Hi everyone ! Today, I'm not going to talk to you about a serial killer, but about a mass murderer. Ladies, gentlemen and in-betweens, let me present to you Karl Rose, the killer who reminded French people that they aren't better than Americans when it comes to nutjobs.
A sad, lonely life
We don't know much about Karl Rose's childhood, but the information we have depict a sad childhood.
Karl was in 1994 in Istres, in Southern France. His father is described as passive, and his mother is an alcoholic tyrant. He basically grows up because time passes, and doesn't seem to function in society. He is insecure because of his weight, he doesn't have friends, and his parents don't give him any affection. The only light in his life comes from the screen of his computer.
The introverted child becomes an introverted teenager. Karl spends all of his time on the Internet, and loses touch with reality. The only things he does are play video games and read alt-right websites, to the point where he can only talk about games, guns and white supremacy. I don't know what offends me more, how cliché that is or the fact that nobody stopped him even though he was seeing a social worker and a psychologist at that time.
Teenage Karl Rose
At 16, Karl starts playing with real guns. His parents, now separated, sign him up at a shooting range (yes, after the tragedy, they told journalists that they didn't see it coming), and Karl alt-rights ties allow him to get demilitarized firearms, which he puts back in service and sells online, which is considered illegal trafficking in France. He thus gets arrested on April 17th, 2012, and placed on probation (I would have given him hard time but hey, I'm not a judge). This sentence doesn't deter him, and a few months, he finally gets the weapon he had been dreaming of: a kalachnikov. Where are his parents, you may ask ? I don't know, ask them. Karl is constantly asking for better mental health treatment and confesses his murderous aspirations multiple times, but his parents seem to be too busy doing...🤷♀️?
The tragedy
On April 25th, 2013, Karl's father simply states that Karl didn't do the dishes, and that's the straw that breaks the camel's back (yes, this is pathetic, you are allowed to laugh). Karl leaves and goes to the forest where he hides his guns. He retrieves his kalachnikov, and starts walking. After a few minutes, he sees Patrice Martinez, a 36-year-old salesman, and his neighbor Serge Shorjian, a 45-year-old nurse, simply talking in front of their house. He runs up to them, aims and shoots them, killing them instantly.
A car passes by at that moment. He sees it, aims, and shoots at Louisa Aissa-Olivieri. He then goes into her car and tells her to drive to Paris (reminder: this takes place in Istres, near the Italian border). Louisa says in a few sentences what can be summed up by "Nah, go fuck yourself", to which Karl replied "Don't confuse me, I'm in the middle of a schizophrenic episode". Is that so ? Because last time I checked, you couldn't be in the middle of a psychotic crisis and realize that you were.
Louisa keeps refusing to drive, so Karl ends up leaving the car, but that sadly doesn't mean that the tragedy is over. He stops another car, and shoots Pierre Tanneux through his windshield.
From left to right: Serge Shorjian, Pierre Tanneux et Patrice Martinez
After that, he walks to the Berre lake, throws his kalachnikov in a bush and sits on a bench. When he sees a police car, he flags it down and turns himself in, saying "It's me, I lost it". And just like that, the spree ends as pathetically as it had started.
The trial
Once in custody, Karl finally gets the psychiatric help he had asking for for so long. He starts realizing the weight of his actions, and cries. He cries even harder once he's declared criminally responsible for his actions.
The trial of Karl Rose (I say it like that because it sounds like the title of a movie made in the 00's) begins on January 5th, 2017. During this trail, Karl talks about his life, his shitty parents, the arms trafficking, the alt-right, etc. He sometimes takes a break from his monologues to apologize to the victims' families, saying among other things "I'm sorry for hurting you like that.<...> I'm really a piece of shit". Thank god I wasn't in the courtroom that day because I would have let out a loud "I know THAT's right !" and I would have arrested.
Karl Rose at his trial
Anyway, Karl is convicted and sentenced to 22-to-life. He doesn't make an appeal, and no one knows how life is going for him nowadays. It probably involves a lot of staring off into the distance.
That's it for today ! Tell me what you think about this case in the comments or on Reddit (r/Murder_Wine_Cheese), and if you want to make a suggestion or a donation, everything is in the menu (you can go back to the homepage if you're lost). I'll see you in the next article, be safe out there !
Comments