On December 27, 1937, Joseph Le Cam was shot dead on a Seine riverbank by Violette Morris. An exceptional athlete with an impressive track record – world record holder and gold medalist in shot put and javelin at the 1921 and 1922 Olympics, swimmer, cyclist, and race car driver, winner of the Bol d’or in 1927, French football champion – she was once a national glory.
How did she transition from sports headlines to crime news? A free and pioneering woman, Violette Morris dressed like a man, openly claimed her bisexuality, and shocked a conservative society. Her motto: “If a man can do it, Violette Morris can do it too.”
Acquitted in 1938 for self-defense, she ventured into the music hall scene and aligned herself with the Nazi regime. Acting as an informant and denunciator to gain privileges, she was then dubbed the “Gestapo Hyena.”
On April 26, 1944, on a road in Normandy, her car was riddled with bullets. She was 51 years old. Was it an execution ordered by the Resistance or a case of mistaken identity? This remains a mystery even today.
