[citation needed] During his childhood, in the 1900s, Belbenoît was abandoned by his mother, Louise Daumière,[3] while she was working as a teacher for the children of the Czar of Russia.

In 1911, when Belbenoît was 12 years old, his grandparents died suddenly and he, again in need of a parental figure, went to Paris where he lived with and worked for his uncle at a popular nightclub.

Belbenoît had volunteered before the conscription call in 1918, when he was 19, and he was carrying out his military service while the French Army signed the Armistice between France with Germany on November 11, 1918, ending World War One.

As he defrauded, burgled, and robbed people — these events taking place over a year — Belbenoît accumulated a large number of victims.

After having worked there for only 11 days, Belbenoît stole a wallet containing 4,000 francs, then a motor scooter that he used to leave Besançon, and moved to Nantes.

In August 1921, while working at Ben Ali Castle, Belbenoît took advantage of the monument to steal the pearls of the Comtesse d'Entremeuse as well as some money from her dressing table.

The next day, he broke into the room containing his boss's office and stole 2,800 francs from the cash box, then fled to Paris by train.

Although the acts committed by Belbenoît were misdemeanors, the young man was sent back to the Dijon Assize Court, on grounds that he was in a state of recidivism as a repeat offender.

They embarked on a raft, but the current of the sea being relatively strong, the two convicts ran aground a few kilometers further down the French shore.

They arrived on the shore but, forced to walk through the jungle, René and Léonce were surrounded by a troop of Indians, who brought them back to the penal colony of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.

Following this, "Le Basque" (one of the escapees), calling himself "connaisseur", convinced the group to tie cords to the canoe.The rope broke in heavy waves, carrying away the provisions.

Following the discovery of "Jojo's" body by the other escapees, "Lulu" stabbed "Gipsy" and disembowelled him, before the five surviving members ate his remains.

The next day, the troop resumed their march towards Dutch Guiana, before being surrounded by Indians, who brought the band back to the Bagne de Cayenne.

The revolts of Belbenoît annoyed the administration of the Bagne, which led to his being placed under the surveillance of the prison guards in 1925 and 1926, news which aroused a lively debate among journalists on the subject.

In July and August 1927, a British journalist, having interviewed Belbenoît, published press articles on the daily life of the convicts of Cayenne.

Before the Warden Siadous was transferred back to France, he gave Belbenoît a one-year permit to leave the penal colony.

In November 1931, longing to return to Paris, Belbenoît decided to embark on a boat leading to Le Havre, but was stopped when he arrived at his destination.

He met five other convicts, nicknamed "Bébère", "Dadar", "Cap", "Panama" and "Chiflot", who are also forced to stay in French Guiana until the end of their lives.

In 1938, Belbenoit's memoir of his imprisonment, Dry Guillotine, was published in United States with an introduction by the prominent South American explorer and journalist William LaVarre.

After his release, Belbenoît acquired a valid passport and went to Los Angeles to work for Warner Bros. as a technical advisor for the film Passage to Marseille (1944).