In 1834, neighbors discovered seven tortured enslaved people chained in a New Orleans mansion during a fire, revealing Delphine LaLaurie's sadistic brutality. Despite multiple reports of abuse, she fled to France unpunished, while her house became America's most haunted—where enslaved spirits allegedly torment visitors nearly 200 years later. Delphine LaLaurie tortured enslaved people for entertainment rather than punishment, breaking bones and resetting them to cripple victims who could barely work, revealing she was a sadist seeking suffering infliction.