He learned of his uncle's job at ten, when a series of postcards, depicting the executions of the Chauffeurs de la Drôme, were published in September 1909.

Obrecht left school at age 14, as his father urged him to find work rather than continue education due to their poor financial situation.

After being discharged from military duty, Obrecht began working as a second class assistant executioner under his uncle on 4 April 1922, continuing his primary employment at the factory.

The reason was cited as financial obligations, as Desfourneaux had lived as a tenant of the Deiblers and amassed considerable debt, hence why their now-widowed aunt wanted him to receive a higher salary.

The beheading was captured on film by an audience member, showing that it took less than 10 seconds from Obrecht forcing Weidmann into the guillotine to the release of the blade by Desfourneaux.

During World War II, following the invasion of France and establishment of the Vichy puppet regime, Desfourneaux collaborated with the Nazi occupation, executing accused communists and partisans without trial and for non-murder offenses.

In late 1943, after Desfourneaux headed the execution of five members of the French resistance, Obrecht and his colleagues and friends, Henri Sabin and the Martin brothers, quit.

After the execution of serial killer Marcel Petiot in 1946, the cousins bickered with increasing intensity and in 1947, after a full-blown fistfight, Obrecht decided, for the second time, to quit.

[3][4][5] Four years later, reporter Jean Ker, who interviewed him many times, released a book called Le Carnet Noir du Bourreau (The Executioners' Black Diary), a biography.