There have been at least twelve Desfourneaux executioners between the 18th and 19th century in Vierzon, Issoudun, Bourges, Moulins, Metz, Blois, and Châteauroux, sometimes as many as three generations.

Nicolas Ernest-Desfourneaux, however, had chosen not to pursue the family profession in the mid-19th century, not long before local executions were abolished in 1870 and restructured to be performed by a national chief executioner office.

[1] As a youth, Desfourneaux gained a keen interest in the make and design of velocipedes, particularly those powered by internal combustion engines.

It was noted that this was a common motif amongst mariners, specifically to convey a desire for vengeance, but Desfourneaux refused to tell anyone his reason for this design choice.

[1][2] Returning to France in the early 1900s, Desfourneaux entered an affair with Parisian woman Juliette Foussadier, who gave birth to his son Fernand in 1905.

On 17 April 1909, the couple married in a ceremony held at the high-class Le Pré Catelan [fr] restaurant in Bois de Boulogne, after which Desfourneaux partook more often in Deibler's executions, though keeping his primary work as a mechanic.

[2] On 2 November 1934, René Desfourneaux died by suicide in Le Havre, aged 24, following a failed romantic relationship.

On 4 February, two days after Deibler's death, Desfourneaux executed Maurice Pilorge [fr] for the murder of his lover Néstor Escudero.

The first privately held execution was on 19 July in Saint-Brieuc, beheading 35-year-old Jean-François Dehaene, who killed his 30-year-old wife Alice Sorel and her 60-year-old father Victor during a divorce hearing.

[15] Desfourneaux was involved in further controversy during World War II when required by the Vichy Government to execute communists and members of the French Resistance, notably French partisan leader Marcel Langer [fr], which led to the resignation of his assistants, André Obrecht and the Martin brothers, Georges and Robert.

Since transport lines came under increased attacks by partisans, which hampered the shipment of the guillotine, the executions were done by firing squad through German troops beginning June 1944.

[18] By technicality, the office of chief executioner was taken over by his first assistant, Marcel Deschamps, who had already been serving under Deibler, but did not perform any executions during this time.

[22] Obrecht, who had semi-retired to Casablanca with his wife, took the chief executioner office on 1 November 1951 and officiated until 1976, one year before the last two executions in France by Marcel Chevalier; the death penalty was abolished in 1981.