup

103
00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:57,600
conspiracy, and the German Coast
uprising terrified plantation

104
00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,440
owners and reinforced a culture
of paranoia and retaliatory

105
00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,240
violence among the ruling class.
So while I don't say this to

106
00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,560
excuse what Delphine would later
become, I think it's important

107
00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,960
as context because she was
raised in an environment where

108
00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,880
racial violence was normal,
where enslaved people were

109
00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,040
viewed as property and cruelty
was justified as simply

110
00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,920
maintaining order.
Violence wasn't hidden from her

111
00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,960
world, it was embedded within
it, and as she grew older, she

112
00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:28,600
learned how to wear her
refinement like armor.

113
00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,680
By the 1830s, after multiple
marriages and the death of

114
00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,640
previous husbands, Delphine had
become Madame La Lurie, A

115
00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,880
wealthy socialite married to
physician Leonard Lewis Nicholas

116
00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,840
La Lurie, and together they
lived at 1140 Royal St. in the

117
00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:47,280
French Quarter.
In what was considered one of

118
00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:51,560
the grandest homes in the city,
the Lalori mansion was

119
00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,800
synonymous with luxury.
Guests described elaborate

120
00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,440
parties lit by candlelight and
overflowing with wine, music and

121
00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:00,920
conversation.
Politicians, businessmen,

122
00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,400
military officers and members of
high Creole society moved

123
00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,240
through the ballroom beneath
crystal chandeliers, while

124
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,320
servants attended silently in
the background.

125
00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,680
Madame Lolarie cultivated the
image of the perfect Hostess.

126
00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:18,080
Elegant, sophisticated,
charitable, impeccably mannered.

127
00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,360
And to many people in New
Orleans, she represented

128
00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:26,000
refinement itself.
And that image mattered because

129
00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,280
rumors were already circulating.
People whispered about how

130
00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:32,560
harshly she treated her enslaved
workers.

131
00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,920
There were stories about
servants who appeared terrified

132
00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,840
in her presence, accounts of
people disappearing into the

133
00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,920
mansion never to leave,
neighbors claiming that they

134
00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,640
heard screams.
At one point, according to

135
00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,200
several historical accounts,
Delphine was investigated after

136
00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:52,640
a young enslaved girl either
fell or jumped from the roof

137
00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,960
while attempting to escape
punishment from the Madam

138
00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,840
herself.
Even then, though, consequences

139
00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:01,600
were minimal.
Because wealth protects people.

140
00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,520
Status protects people.
Charm protects people.

141
00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,320
Especially in a society where
suffering of enslaved people was

142
00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,640
ignored entirely.
And that's what makes this story

143
00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,680
so disturbing.
The horror didn't exist in

144
00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:19,160
isolation.
It was side by side with luxury.

145
00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,560
While these elite guests laughed
and danced in a ballroom

146
00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,400
downstairs, there were horrible
things happening in the upper

147
00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,040
levels of the house, hidden
behind locked doors, away from

148
00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,559
polite society, where the
carefully crafted mask of Madame

149
00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:38,159
Laurie began to crack.
The ballroom glittered with

150
00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:41,120
wealth while the attic sat in
silence.

151
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,400
Now, for most of her life,
Delphine Laurie seemed to move

152
00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,280
through tragedy the way other
people move through the weather.

153
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,240
Husbands died, political powers
shifted, empires changed hands.

154
00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,120
And somehow, every single time,
she emerged wealthier, more

155
00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,160
connected, and more socially
untouchable than before.

156
00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,400
And by the time the infamous
events at Royal St. unfolded,

157
00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,800
she'd already spent decades
learning how power worked in New

158
00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,720
Orleans society, and, more
importantly, how she could wield

159
00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,080
it.
Her first marriage happened

160
00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,720
astonishingly young, even by the
standards of the late 1700s.

161
00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:21,200
At only 13 years old, Delphine
was married to Don Ramon de

162
00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:26,320
Lopez Y Angolo, a high-ranking
Spanish royal officer at the

163
00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:27,840
time.
Louisiana was still under

164
00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,000
Spanish control following the
Seven Years War, and marriages

165
00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,760
among elite Creole families were
often political and personal.

166
00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,640
Delphine wasn't simply marrying
a man, she was strengthening her

167
00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:40,080
family's bond to the ruling
colonial structure.

168
00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,920
And for a teenage girl raised
among aristocrats, this would

169
00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,680
have been less about romance and
just duty, status and survival

170
00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:50,240
with an elite society.
But that marriage didn't last

171
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,240
very long.
Just a few years later, while

172
00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,160
traveling to Madrid with
Delphine pregnant beside him,

173
00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,200
Don Ramon suddenly died in
Havana under circumstances that

174
00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,920
are still unclear in historical
records.

175
00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,920
Some historians believe that
illness was the likely cause,

176
00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,040
while others have noted how
suspiciously little

177
00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,000
documentation seems to exist
surrounding the death of an

178
00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,480
officer.
What matters, though, is what

179
00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,240
happened afterward.
Delphine returned to New Orleans

180
00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:21,440
still very young, now a widow
with more money, social standing

181
00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,000
and growing independence.
In a world where most women

182
00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,120
depended entirely on men for
legal and financial power,

183
00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,360
widowhood could sometimes create
a strange kind of freedom,

184
00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,840
especially for a wealthy woman.
Delphine had learned an

185
00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,560
important lesson early in life.
She could survive loss and still

186
00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:40,560
rise socially afterward.
And she did.

