‘Black Widow’ accused of killing elderly men for cash

A FRENCH woman dubbed the Black Widow for allegedly wooing and then poisoning old men to pocket their money stood trial for murder yesterday in the Riviera town of Nice.

Patricia Dagorn, 57, was accused of ensnaring elderly men via dating agencies, while posing as a gems expert. Two men were found dead in 2011 on the Cote d’azur, two others survived, but had been drugged.

Dagorn is already in prison for theft, fraud and sequestration involving an elderly victim in France in 2012.

She has now been charged with the murder of Michel Kneffel, with whom she had been living at a residential hotel in Nice and whose body was discovered in July 2011. Police there found vials of Valium and documents of a string of men in her belongings, including bank accounts, health insurances and identity cards.

She is also accused of murdering Francesco Filippone, 85, whose decomposing body was found in his bath at his home near Cannes in February 2011. Dagorn had cashed a cheque from Mr Filippone for £21,000, a “gift”, she claimed, to help her open a jewellery shop.

Two other men who she is accused of poisoning will testify in court this week. Robert Vaux, 91, said before the trial: “She was like a ray of sunshine in winter. When you are with a younger woman you know it won’t last, but you don’t deny yourself the moment.”

Dagorn’s lawyers say she denies all charges. When first accused, one lawyer described her as a “fragile” woman who “feels better with elderly people”.

Police suspect that Dagorn met at least 20 men after arriving on the Riviera. “The life of Patricia Dagorn is marked by selfishness,” said a court profiler. “She thinks only of money.”

The case is similar to that of the “Black Widow of Isère”, who drugged her husband and burned him to death in 2014. Two of her previous partners were found to have had unusual deaths.