François Vérove was born on January 22, 1962, in Gravelines, a town in Nord, France. He grew up in a nearby city called Marcq-en-Barœul. François was an only child. His birth mother died of influenza just two weeks before the family moved from Gravelines. After her death, he lived with his strict father, a stepmother, and two half-sisters.

As a young boy, Vérove had a strong interest in horror films. He enjoyed watching movies like Cannibal Holocaust. In June 1985, he got married.

In 1983, he moved to Paris and joined the National Gendarmerie. He worked as part of the motorcycle squadron in the Republican Guard. By 1988, he switched to the National Police and served in the Paris Police Prefecture. He worked in the Hauts-de-Seine department, which is in the Île-de-France region. During his time as a police officer, he was involved in union activities and even served as a delegate.

People who knew him described François as kind and polite. However, they also mentioned that he could get angry easily. Throughout his police career, he lived in Longperrier, Seine-et-Marne. He built a house for his family there. Later, he moved to the south of France, living first in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône and then in Martigues, both in Bouches-du-Rhône. After retiring, he settled in Prades-le-Lez, Hérault. In 2019, he was elected as a municipal councillor there. The following year, he moved to La Grande-Motte, where he lived until near the time of his death in September 2021.

In 2019, Vérove appeared on a television show called Tout le monde veut prendre sa place. He told the host that he worked to keep walkers safe in a Paris park.

On 7 April 1986, François Vérove attacked an eight-year-old girl in an elevator in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. He dragged her to the basement of her apartment building, where he raped her and attempted to strangle her with a cord. Vérove fled, thinking the girl was dead, but she survived and notified authorities.

Less than a month later, on 5 May 1986, he encountered eleven-year-old Cécile Bloch in another elevator. Vérove took her to a basement, where he raped her, stabbed her, and strangled her. The violence of the assault broke her spine. Later that day, her body was found wrapped in a carpet.

On 28 April 1987, Vérove killed two adults in a Paris apartment. His victims were 38-year-old Gilles Politi and 19-year-old Irmgard Müller. Politi’s body was found naked and bound, while Müller had been hung from a bunk bed and had her throat cut. Both victims had also been tortured with cigarette burns.

On 27 October 1987, he approached a fourteen-year-old girl pretending to be a police officer. He handcuffed and raped her before leaving her alive in the apartment after robbing it.

Vérove did not commit any confirmed murders for several years until he resurfaced on 29 June 1994. He abducted an eleven-year-old girl, known as "Ingrid G.", taking her to a farm where he raped her for several hours before letting her go.

Authorities investigating these crimes began to suspect that the perpetrator was among them. Witnesses described him using police equipment and jargon. In 2001, DNA evidence linked Vérove to the murder of Cécile Bloch, connecting multiple cases through additional forensic evidence over the years.

In September 2021, investigators contacted Vérove for a DNA sample. He quickly went missing and was found dead by suicide on 29 September 2021 in a rented apartment. A suicide note confessed to his crimes and expressed remorse but suggested there may have been more acts that authorities were unaware of. Following his death, DNA comparisons confirmed his involvement in the murders and rapes he was suspected of committing.

After his identification, Vérove was linked to other possible attacks and murders, leading to further exploration of his criminal history. Investigators have considered him responsible for at least 31 victims, including nine murders.