187
00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,640
In 18 O 8, she married again,
this time to Jean Blanc, a

188
00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,000
prominent banker, merchant,
lawyer and politician in New

189
00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,320
Orleans.
If her first marriage connected

190
00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,920
her to Spanish colonial
authority, the second marriage

191
00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:55,880
rooted her directly into the
financial and legal elite of the

192
00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,400
city.
Jean Blanc was deeply embedded

193
00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,280
in the civic structure of New
Orleans during a period when the

194
00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,720
city itself was rapidly
transforming after the Louisiana

195
00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:06,920
Purchase.
Wealthy Creole families were

196
00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:10,480
navigating this new American
political system while trying to

197
00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,840
preserve their old influence,
and families like the Blocks and

198
00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:17,160
Mccarty's sat right at the
center of this transition.

199
00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,760
This marriage elevated Delphine
to a new level.

200
00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,000
The couple would have four
children together.

201
00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,280
And by all outward appearances,
Delphine continued to thrive

202
00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,640
socially.
She was known for her elegance,

203
00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,120
refinement, and impeccable
presentation.

204
00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,400
But behind that polished image,
historians note increasing

205
00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,800
accounts of a harsh treatment
toward enslaved people who were

206
00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,800
connected to her household.
Nothing had reached the

207
00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,560
monstrous allegations that would
define her legacy.

208
00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,960
But there were signs of
entitlement and perhaps a

209
00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,240
confidence in her own immunity
that seemed to just be growing.

210
00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,000
Then death reshaped her life
again.

211
00:11:56,400 --> 00:12:00,240
Jean Blanc died in 1816, leaving
Delphine widowed for a second

212
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,200
time.
She wasn't even 30 years old yet

213
00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,400
now she possessed significant
wealth, property, social

214
00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,480
connections, and she had five
children, all while operating in

215
00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:15,280
a society that viewed her as one
of the city's grand dames rather

216
00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:19,040
than just simply someone's wife.
And that distinction matters

217
00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,760
psychologically.
By this point, Delphine had

218
00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,720
spent years watching powerful
men orbit around her while she

219
00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,120
herself continued accumulating
influence regardless of whether

220
00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,800
these people lived or died.
She'd survived colonial people,

221
00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,800
widowhood, and changing
governments, and each marriage

222
00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:39,600
expanded her access to money and
status.

223
00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:43,320
Each loss reinforced her
position rather than diminishing

224
00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,440
it.
Then came her third and final

225
00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,200
marriage.
In 1825, Delphine married

226
00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,880
Leonard Louis Nicholas Lawlery,
A physician who was

227
00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,000
significantly younger than she
was.

228
00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,640
And unlike her previous
husband's powerful political

229
00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:02,680
military man, Leonard Laurie
was, at least by appearance

230
00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:06,840
historically to have occupied A
quieter and much more passive

231
00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,960
role within his marriage.
That imbalance may have changed

232
00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,920
the entire dynamic of the
household.

233
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,960
Some historians and writers who
have studied this case suggest

234
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,480
that Delphine increasingly
exerted total control over both

235
00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,760
her home and the people inside
it during this period.

236
00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,320
By the late 1820s and 30s, she
was no longer simply

237
00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:33,320
participating in elite society.
She actively commanded her own

238
00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:38,080
domestic empire.
In 1831 or 32, the couple moved

239
00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,920
into the mansion at 1140 Royal
St.

240
00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:44,120
The massive property that would
later become infamous throughout

241
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,960
American history symbolized
everything.

242
00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,240
Delphine had spent decades
building wealth, prestige,

243
00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,040
visibility and control.
But cracks in the marriage soon

244
00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,720
became visible.
Records show that Delphine

245
00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,320
petitioned the courts for a
legal separation from Leonard,

246
00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,040
citing cruel treatment and
irreconcilable differences.

247
00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,840
Her children reportedly
supported aspects of these

248
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,120
claims.
However, the separation never

249
00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,360
really fully removed him from
the household, and Doctor La

250
00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:15,440
Laurie was still present at the
mansion during the fire in 1834.

251
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,920
Historians have long debated
what exactly happened behind

252
00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:20,920
closed doors during those final
years.

253
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,360
Some believe that the marriage
was deeply toxic and emotionally

254
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:26,920
volatile.
Others speculated that Leonard

255
00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,880
either ignored or enabled
Delphine's increasingly

256
00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,000
disturbing behavior within the
household.

257
00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,600
There are also theories that the
instability of the marriage may

258
00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:39,240
have intensified Delphine's need
for dominance and control in

259
00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,880
other places, particularly over
the enslaved people under her

260
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,480
authority.
What is undeniable, though, is

261
00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:48,480
that by the 1830s, Delphine
Lalorie had become

262
00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,680
extraordinarily powerful.
She was wealthy beyond the

263
00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,760
imagination of most people in
New Orleans, She belonged to one

264
00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,160
of the city's most influential
families, and she had survived 3

265
00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:00,120
radically different political
eras.

