Bio

Guy Martel was born on 11 June 1944 in Epiniac. He was one of four children of Amélie Weber and Victor Martel. His father was a member of the garde mobile. After school, Martel earned a degree in mathematics and chemistry.

He enlisted in the National Service Cooperation Abroad (CSNE) in a civilian role. Through that service he was stationed in San José, Costa Rica, as a teacher. He rarely spoke about his time there. He later said he had seen "horrible things" and had to perform the duties of someone of higher rank who had been killed. In 1969 he was taken hostage by guerrilleros for three weeks and was flown back to France. After his release he complained of illness, saying he had caught a virus and suffered intestinal and spinal pain.

Martel accepted a job as a natural sciences teacher at Henri Matisse college in Issy-les-Moulineaux. In 1972, after less than two years, he was forced to quit because of a nervous disorder and was put on long-term disability leave. He was briefly sent to mental institutions three times: once in Paris and twice in Brittany. He was given a disability rating of 80 percent. In 1975 he began receiving a disability pension and moved in with his parents in Baguer-Morvan.

When his mother died of a heart attack in 1976, his condition got worse and he began to see hostility everywhere. He had growing conflicts with his father and in 1979 he bought a house and moved to Dol-de-Bretagne to live alone. In Dol-de-Bretagne he rarely left his home except to lie in his garden or to play tennis at a local sports hall. He ate lunch every day at a home for elderly people. Besides his father, his uncle Charles, and his doctor Dr Launay, he had almost no visitors and was known in the neighborhood as "monsieur tout seul." He was often quickly tired and complained about noise, especially from children, whom he called loud and annoying. Neighbors said he was withdrawn and irritable and that he hardly socialized, not even allowing his family into his house on rare visits.

Murder Story

On 19 June 1985, Guy Martel shot and killed seven people and wounded at least five others in towns and villages in Ille-et-Vilaine and Côtes-du-Nord. The attack began at about 10 a.m. after an argument with his father. Martel took a .22 rifle with a scope and a box of cartridges and drove to nearby houses and public places.

Around 11 a.m. in Dol-de-Bretagne, Martel visited his uncle Charles Martel, who was picking cherries. He spoke with him, then returned to his car, got the rifle, and shot Charles three times, wounding him. He also shot at a cousin but missed.

Martel went to a retirement home and entered the kitchen. He shot at the cook, Mrs. Lozac'h, grazing her head. He told her he would return. He then went to the office of Dr. Launay. He entered the office of Michel Lhommelet and killed him with four shots to the back while Lhommelet was examining a child.

Next, Martel entered the sports hall and went into the manager’s office. He shot and killed Mrs. Le Maréchal. He then returned to Baguer-Morvan and shot his father several times, killing him.

Martel drove to Rocher-Aoustin near Combourg and killed his uncle Joseph Weber with a rifle shot. In La Chapelle-aux-Filtzméens he shot at brothers Jean and Eugène Chaussonnière, killing Jean and seriously wounding Eugène. In Saint-Domineuc, Pierre Bourtourault was shot dead while gathering hay at the roadside. In Quebriac, 33-year-old Danièle Pomard was killed; her body was found at 13:35 by garbage collectors.

Near Trévérien, Martel shot and wounded 29-year-old André Rehault on his tractor. Police spotted Martel by helicopter. He drove into Côtes-du-Nord. On his way he wounded 34-year-old Daniel Lebreton near Saint-Judoce and 40-year-old Bernard Prechoux in Saint-Juvat. He fired at three other people before being stopped by police in Saint-André-des-Eaux at about 14:00.

Martel stepped out of his car with his hands raised. He shouted, “Ne tirez pas! Je suis malade!” He was arrested there. When asked why he had been shooting, Martel said that at first he had intended to target family and a few others, but then he realized it was easy to shoot and continued.