Jean De Koven

Jean De Koven (March 29, 1913 – July 23, 1937) was an American ballet dancer, dance instructor, and Broadway performer born in Boston, Massachusetts, who later resided in Brooklyn, New York. She appeared on Broadway between 1931 and 1933, with credits that included Threepenny Opera and the musical Nikki.

Before her Broadway appearances, De Koven had established herself as a classical dance professional. She taught ballet to students at schools in New Jersey and maintained an active career as a dance tutor. Her training and teaching background placed her within the professional dance community in the northeastern United States prior to her time on the stage.

In the summer of 1937, De Koven traveled abroad and arrived in Normandy on July 19. She had been staying in a hotel on the Left Bank of Paris with her aunt, Ida Sackheim. On the afternoon of July 23, she left the hotel carrying her camera, telling her aunt she would return by 8 p.m. to attend the opera. She did not return. Prior to her disappearance, she had been corresponding with a man residing at another Paris hotel, who subsequently relocated. Sackheim received a ransom letter demanding $500, followed by additional ransom notes and anonymous telephone calls. Police were unable to identify or locate the contact, who had placed frequent advertisements in the Paris edition of an American newspaper. By September, Sackheim publicly offered a reward for information leading to the discovery of De Koven's presumed abductors.

De Koven's body was found on December 8, 1937, buried in a shallow grave beneath the front porch of a villa in La Celle-Saint-Cloud. She was identified as the first of six victims of Eugen Weidmann, a Frankfurt-born serial killer also known as "Karrer," who led a gang with as many as nine accomplices. Weidmann had emigrated to Canada in 1926 at the age of 18, where he participated in the robbery of a wheat company's paymaster in Saskatchewan, resulting in a one-year prison sentence and subsequent deportation. He later served additional prison time in Frankfurt for assault and robbery before his release in December 1936, after which he came to Paris in March 1937 to avoid military service. Weidmann spoke both English and French fluently, and it is believed he encountered De Koven while working as an interpreter at the Paris Exhibition. He and his associates targeted individuals who appeared wealthy, with a focus on American and English tourists. Police connected him to the Pavillon Bleu, an upscale dance bar in La Celle-Saint-Cloud located approximately fifteen minutes on foot from his villa. Weidmann's other victims were realtor Raymond Lesobre, theatrical producer Roger LeBlond, chauffeur Joseph Couffy, Fritz Frommer, and private nurse Janine Keller. Weidmann strangled his victims or shot them from behind and was found to have a fetish for men's shoes, as the four male victims were discovered without footwear. LeBlond was lured to his vehicle at Neuilly by one of two female accomplices acting as decoys. Weidmann confessed to his crimes.

A funeral service for De Koven was held on December 31, 1937, at the West End Funeral Chapel at 200 West 91st Street in New York City. Rabbi I. Mortimer Bloom of Temple Oheb Shalom, located at 257 West 93rd Street, officiated the ceremony and had known De Koven since her childhood. She was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Queens, New York.