266
00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:04,040
And she'd spent decades learning
a dangerous lesson over and over

267
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,160
again.
No matter what happened around

268
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:11,640
her, society would protect her.
You know, long before that fire

269
00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,400
at Royal St. exposed the horrors
hidden inside the Lawlerie

270
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,920
mansion, people in New Orleans
had already suspected something

271
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:20,640
was very wrong.
And that's one of the worst

272
00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,240
parts of this story.
The fire didn't create the

273
00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,120
rumors surrounding Delphine
Lawlerie.

274
00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,600
It only confirmed them.
By the early 1830s, there were

275
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,120
whispers about Madame Lawlerie,
and they were spreading through

276
00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,160
the elite society.
The guests who attended her

277
00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,720
lavish dinners spoke quietly
about the strange atmosphere

278
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,080
surrounding the mansion.
Neighbors noticed enslaved

279
00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,320
workers who appeared exhausted,
frightened or physically

280
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,360
deteriorated.
Servants seem to vanish suddenly

281
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,760
and without explanation.
New faces appeared constantly,

282
00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:53,720
only to disappear within weeks
or months.

283
00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,640
Even in a slave holding society,
where cruelty was normalized,

284
00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,200
people noticed something about
the Lalori household was

285
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,880
different.
A local account later described

286
00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:08,960
the enslaved people in her home
as single, singularly haggard

287
00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,720
and wretched.
That wording stands out because

288
00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:14,000
Delphine was extraordinarily
wealthy.

289
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,360
Her household staff should have
reflected that wealth.

290
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,080
In elite New Orleans homes and
slave workers were often dressed

291
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,480
in expensive garments to
showcase the status of the

292
00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:28,120
family they served.
Appearances mattered in Creole

293
00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,560
high society, but the people
inside the Lawlery household

294
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,760
looked malnourished, exhausted
and terrified.

295
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,800
And then there was the turnover.
Enslaved people seem to

296
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,880
disappear from the mansion at an
alarming rate.

297
00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,800
Of course, because enslaved
individuals were treated as

298
00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,600
property rather than citizens,
records were inconsistent and

299
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,400
incomplete.
But funeral records between 1830

300
00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:55,160
and 1834 reportedly documented
at least 12 deaths of enslaved

301
00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:59,080
people connected to the Lowlery
household, and historians

302
00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,400
believe the true number is
probably significantly higher.

303
00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,079
The problem is that historical
record becomes murky here.

304
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,319
Death certificates for enslaved
people were often vague or

305
00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:12,800
downright non existent, and
causes of death were rarely

306
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,680
investigated with any
seriousness unless there was

307
00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,359
some sort of a property dispute.
So we don't know exactly how

308
00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:23,319
these individuals died.
But the neighbors noticed, and

309
00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:26,440
eventually the rumors became
impossible for local authorities

310
00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:30,160
to completely ignore.
Ironically, publicly, Delphine

311
00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,080
would present herself as
compassionate towards Black

312
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:34,960
residents and other enslaved
people.

313
00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,840
Some historical accounts even
suggest she made performative

314
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:39,880
displays of kindness in public
settings.

315
00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:43,000
She understood reputation
management very well.

316
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,680
In fact, there were several
historians that documented how

317
00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,920
she occasionally freed enslaved
people or would act charitably

318
00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,200
specifically to counter the
growing gossip surrounding her

319
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:56,480
home.
Because at this point, the

320
00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:00,000
whispers had become dangerous.
And then the incident that

321
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:04,280
changed everything.
In 1833, a 12 year old enslaved

322
00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:08,640
girl named Layla, sometimes
identified as Leah, died while

323
00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,480
attempting to flee from Delphine
La Laurie herself.

324
00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,240
According to the most commonly
repeated version of events, the

325
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,160
young girl had accidentally hit
a snag while brushing Delphine's

326
00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,040
hair, and in response, Delphine
grabbed a whip and began chasing

327
00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:25,760
the child through the mansion.
Terrified, Layla fled upward,

328
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,680
climbing higher until she
reached the roof of the Royal

329
00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,400
St. property.
And then she fell.

330
00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:36,040
Some accounts say she jumped in
desperation, others suggest she

331
00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,280
slept while trying to escape.
Either way, though, the child

332
00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,720
plunged to her death from the
roof of the mansion, and what

333
00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:44,960
happened next is perhaps even
darker.

334
00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,120
According to later reports,
Delphine allegedly attempted to

335
00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:50,280
hide the body.
Authorities eventually

336
00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,920
discovered the young girl's
remains buried on the property.

337
00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:56,240
Some version of the story
specifically placed the body in

338
00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,840
an OR near a well or a
courtyard.

339
00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:01,640
Now, it's important to
acknowledge that historians

340
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,400
debate certain details
surrounding this incident, and

341
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:07,640
19th century reporting was often
very sensationalized.

