Lalaurie, Delphine (c. 1790–?)
Lalaurie, Delphine (c. 1790–?)
American murderer (accused). Name variations: Madame Delphine Lalaurie. Born Marie Delphine, c. 1790; died possibly in 1836; dau. of Louis Barthelemy Chevalier de Maccarthy (name later simplified to Mccarty); m. Don Ramon de Lopez y Angulo, June 11, 1800 (died Mar 26, 1804); m. Jean Blanque, 1808 (died 1816); m. Dr. Leonard Louis Lalaurie, June 12, 1825; children: (1st m.) (Marie Francoise) Delphine de Borgia y Angulo De La Candelaria y Lopez (b. c. 1792).
As a member of Louisiana's high society, kept numerous slaves at her mansion at 1140 Royal Street; following a fire there (April 10, 1834), fled when newspapers reported that authorities had found a torture chamber in her home, where slaves had been subjected to unimaginable cruelties, resulting in some deaths; her subsequent fate is unknown. Some maintain she was not the sadist she was made out to be, but rather the victim of yellow journalism.