Jean-Claude Romand

Jean-Claude Romand (born 11 February 1954) is a French murderer and impostor who pretended to be a medical doctor for 18 years before killing his wife and children when he was about to be exposed.

Jean-Claude Romand was born in Lons-le-Saunier and grew up in the village Clairvaux-les-Lacs in the département of Jura. He studied at the lycée of Lons-le-Saunier until his baccalauréat. In 1971, he registered at the classes préparatoires of Lycée du Parc in Lyon, but dropped out after one term. Afterwards he enrolled as a medical student.

The deception began with a simple lie: Romand claimed that he had passed a second-year medical examination that he did not take. He therefore never qualified as a doctor, a fact unknown to his parents.

Romand fooled his family and friends for 18 years; they thought he was a successful medical professional and researcher in the World Health Organization (WHO). He managed to give an impression that he had researched arteriosclerosis and that he had contacts with political figures.

In reality, he spent his days wandering and used the free information services of the local WHO building. He lived close by in Prévessin-Moëns, France. Periodically he left for a supposed work trip but only traveled to Geneva International Airport and spent a couple of days in a hotel room there, studying medical journals and a travel guide about the various countries he lied about going. Romand lived off the money his wife and he had made by selling an apartment, from his wife's salary, and from sums of money which were given to him by various relatives, who relied on his assurances that he was investing the money in various imaginary hedge funds and foreign ventures.

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