342
00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,280
And overtime, the Lalori story
has become tangled with folklore

343
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,640
and exaggeration.
But regardless of which exact

344
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:18,280
details are accurate,
contemporary accounts agree on

345
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,520
one single point.
The death of this child

346
00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:24,760
triggered an official
investigation into Delphine

347
00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:26,960
Lalori's treatment of enslaved
people.

348
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:31,160
And for just a brief moment, it
looks like the system might

349
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,120
actually hold this woman
accountable.

350
00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,040
Local officials inspected her
property after allegations of

351
00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,720
abuse surfaced.
New Orleans technically did have

352
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,680
laws limiting what was
considered excessive cruelty

353
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,440
toward enslaved people, not
because the system viewed them

354
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,480
as fully human, but because the
city feared public disorder,

355
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,400
property destruction and
reputational embarrassment.

356
00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,400
The laws were not designed to
protect enslaved people in any

357
00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,720
meaningful or moral sense.
They existed to regulate

358
00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,200
slaveholders, preserve social
order, and prevent abuse so

359
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,680
extreme it disturbed the broader
society.

360
00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,760
And even within that horrifying
framework, Delphine managed to

361
00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,480
raise alarms.
Authorities ultimately found her

362
00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,960
guilty of illegal cruelty and
ordered that 9 enslaved people

363
00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:20,440
be removed from her household.
She was fined and legally

364
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,680
required to sell them.
On paper, this looked like

365
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,480
punishment, but in reality it
was simply theater.

366
00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,320
Almost immediately, members of
her family quietly purchased the

367
00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:33,960
enslaved individuals at auction
and return them directly back to

368
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,360
her home.
The entire legal action became

369
00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:40,320
little more than a loophole for
the wealthy, and that moment

370
00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,160
says everything about the world
Delfina operated inside of.

371
00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,440
People knew official suspected
neighbors wistered, the courts

372
00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,480
intervened, and absolutely
nothing changed.

373
00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:53,000
If anything, the film
investigation may have

374
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,720
reinforced Delphine's belief
that she was untouchable.

375
00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,560
I mean, there were already
stories circulating among

376
00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:02,040
neighbors, discussions about an
elderly cook who was kept

377
00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:04,800
chained in the kitchen stove
inside of the mansion.

378
00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,800
Other people claimed that
Delphine became enraged if

379
00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,000
anyone would attempt to show
kindness toward her enslaved

380
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,640
workers.
One story alleged that she even

381
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,240
physically punished her own
daughter for trying to secretly

382
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,880
feed or comfort people in her
household.

383
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,840
At the time, many residents
dismissed these stories as just

384
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:28,680
exaggerated gossip.
But after the fire in 1834,

385
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,960
people looked back on all of
these rumors differently because

386
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,840
the terrifying reality was that
the city had already been warned

387
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:42,840
about what Delphine was.
April 10th, 1834 began like any

388
00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:46,200
other day in the French Quarter
until it was different.

389
00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:51,400
Inside the mansion at 1140 Royal
St. a fire erupted in the

390
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,520
kitchen.
At first, it looked like a

391
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,640
simple domestic accident.
Smoke poured from the lower

392
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:58,200
rooms.
Flames began to climb the

393
00:21:58,200 --> 00:21:59,880
structure.
Panic spread through the

394
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:01,720
household.
But what happened next would

395
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,120
turn a routine fire response
into one of the most infamous

396
00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:05,920
revelations in New Orleans
history.

397
00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,280
Inside the kitchen, responders
discovered an elderly woman

398
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,400
around 70 years old, the
household cook, and she was

399
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,760
chained to the stove, still
alive.

400
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,320
She made a statement that echoed
through historical counts ever

401
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,480
since.
According to the contemporary

402
00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:25,560
reports, the woman claims she
set the fire herself, not out of

403
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:30,720
carelessness, but intentionally.
Her alleged words were simple

404
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:36,160
and devastating.
She wanted to end it all, and

405
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,840
more importantly, she believed
she had no other way out.

406
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,400
She reportedly told those who
found her that she had been sent

407
00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:46,040
to the upper rooms of the house
before and that enslaved people

408
00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,840
were taken there often never
came back.

409
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:53,760
That single detail changed
everything because it reframed

410
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,800
the fire not as an isolated
disaster, but as an act of

411
00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,400
desperation from someone trapped
inside a system that she

412
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,480
couldn't escape.
As the fire spread, police,

413
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,800
firefighters and neighbors all
converged on the scene.

414
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,240
And this is where the official
purport begins to overlap with

415
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,280
eyewitness accounts from the
streets of New Orleans.

416
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,400
According to reporting from the
time, including accounts

417
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,520
published in the New Orleans B,
bystanders didn't wait for

418
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,800
normal permission to act.
As the flames grew and

419
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,600
uncertainty spread, they forced
their way into parts of the

420
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,720
mansion themselves, attempting
to verify whether there were

421
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,360
enslaved workers trapped inside.
But what they found deepened

422
00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:33,120
their urgency.
Inside the lower floors, they

423
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:36,280
encountered locked doors and
resistance from the household.

