VENICE MURDER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 823, 23 May 1910, Page 5

VENICE MURDER.

SENTENCES. TERMS OF IMPRISONMENT. By Telecrapli—Press Association—Copyright I (Rec. May 22, 5 p.m.) Rome, May 21. The trial at Venice of the Countess ! Tarnovska, her lovers Naumoff and 1 Prilukoff, and her maid Perrier for the . murder of her fiance, Count Kamarovski—the "trial of the Russians," as it is called in Venice —has at. last ' concluded. The dramatis personae are: 1 The Countess Tarnovska, a beautiful , woman of noble Russian family, six , of whose lovers are said to have met with death or imprisonment. She was the fiancce of Count Kamarovski, who was murdered in Venice in September, 1907. Nicolas Naumojf, a young Russian, who, infatuated with the countess and jealous of Kamarovski, shot the latter fire times with a revolver. PiULUKOiT, a Moscow lawyer, Who deserted his wife and family to follow the Countess and is accused of conspiring with her to induce Naumoff ; to kill Kamarovski, after insuring the count's life for £20,000 in favour of the Countess Tarnovska.' Perriki;, the Countess's French maid, accused of oomplicity in the crime. The following sentences of confinement were passed. Countess Tarnovska, eight years. Prilukoff, ten years. Naumoff, three years. The Countess's maid, Perrier, was acquitted. , ALLEGED PLOT BY LAWYER AND COUNTESS. NAUMOFF DEEMED A TOOL. The hypothesis constructed by tho police immediately after the shooting of Count Kamarowski at Venice in 1907, that the. crime was committed at the instigation of the Russian lawyer Prilnkoff and of the Countess Tarnowska, was held to be confirmed by the confessions of Prilukoff and the Countess Tarnowska themselves. "Each (wrote 'The Times' correspondent) seeks to throw as much as possible of the responsibility upon the other, but neither denies connivanoe and complicity. It appears that, in.addition to insuring his life for .£20,000 in favoui\ of the Countess Tarnowska, tho late Count Kamarowski had been' induccd to make the Countess the sole legatee of his large fortune. Tho plan of the two accomplices was to eliminate both Kamarowski and Naumoff by procuring the murder of the former and the arrest for murder of the latter, who, blinded by jealousy, was a willing tool in the Countess Tarnowska's hands. "Prilukoff, a formerly well-to-do Moscow lawyer, appears also to have been the victim of tho Countess Tarnowska before becoming her accomplice. In order to satisfy her financial demands upon him he had embezzled moneys belonging to hi 9 clients and had escaped from Russia to avoid arrest." Pen Pictures of Accused. One of the reports of tho trial thus sketchers the accuseds Prilukoff looks unkempt and worn ont. He wears an ample travelling coat, with his hands in the pockets. Naumoff is a most pathetic figure. Not much over twenty-one, with clean-cut features, .a thin, small, deep double furrow in his brow, and laTgo nervous hands, ho pulls at his small moustache or at his necktie. . He stares vacantly, without listening. Perrier, tho maid, is a miserable, shrivelled-up, haggard creature. She hides her face in her hands all day. She wears a grey cap, an old coat and skirt, and a small rag of fur. She is the imago of an English factory girl in the poorest district. The countess is motionless but misses not a word. Her only movement is to put on and take off her gloves repeatedly. She wears a large, hat, with a high crown, and a. huge hanging veil. Sho has a black dress with a whito lace collar and frill and a broad blue-fox stole. , Altogether she is a figure of refined elo- ' gance. The Countess on Her Loves. She has a very interesting face, but it is not classically beautiful, though tho magnetism of her laTgo deep dark eyes is most striking. The following passage occurs: The Judge (to the countess): Is it true that Prilukoff was under the influence of your fascination?— The countess: One day he WTote me a letter which was absolutely insulting and ferocious. That did not seem to suggest that he was very "fascinated." The Judge: Did ho love) you?— I The countess: Yes, very dearly. And I loved him. But we led a sad life.of wandering, and ho ended by wearying me of our relations to one another. (Smiles in Court.) Then I turned to Naumoff and afterwards to Kamarovski. The sarcastic laughter increases, and the countess, much upset, takes a moment's rest. Then, in a despairing voice, she says, turning to tho barristers, and almost weeping, "I am tired, tired I I have been talking for four days." The judge then adjourns the hearing. Two Fathers Present. Not far from the twelve jurymen— curiously enongh, all of ripe age—sit two men to whom the eyes of the crowd often wander. One is the father of the countess, a typical old Russian of striking appearance, with white hair, moustache, and side whiskers falling to his should- : ers. He listens intently, with his hand behind his ear to catch every word. The other is the father of Naumoff. He looks less than fifty, is bald, blonde, I ' and has a short beard and steel-bluo eyes. Sometimes he looks at his son, who does not see him. Sometimes he smiles faintly to the nods of sympa- ' thisers, and all the time he nervously 1 chews a bit of pencil.