Delphine LaLaurie, commonly referred to as Madame Blanque or Madame LaLaurie after her third marriage, was born in 1787 as Marie Delphine Macarty in Spanish Louisiana to a wealthy, connected family of seven. Her parents were prominent in the European Creole community as her uncle was governor and her cousin was mayor.

She was first married in 1800 at thirteen to a Spanish royal officer, though he died shortly before the birth of her first daughter. Only a few years later, in 1808, she was remarried to another prominent man in New Orleans and had four children with him in the next eight years. Alas, he also did not live to see them grow. Nearly ten years later, in 1825, she remarried to a physician – Leonard Louis Nicolas LaLaurie. It was then that she purchased a two-story mansion equipped with slave quarters in New Orleans where she lived with her husband and two of her daughters.

Initially, rumors and gossip varied on Madame LaLaurie’s treatment of her slaves. There were accounts that she had freed some slaves and court records do show she released two of her slaves. Additionally, she was generally observed to be kind to slaves in public. Out of the public eye, however, horrors awaited those who belonged to her. Between 1830 and 1834, there were twelve documented deaths at the mansion. However, death certificates do not mention the cause of death and many could have died from sickness or diseases common to the time.

More tales surfaced of slaves being tortured to death. One account told of LaLaurie driving a young girl off the roof of the mansion in an attempt to avoid a whipping. The girl was only eight years old and her death sparked an investigation into the LaLaurie household. Subsequently, they were found guilty of illegal cruelty and forced to give up nine slaves, though the poor souls found their way back to the LaLaurie house through a relative. Other stories reported the cook was chained to the stove and slaves were not to be fed.

All of this came to a head when a fire broke out in 1834 where officials found the seventy-year-old cook attached to the stove by a chain who stated that she had set the fire in a suicide attempt to avoid punishment by Madame LaLaurie. Upon going deeper into the house, officials found "seven slaves, more or less horribly mutilated ... suspended by the neck, with their limbs apparently stretched and torn from one extremity to the other." Other descriptions were equally as morbid and records indicate that additional bodies were found on the grounds.

Following the gruesome discovery, mob violence broke out at the residence. The house was essentially demolished by the hands of the community. Yet, LaLaurie fled to France and avoided prosecution. Records show that Madame LaLaurie pleaded ignorance of the events in New Orleans and even wanted to return, though she wisely remained abroad. Soon after, she died but the circumstances surrounding her death were never quite understood. Regardless, she left this world and was never tried for her crimes against humanity.