424
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,800
At the center of it all was
Delphine Lawlery herself,

425
00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:44,200
reportedly still inside the home
with her husband, attempting to

426
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:47,440
protect her personal belongings
even as the fire spread.

427
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,120
In some accounts, she
prioritized her furniture,

428
00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:53,520
valuables and possessions over
evacuation.

429
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:58,080
That detail, whether fully
accurate or exaggerated, becomes

430
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,120
part of the legend that formed
around her, a woman more

431
00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:03,120
concerned with property than
human life.

432
00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,200
But the most consequential
moment came when neighbors

433
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,480
demanded access to the upper
floors.

434
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,840
Delphine refused, and that
refusal became a breaking point.

435
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:17,960
The crowd broke the doors down.
Whatever they discovered in the

436
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,280
upper levels of this mansion,
permanently stained Royal St.

437
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,240
They moved through the house and
reached locked attic space, an

438
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,720
area that had reportedly been
sealed off and inaccessible for

439
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,760
an extended period of time.
When they finally forced entry,

440
00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,000
they were met with a stench that
witnesses described as

441
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,320
overwhelming.
Not just smoke from the fire,

442
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,000
but something older, something
stagnant, something like death

443
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:42,680
that had been trapped inside
walls.

444
00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:45,400
This is the moment where
documented accounts become

445
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,840
especially harrowing.
Inside the attic, responders and

446
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,080
neighbors found human beings and
conditions of extreme

447
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,360
deprivation and abuse.
Several enslaved people were

448
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:58,200
discovered alive, but barely.
Some are restrained with iron

449
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,520
collars affixed in ways that
severely limited or entirely

450
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,440
prevented movement.
Others were found in cages or

451
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,800
chain positions that forced
prolonged, unnatural posture.

452
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,360
Witnesses described bodies that
have been confined for so long

453
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,840
that move in itself appeared
impossible.

454
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:17,360
And among the survivors,
conditions varied, but all

455
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:20,560
accounts agreed on one point.
They were severely malnourished,

456
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,200
physically degraded, and in a
state of profound suffering.

457
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,520
And then there were those that
were not fully conscious.

458
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,920
Some individuals were reportedly
found in states of extreme

459
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,840
trauma, described in historical
accounts as catatonic or

460
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,360
unresponsive, as though they had
endured prolonged physical and

461
00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:42,000
psychological abuse that had
broken their capacity to react.

462
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,000
The injuries described by
witnesses are difficult to read

463
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,360
and even more difficult to
verify in full detail due to the

464
00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:52,960
limitations of 19th century
reporting, but multiple accounts

465
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,440
converge on the presence of
severe physical trauma,

466
00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:00,040
mutilation, untreated open
wounds, and injuries consistent

467
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:02,080
with prolonged abuse and
restraint.

468
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,040
One of the most frequently cited
eyewitness accounts comes from a

469
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,160
local judge who entered the
space during the aftermath.

470
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,400
He describes seeing a woman with
missing limbs and extensive

471
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,640
scarring across her body.
Another account described an

472
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,880
elderly woman with a severe head
injury that left her unable to

473
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,640
walk or properly respond.
There were also descriptions

474
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:23,320
repeated across multiple
sources.

475
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,240
Extreme restraint devices,
including collars and bindings

476
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,840
designed not just to hold people
in place but to immobilize them

477
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:34,320
for a long periods of time.
Witnesses used words like

478
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,000
flayed, brutally whipped to
describe the conditions of backs

479
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,480
and torsos, though it's noted
that in 19th century reporting

480
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,320
they often blurred the line
between clinical description and

481
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,560
moral outrage.
Still, even accounting for

482
00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:51,840
exaggeration, the consistent
core of every account is

483
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,720
difficult to ignore.
This attic was not a storage

484
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:58,160
place.
It contained Madame Laloree's

485
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:02,040
horrors, this place where people
had been held restrained and

486
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:04,280
allegedly subjected to sustained
cruelty.

487
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:07,960
And what makes this moment even
more chilling is the timing.

488
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:11,320
This wasn't the first time
people suspected something was

489
00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:14,760
wrong inside of that house.
It was simply the first time

490
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,280
anyone had been able to force
the doors open.

491
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,120
And as the fire burned through
the structure and neighbors

492
00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:23,560
pulled survivors into the
street, the illusion surrounding

493
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,800
the LA Lorries carefully
constructed world collapsed in

494
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,040
real time.
Delphine, the elegant Hostess,

495
00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:34,560
the elite socialite, the woman
who entertained New Orleans

496
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:38,880
highest society, all of it now
existed beside what had been

497
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,360
found in her attic.
And by the time the smoke

498
00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:44,800
cleared, the city would no
longer guess about what was

499
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:49,960
happening inside 1140 Royal St.
They had to decide what to do

500
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:54,200
with the truth.
What happened after that fire on

501
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,040
Royal St. wasn't an
investigation.

502
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,000
It was an eruption.
Because once the truth of what

503
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,600
was found in that attic spread
through the city, they didn't

504
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:06,440
respond with restraint.
Locals responded with rage, and

505
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,640
that rage had a target Delphine
Lawlery and everything she had

506
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,040
built.
In the immediate chaos of April

507
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,320
10th, 1834, there was still
confusion about who was

508
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,320
responsible and what exactly had
been uncovered, and whether

509
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,160
anyone would be held accountable
in any sort of meaningful way.

