DEATH INSTEAD OF IMPRISONMENT

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 108, 31 January 1935, Page 9

DEATH INSTEAD OF IMPRISONMENT

Verdict on Appeal In Piracy Case OTHER DEATH SENTENCES TO STAND By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. (Received January 30. 7.50 pm.) Shanghai. January 30. The appeal of live Europeans against sentences imposed by the Dairen . District Court in connection with the piracy of the Chinese steamer Sbengtin in Chinese waters on June 28, 1033. ended sensationally after a protracted hearing in the Supreme Court at Port Arthur when the court confirmed the death sentences on Captain Tandieu, ringleader of the gang, Heinrich Westermann, a former Shanghai butcher, ami altered the sentences of life imprisonment imposed on Arthur Gautchi and Walter Muller, both former Shanghai residents, to the death penalty. George Schroeder, also of Shanghai, ..was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. The prisoners have been languishing in Dairen prison since their capture, following the most sensational piracy in these waters, when a gang of foreigners attempted to seize the Shengan. killing 10 persons, including the Russian skipper, his wife, and the Norwegian chief officer. After seizing the ship the - pirates experienced difficulty in navigating it,, eventually grounding it near Dairen, where the Japanese arrested them following a cross-country chase. A Shanghai message dated July 1.1933, stated that a remarkable story of murder and piracy on the high seas had come from Dairen. A few days previously the Chinese-owned steamer Shen An, left Tientsin for Shanghai, commanded by a Russian, Captain Vikhmjin, who was accompanied by his wife. Five men, who said they were of German nationality, were given passages alter stowing away. About 200 miles from Shanghai the stowaways brutally murdered Captain Vikhmau and his wife, also the Russian mate, and threw the bodies overboard. They also murdered seven of the Chinese crew, who offered resistance. The murderers then took control of the vessel, in which they planned to cross the Pacific and' gain some American port. Needing additional provisions, they put into Hoshigaura, near Dairen, but 1 bad navigation put the ship ashore. The murderers absconded, but later the Japanese police arrested them. They intended, after provisioning the ship at Dairen, crossing the Pacific and selling the ship and the cargo for 110,000 dollars.