A renowned French author who has built his career in being a serial-killer expert and reflecting it on his novels admitted to being a fraud.
He also revealed that one of the biggest lies he has told is the supposed murder of his wife who is apparently non-existent.
In his string of revelations, 67-year-old Stéphane Bourgoin built an empire after he authors 40 crime books which sold millions of copies all over France. As a result, he was also considered as one of the top experts about serial-killers in his field.
How his web of lies was exposed
Bourgoin's lies were exposed in an online investigation that revealed him as a serial liar as opposed to his claims of being an expert on serial killers.
Aside from his published crime book, Bourgoin's status as a serial-killer expert paved the way for him to host a number documentaries focusing on the subject in French television. In the documentaries, the author claimed that he had interacted with at least 70 serial killers in the span of his career through interviews.
Moreover, he also claimed to have trained in the base of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Quantico, Virginia.
However, one of Bourgoin's biggest lies was when he stated that his own wife was a victim of a serial killer. According to him, his wife was killed in 1976 by a man who already killed dozens and confessed after he was arrested.
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Overwhelming shame forced him to come clean
Readers and supporters of his books were living in the lie until January when all his lies avalanched on him. He was accused of not telling the truth about his past and earning the sympathy of others through his lies. After which, Bourgoin confessed to the French press that the wife whom he claimed died in a murder did not exist at all.
In addition, he also admitted that he never trained with the FBI and that he claimed to have met more serial killers than he actually has.
During an interview with Paris Match in the past week, the author said that his lies have already weighed him down. He also expressed his shame after he lied and concealed the truth about his life. He even referred to himself as a mythomaniac during his talk with Le Parisein.
According to Bourgoin, the wife that he was referring to was actually a figment of his imagination and was based on a woman named Susan Bickrest who he had a brief encounter with, in a bar in Florida. It was indeed true, however, that Bickrest was killed by a serial killer known as Gerald Stano in 1975. Stano, who was executed in 1998, later on confessed to killing 41 other women aside from Bickrest.
During his revelation, Bourgoin said that he felt like he is in need of psychological counseling after realizing that his lies have already caught up with him. He also said that he exaggerated many aspects of his life because of the fact that he never felt truly loved. Moreover, the author apologized to everyone who got caught amid his web of lies.
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