510
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,360
Outside the burning mansion,
tension between authority and

511
00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:27,480
public outrage was visible in
real time.

512
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,080
At one point, a judge confronted
Delphine's husband, Leonard,

513
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,520
demanding answers about what
happened inside of his home.

514
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,920
And according to later
retelling, the judge's tone was

515
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:42,320
direct, even incredulous,
essentially asking what kind of

516
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:46,120
situation could possibly justify
what he had just witnessed.

517
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:51,240
And Leonard Lawlery responded.
This is preserved in accounts of

518
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:55,720
the incidents.
It was arrogant.

519
00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,840
He dismissed the inquiry and
replied some people had better

520
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,720
stay at home rather than come to
others houses and dictate laws

521
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,440
and meddle in other people's
business.

522
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:12,040
A remarkable statement in that
moment, not just because it was

523
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:15,480
defiant, because it revealed
something deeper about the world

524
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,520
the Lawleries believe they lived
in.

525
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,400
Even as a crowd was gathering
outside of a burning mansion

526
00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:26,240
where enslaved people were being
pulled out in horrific

527
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:31,240
condition, there was still a
belief that his privacy

528
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,840
outranked public accountability.
But that belief would not

529
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,640
survive the night.
Once the word spread beyond the

530
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:42,440
immediate scene and neighbors
started repeating what people

531
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,400
saw in the attic, the response
escalated rapidly.

532
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,600
They honestly moved through the
French Quarter like a shockwave,

533
00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,720
and a crowd returned, bigger
this time.

534
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,040
Not a handful of concerned
neighbors.

535
00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,800
But this was a full scale mob.
This was not a quiet inspection

536
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,120
or cautious observation.
This was pure destruction.

537
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,360
They stormed what remained of
the mansion's interior, tearing

538
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:10,640
apart rooms, breaking the
ridiculously expensive

539
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,640
furniture, ripping through
walls, dismantling anything that

540
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,560
could be destroyed.
This home that once symbolized

541
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:22,080
wealth and refinement and elite
status was barely more than

542
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:26,160
rubble and exposed foundation.
By the time the authorities were

543
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:29,440
able to gain control of the
scene, there wasn't much left to

544
00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:31,640
preserve.
The structure had been gutted

545
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,840
not just by fire but by
collective anger, and in the

546
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:37,880
aftermath, the human cost
continued.

547
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,920
Some of those surviving enslaved
individuals discovered in the

548
00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:44,640
attic were in such poor
condition they didn't survive in

549
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,360
the hospital.
Historical accounts suggest that

550
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,360
at least two people died within
weeks of the incident due to the

551
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:53,000
severity of their injuries and
prolonged mistreatment.

552
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,840
Others that were physically
stable enough to be moved got

553
00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:01,400
taken into local custody in
jails, which reflects the deeply

554
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:03,440
dehumanizing legal reality of
the time.

555
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,080
Rather than being treated as a
victim in a modern crime scene,

556
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,320
they were processed within a
system that still classified

557
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,440
them as property and legal
liability.

558
00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,160
But something else happened in
the days that followed that

559
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,560
reveal how quickly public
attention can overwhelm official

560
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,280
containment.
Authorities reportedly allowed

561
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:25,400
members of the public to view
the surviving victims in order

562
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,960
to confirm the extent of their
suffering, and people showed up

563
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:35,080
by the thousands.
Estimates suggest over 4000

564
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,880
people viewed these enslaved
individuals held in custody,

565
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,640
turning their suffering into a
public spectacle.

566
00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:45,280
Whether it was framed as
curiosity, moral validation, or

567
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,320
just proof of injustice, the
effect was the same.

568
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,160
This violence that had been
hidden was now exposed for the

569
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,960
whole city to see.
And while New Orleans processed

570
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,440
the horror inside the mansion,
the Lalore family was

571
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,680
disappearing in the chaos.
Immediately following the fire

572
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:02,960
and riot, Delphine and her
family fled the city.

573
00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,920
Accounts suggest she escaped by
carriage undercover of

574
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,160
Confusion, moving first toward
Waterfront before leaving New

575
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:11,600
Orleans entirely.
From there, she's believed to

576
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:15,880
travel to Mandeville, across
Lake Pontchartrain, temporarily

577
00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,320
removing herself from the direct
reach of Outrage.

578
00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:21,680
But she didn't stay there.
She eventually left Louisiana

579
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,160
all together and relocated to
Paris, where she would spend the

580
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:28,480
remainder of her life removed
from the city she loved and won.

581
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:32,560
Dominated in France, she lived
under anonymity compared to the

582
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:34,280
infamy she carried in New
Orleans.

583
00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:38,680
She died in 1849, her later life
largely obscured by distance,

584
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:42,160
time and limited documentation.
But her death didn't really

585
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,480
disclose the full story.
Decades later, a new layer of

586
00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:49,880
mystery emerged.
In 1941, a copper plate was

587
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:52,760
reportedly discovered in New
Orleans bearing an inscription

588
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,880
suggesting that remains
associated with Delphine had

589
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:57,560
been secretly returned to the
city.

