September 10th: The Day the Last Person was Guillotined

Interested?
Read Jeremy Mercer's book about this case 'When the Guillotine Fell'

Originally an execution method from the French Revolution, the guillotine was last officially used on September 10th 1977 in France. It was off with the head of Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant living in Marseilles, who was guilty of torture, murder, rape and premeditated violence. Djandoubi's execution was the last in France, and capital punishment was stamped out later in 1981 when Francois Mitterrand came into power.
   Djandoubi had defended his disgusting crime with the fact he had his leg amputated after a workplace accident, leading to traumatic circumstances for him. This leg amputation, then, was his apparent excuse for trying to force his 21 year old ex-girlfriend Elisabeth Bousquet into prostitution, kidnapping burning her flesh with lit cigarettes, strangling her, then luring two other young girls in with similar intentions. Before he could kill again, Djandoubi was arrested and condemned to execution by the guillotine. After an appeal, the murderer was still not reprieved, so capital punishment went ahead at 4.40am on September 10th 1977. Are you surprised that the guillotine was used only some 35 years ago? Did Djandoubi deserve the death penalty?