Jean-Claude Romand

Jean-Claude Romand (born 11 February 1954) is a French spree killer and impostor who pretended to be a medical doctor for the World Health Organization for 18 years before killing his wife, children, and parents in January 1993, when he was about to be exposed.

In 1996, Romand was sentenced to life in prison for the 1993 murders. During his imprisonment, he worked to restore audio documents for the INA, and train other prisoners in audio restoration.

On 28 June 2019, Romand was granted conditional release and was released from prison under electronic monitoring to a Benedictine monastery, the Notre-Dame de Fontgombault abbey, whose monks agreed to receive Romand for 2 years. Reportedly having become very pious during his time in prison, Romand lived under strict conditions with the monks of the abbey, only being allowed to leave the premises for a few hours a day. Romand participated in the daily life of the 70 monks of the abbey during his time there, working in particular on agricultural work on the few hectares of the abbey estate, and was housed in the hotel section of the abbey.

Romand was released from the monastery in 2022 and is no longer required to wear an ankle bracelet. He lives in hiding in a village in Indre, with a retirement pension of about 800 euros per month. Romand remains obligated to continue to pay reimbursements to his victims. He is forbidden to contact the families of the victims, to appear in the media, or to appear in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Ile-de-France or Bourgogne-Franche-Comté areas. He is required to inform his judge when moving his residence, or when leaving Indre for a period of over two weeks.

Romand has also been suspected to have played a part in the death of his father-in-law, Pierre Crolet, who fell from a staircase on 23 October 1988. Romand was the only witness to the alleged accident.