590
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:01,400
The authenticity and meaning of
this artifact have been widely

591
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,160
debated by historians.
Some people treat it as a

592
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:07,320
symbolic folklore rather than
verifiable evidence.

593
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:11,520
Still, the idea has persisted
that even after fleeing across

594
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,840
an ocean, even after dying in
relative obscurity, even after

595
00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,160
the mansion was reduced to
rubble, something of Delphine

596
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,840
Lawlery's presence may have been
brought back to the place she

597
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,920
once terrorized.
Whether little rule or symbolic,

598
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:26,120
the story of the copper plates
reflects something larger about

599
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:28,720
her legacy.
Because in New Orleans, Delphine

600
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:30,840
Lawlery was never just a
historical figure.

601
00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,560
She became a permanent scar in
the city's memory, one that

602
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:37,640
refuses to fully disappear no
matter how many versions of the

603
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:40,800
story are told.
When you strip away the fire,

604
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,280
the legend, the ghost stories,
and the modern retellings, what

605
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:46,000
remains at the center of the
case of Delphine Lawlery is

606
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,000
something far more uncomfortable
than the myths suggest, a system

607
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,200
that allowed her to operate in
plain sight for years.

608
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:54,040
And that raises a question
that's still valid today.

609
00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:57,000
Why did it take so long for
anyone to intervene?

610
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,400
The answer is not complicated,
but it is unsettling.

611
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,480
She was protected not just by
her own charm or intelligence,

612
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:06,800
but by the structure of the
society she lived in.

613
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:09,440
She was born into the most
powerful Creole family in New

614
00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:12,400
Orleans, married into wealth,
law, medicine, political

615
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,520
influence.
Every layer of her life

616
00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:18,679
reinforce the same truth.
You exist within a network of

617
00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:21,320
privilege that insulates you
from consequences.

618
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,480
And that's what many modern
psychological interpretations

619
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:28,480
focus on when examining her
case, what some historians and

620
00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,400
criminologists refer to as the
untouchable system.

621
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,520
It's not a clinical diagnosis,
but a concept that describes

622
00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:37,719
what happens when wealth, status
and social capital create a

623
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:41,159
psychological environment where
accountability is optional.

624
00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:43,920
In Delphine's world, law
enforcement didn't operate

625
00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:45,960
independently of in the holy
society.

626
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,199
Judges, politicians and property
owners moved within the same

627
00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:52,639
social circles.
And enslaved people, the ones

628
00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:55,639
who suffered the most in
Delphine's household, they had

629
00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:58,440
no legal identity that could
reliably trigger a meaningful

630
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,960
protection.
So even when the rumors

631
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:03,520
surfaced, when the
investigations were launched,

632
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,240
even when the neighbors reported
the concerning behavior, the

633
00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:10,840
system defaulted toward inaction
or minimal punishment.

634
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,240
And this is the part that
extends far beyond the 19th

635
00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:17,600
century New Orleans, because
those same structural dynamics

636
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:20,840
still exist today in different
forms, while shielding people

637
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:24,480
from scrutiny, reputation
softening, accountability,

638
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:28,800
systems that treat victims as
more credible than others based

639
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,520
on status rather than evidence.
Delphine didn't operate outside

640
00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:36,680
the system, She exploited it.
And that's what makes it so

641
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:39,280
important to study.
Even beyond the brutality.

642
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,680
Over time, something else would
happen to Delphine story.

643
00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:48,560
It evolved into myth.
The case of Delphine Lawlery has

644
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:51,480
been heavily Hollywood eyes,
most notably through

645
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,680
dramatizations like American
Horror Story Coven, which

646
00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,040
transformed her into a
supernatural figure surrounded

647
00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:59,480
by curses, immortality, and
fantasy horror.

648
00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:04,080
The real story doesn't really
need embellishment, though it's

649
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:06,880
disturbing.
In fact, many historians argue

650
00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:09,120
that the truth is more
unsettling because it's grounded

651
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:14,360
in reality, documented social
privilege, legal loopholes, and

652
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:16,600
systemic disregard for enslaved
lives.

653
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:21,160
No supernatural explanation is
required when ordinary power is

654
00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:25,440
enough to explain the outcome.
And after the fire, after the

655
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:29,560
riot, the exposure of what was
inside the mansion, Delphine's

656
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:32,240
life didn't end injustice, it
was just escape.

657
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:36,160
She left the city that had once
elevated her.

658
00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:41,480
An interesting and rather
consistent detail across

659
00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:45,800
multiple accounts is this one.
Delphine never stopped thinking

660
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,960
about New Orleans, despite
warnings from her own family,

661
00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:51,400
who believed she would likely be
killed if she ever returned.

662
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:54,960
She is said to have expressed a
strong desire to go back home,

663
00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,560
whether through attachment,
identity, or unfinished

664
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:01,240
obsession with the life she
built there.

665
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:05,200
She longed for the city that
rejected her, but she never

666
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:12,400
returned. 1849 She died in
France, far from Royal St. far

667
00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:14,680
from the mansion and far from
the city that would spend the

668
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:16,640
next century turning her name
into legend.

669
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:19,520
But her legacy didn't stay
buried.

670
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:25,160
After her departure, the Royal
St. property sat in ruin for

671
00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:27,480
years.
Locals began referring it to it

672
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:30,400
as the haunted house, reporting
strange noises and unsendly

673
00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:33,280
sounds coming from the structure
long after had been partially

674
00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,560
burnt and abandoned.
One of those accounts were

675
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:37,920
psychological, environmental, or
simply folklore.

676
00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,840
They contributed to a mythos
surrounding location, and then

677
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:46,080
in 1834A businessman named
Pierre Trustor purchased the

678
00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:48,960
property and began rebuilding it
into what would become the

679
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:52,560
modern structure.
During his renovations, workers

680
00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:57,000
discovered human remains beneath
parts of the building, a detail

681
00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,280
that has fueled decades of
speculation that what the

682
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:03,680
neighbors heard after the
Lawleries left were not ghosts,

683
00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:06,960
but enslaved people beneath the
floorboards, starving to death.

684
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:10,800
One final, horrible act of
torture from a woman who cared

685
00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:14,240
nothing of the lives of her
enslaved workers.

686
00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:16,800
Over time, the building changed
hands.

687
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:20,000
It became a school, music
Conservatory, apartments, a

688
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,800
furniture store and eventually a
luxury residence.

689
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,600
A third floor was added, and it
altered the original structure.

690
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:31,040
In modern times, the property
once was owned by Nicolas Cage,

691
00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:34,240
who owned it before financial
difficulties led to its sale.

692
00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:37,280
Today, it remains privately
owned, and it is not open to the

693
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:39,520
public in any way.
And through all of these

694
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:43,480
transformations, from mansion to
ruin to redevelopment, the story

695
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:45,720
of Delphine Lawlery has remained
attached.

696
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,640
Historians today generally
classify her among the earliest

697
00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:53,520
documented cases of a serial
offender in the United States

698
00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:57,760
history, though exact numbers of
victims will forever be

699
00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:01,840
impossible to confirm.
And that uncertainty is part of

700
00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:06,280
the legacy, too, because the
case of Delphine Laurie is not

701
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,920
just about a woman.
It's about what happens when

702
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:13,040
power is unchecked, when victims
are legally invisible, and when

703
00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:18,040
society decides that reputation
matters more than the truth.

704
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:29,040
What happened at 1140 Royal St.
didn't stay in 1834.

705
00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:34,240
It moved through newspapers,
whispers, court records, stories

706
00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:36,960
passed from neighbor to neighbor
until facts and fear started to

707
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:40,480
blur at the edges.
And even now, nearly two

708
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,000
centuries later, we're still
trying to separate what was

709
00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:46,360
proven from what was preserved
and what was buried under time.

710
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,280
And when you strip away
everything else, the core of

711
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:53,680
this case holds a woman born
into privilege, a system built

712
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:57,400
to protect her, and truth
refusing to stay hidden forever.

713
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:04,040
The story of Delphine Lawlery
isn't just about what happened

714
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:06,920
inside one house in New Orleans,
it's about everything that

715
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:08,520
allowed it to happen in the 1st
place.

716
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:10,920
The power that went
unquestioned, the violence that

717
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:14,520
was normalized and the voices
ignored until the damage can no

718
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,960
longer be contained.
Even the fire didn't create the

719
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:22,080
truth, it simply revealed it.
And once it was exposed, the

720
00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:24,760
illusion collapsed almost
instantly.

721
00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:30,360
The carefully constructed images
of refinement, elegance, and

722
00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:33,720
elite society couldn't survive
what people saw when the doors

723
00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:37,360
were finally opened.
Stories like this don't stay

724
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:41,360
locked in the past.
They echo in the systems that

725
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:44,480
reflect influence over
accountability, and the moments

726
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:46,280
where warning signs are
dismissed because they're

727
00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:50,000
inconvenient and places where
suffering is easier to ignore

728
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:53,160
than it is to investigate.
And that's why cases like this

729
00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:57,320
don't fade.
They persist, they evolve, they

730
00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:00,880
get retold, reimagined,
sometimes distorted, but never

731
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,240
fully erased.
Because the truth has a way of

732
00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:06,040
resurfacing, even when people
try to bury it.

733
00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:09,880
And sometimes it takes a fire, a
riot, or a breaking point for it

734
00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:13,160
to finally come into focus.
But even then, it leaves

735
00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:15,880
something behind.
Not just ruins, not just

736
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:18,840
records, but questions.
Questions about who we believe,

737
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:22,320
who we protect, and what we're
willing to ignore when power is

738
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,480
involved.
And that's where I leave you

739
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:28,360
tonight.
I'm Brittany Ransom, and this

740
00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:29,760
has been when killers get
caught.

741
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,480
And if there's one thing that
this case makes impossible to

742
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:38,480
forget, it's that the truth
always leaves the trail.

743
00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:40,680
Thanks for listening.